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Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman

Groundcovers like pachysandra can replace shaded grassy areas with a gorgeous green carpet.

If it’s time to redo your lawn, it’s time to think about how much lawn you want. Sure, it’s great for backyard family fun, but grass takes time to maintain and lots of water to establish. In general, groundcovers are cheaper and far easier to maintain, requiring less water, fertilizer and absolutely no mowing – and there’s far smaller chance that disease, pests or drought will decimate them. Of course, you still may want a lawn for all that it can add to your yard. But if time and resources are short, you might consider cutting back on its size and incorporate a gorgeous bed of groundcovers.

If you decide that at least some lawn is the way to go, you’ve got a number of questions to answer to find the right grass. Some of the answers will be dictated by where you live (that is, a warm-season or cool-season grass). Other questions have answers that are more personal – for example, how much foot traffic does your yard have to endure?

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Photo Credit: ©2000 Dolezal Publishing/Charles Nucci

You can buy your sod directly from a sod farm or from your local garden center.

But first, a few basics: When it comes time to selecting your turfgrass, you’ll realize there are many to choose from. You can find single varieties or cultivars of one type, blends of different varieties of the same species and mixes of different types of grasses. Some specialty mixtures address specific conditions or purposes – for example, a shady lawn, a “luxury” lawn for show or “sports turf” for high-activity areas. Explore the range of possibilities before you choose, and factor in how important the method of installation is to you. Some grass varieties are only available as seed or sod. Others – particularly the blends and mixes – seldom are available in sod at all.

If you decide to install a groundcover area or want to replace your lawn entirely with these plants, the questions are similar: Do you want to be able to walk on your groundcovers, or will you treat that planted spot like a flower bed? Is the area in sun or shade? Are you looking for something that’s drought-tolerant? Is your region prone to summer fires, where a natural firebreak is not only pretty but practical? Do you want an all-green groundcover or one that’s more showy with flowers? Will your groundcover be planted on a slope, in a rock garden, between paving stones of a pathway or another special location? (Some groundcovers are better for certain uses than others.) The answers to all these questions will help narrow your choices.

Once you know what you want from your yard and how much work you want to put into it, you’ll be ready to head out to your local nursery, garden center or sod farm and make the right purchases for your family’s needs.