Hey all. My husband and I are looking for a house to buy with some of his family and I'd really like for us to not have a traditional invasive lawn.
However, the long story short is I'm up against a family member who has stated "I don't like trees, I like buildings", and had the family's last backyard paved over with concrete. (It doesn't end there, but I will stop talking there.)
So basically I have to nonchalantly convince nature-averse family that everything I suggest is going to save money and/or increase the value of the house. And, I have to be sure to execute it "perfectly" and conventionally visually appealing enough so they trust me with future decisions and I can continue my silent wild crusade unnoticed.
I'm thinking of pitching the idea of an oak sedge lawn. This would be accompanied with generous "organized-looking" native plant garden space with rain garden/drainage elements.
On the flower and rain garden note, since I will be the one maintaining it, as long as it stays ""looking good"" in a conventional sense I can probably get away with just doing it without consulting anyone else.
However I'm not familiar with oak sedge. I'm going to put full effort into continuing to research it, but if anyone knows other pros and cons other than these that would be good to be aware of it would be truly appreciated.
Pros:
• native to our area
• feeds birds, and caterpillars of 36 butterflies
• green colour will make it incognito amoung the surrounding lawns
• it can be trimmed a couple times a year for a manicured look, which everyone involved except me likes (🥲) - I can say, "it only needs to be mowed once or twice a year!!" (🥲🥲) (At least a light cutback can stimulate new growth)
• drought-resistant, and requires overall less water and less fertilizer than traditional lawnd
• semi-evergreen extends the green season, which will probably be liked by the people involved
• fallen leaf litter will not kill it (even though they have already informed me the leaves will be raked no matter what I say)
• Oak sedge spreads by rhizomes, so it can fill in bare spots and create a dense ground cover.
• resistant to pests and diseases
• can grow in both shade and full sun (just supposed to water it less in shady areas, and once every week or two during how sunny periods)
"Cons"
• clump-forming, which the others will not loke
• it needs to be trimmed a little longer than typical lawn grasses
• over watering can lead to root rot
• needs to have consistently moist soil while getting estbalished
• it grows small (inconspicuous, but still visible flowers) for a short time (not a con to me, but to them) https://www.gardentap.ca/products/carex-pensylvanica-oak-sedge?srsltid=AfmBOopAB6qIOvE546l6PTQQzDIeXD
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