Green roofs and walls have been getting a lot of press in the last few years. The new Vancouver trade and Convention center has been planted with one of the largest green roofs on the planet. The whole six-acre roof is home to an indigenous coastal BC meadow. It is watered with treated black water from the building. The point of the roof was: to increase the habitat, downtown, for threatened insects, honeybees and songbirds, its aesthetic attribute and its ability to increase the roof insulation thus saving on heating and cooling costs.
The pitch of my roof is way too steep for an indigenous meadow. I decided to bring the concept closer to the ground and replace my, would be lawn with clover and other indigenous northern BC plants.
Last year I planted Trifolium repens, Dutch White clover seed all around my house. By the end of May, with a little help from me in the form of water from the hose, it had all sprouted. As summer started winding down it was getting out of control so I cut it back to about two inches high with my weed whacker. This spring it started growing very slowly and I noticed some of it had died off under the snow. However, even though we have had little rain in the past month it has grown well. A lot of native plants have moved in, Achillea millefolium-Yarrow, Rosa acicularis-roses, Aster conspicuus-Asters, Castilleja miniata-paintbrush and Epilobium angustifolium-Fireweed etc. (I don’t know the Latin names for these plants off hand and I’m too lazy to look them up at the moment) I’m encouraging the ones I like and weeding out the ones I hate, like those classified as noxious weeds.
My reasons for planting a clover lawn are, I’m lazy and have no interest in coddling (fertilizing, mowing and watering) a conventional lawn, not to mention the expense. Self sustainable clover pushes its roots deep into the earth in search of water. It fixes nitrogen from the air, storing it in root nodules so it doesn't need fertilizing. The clover, along with the native plants have attracted a huge array of insect life. This year I have seen dragonflies, from the almost dried up bog on the property next to ours, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, butterflies and other unnamed bugs I have never seen before.
The clover and other assorted plants are soft under my bare feet and I love the fact that apart from cutting it down once this summer to a six – eight inch height I have not done anything else to it.
So, what’s next, honey bee hives?
2 comments:
Perhaps a nanny goat. I think your lawn looks wonderful!
When I visited my Sister-in-Law and my Nephew, we walked by the Convention Centre. I was impressed by the green wall of grass that doesn't need to be watered.
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