Part II:
Views of the New Landscape
Seeding the Driveway with Eco-Lawn
Fescue to the Rescue

Views of the New Landscape
Instead of the stark, urban view of a brick wall, we now see this from our front door — which will only improve over the years: A row of Hornbeams, bordered by rows of Green Velvet boxwood and a central garden featuring dogwoods, Blue Star juniper, hazel corkscrew shrubs and blue fescue grasses.

Native to Europe and Asia Minor, Hornbeams do very well in Canada’s cold climate. But the reason I love them is that they can be pruned into wonderful, geometric shapes. And they keep their leaves in winter (albeit brown). The species we selected are Carpinus Betulas Fastigiata. The Fastigiata label means they are narrow, pointing like arrows into the sky. Gradually they will form a hedge providing us with privacy. They will also act as a natural windscreen and provide shade, thus reducing our need for air conditioning.

The Spiral Juniper on the right, is a quirky complement to our blue glass block. Topiaries are an ancient art form, where sculptures are created out of living trees and shrubs. This garden is going to keep me busy with all the pruning of the Hornbeams, Boxwoods, Yews and the Juniper!

Seeding the Driveway with Eco-Lawn

So we had our green driveway of PermaTURF all laid out and ready to go but we didn’t know what to plant…For those who may have skipped the early articles (egads!), I’ll quickly bring you up-to-speed. PermaTURF is the technology behind our green driveway. By using this product, our driveway can look just like a green lawn, but actually be load-bearing. This allows vehicles to drive on it without causing ruts or damage to the grass. It can be shoveled and snow-plowed in the winter as the grass roots are protected by the cells. In addition to driveways, it’s been used for parking areas, access roads, fire lanes and scores of other novel applications.

So, getting back to our seeding question:
What type of grass should we plant in it? Grass in our neighborhood is either brown (from lack of water) or green (because people water it and the sidewalk lavishly). We wanted to find a grass that could tolerate our hot summer weather and not require gallons of water to stay alive. One of the side benefits of writing a blog like this is, I know some great resources to tap into (and now you do too). I turned to my EcoSherpa, Bentley Christie, to guide me. He tipped me off about a drought-tolerant grass product called Eco-Lawn. Bentley hadn’t actually road-tested it, but he pointed me in the direction.

Fescue to the Rescue

Bentley’s suggestion jogged my memory — I remembered I had seen Eco-Lawn before at an environmental show in the Spring. It’s a long, lush grass that flops over if you don’t cut it. It’s got a very distinctive look – I’d never seen anything like it. Perhaps it could be the answer! I compared my checklist of needs to Eco-Lawn’s specifications.

1. It is a drought-tolerant grass that loves the sun (which we have in abundance), but can also grow in shade. Check.
2. It’s a grass that is hardy and sends down thirsty roots 14 inches, so we wouldn’t need to water it like conventional grasses. Check.
3. It grows slowly so we would only need to mow it once a month. Check.
4. We would not need to use fertilizer or chemicals to make it thrive. Check.
5. Plus it grows well in sandy soils (which is part of the base we used for the PermaTURF). Check.

Wow! It sounded like the perfect grass for our green driveway. I called up our closest garden center to ask if they had it – or a comparable product. But they said they only carry decorative grasses or conventional grasses.

So, I called up Miriam Goldberger at Wildflower Farm to ask her a few questions about its suitability for our project. They don’t get too many people calling about green driveways, so in fact Miriam didn’t know of anyone who had used it in our exact application, but she listened carefully to the specifications and agreed it fit the bill with its deep roots and our desire for water conservation. She assured me it grows well in a sandy/loam soil. I was a bit concerned that the floppy grass might not cut well with our hand mower, but she thought it would be fine. (That’s something I’ll be testing next Spring!) The cost is very modest at $29.95 per 5lb bag — and that covers 1000 square ft. — so I took the leap.

It’s great to find an innovative product like Eco-Lawn that’s ready to help us adapt to climate change. Miriam told me the story of how they ‘invented’ it. She was on a walk in the woods with her husband, Paul Jenkins, when the Eureka moment hit. They were struck by the rich green grass growing in the deep shade of the northern woods. They realized that this might be the answer to their need for a hardy grass on their wildflower farm. Trial and error led to the development of Eco-Lawn, a blend of seven fine fescue grasses.

It’s been a rocketing success and has been ‘blessed’ by Pollution Probe. In “A Guide to Climate Change,” The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Pollution Probe singled out Wildflower Farm for its positive impact on climate change and the environment, praising them as an inspiring example of a Canadian business offering sustainable landscaping solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lowers maintenance costs and requires no watering or fertilization. In particular, the publication highlighted Eco-Lawn, the turf grass alternative developed by them.

Clearly it is the ‘fescue to the rescue’ for our green driveway and all regions where water conservation is a necessity. Eco-Lawn also eliminates the need for chemically based fertilizers and pesticides. Good thing considering our City’s ban on pesticides. One less bylaw to worry about.

The Seeding of the driveway was a breeze

The actual seeding of the driveway was a breeze. In fact, the Toronto Star even dropped by to document it. Read Catherine Porter’s impression of the day: Driveway dispute has green ending

We rented a ‘seeder’ but then changed our minds and scattered the seed by hand for more accuracy. Afterwards, we raked the seeds into the soil. It was the easiest part of this whole adventure. But the tricky part may be keeping people and cars off it while the grass seeds grow.

Today our furnace guy showed up and he parked his truck right on top of those fragile little seeds! I was a bit annoyed… But as I raked the soil and seeds out, I laughed at myself. How can I get mad at him for driving on what he thought was just a muddy driveway?

Lesson learned. No damage to the PermaTURF. And if the seeds got squashed, we’ll reseed. As a defense, we’ve put rocks in the way now. Hopefully that will deter drivers and give our Eco-Lawn a chance to grow!

We’re looking forward to fooling drivers into thinking we don’t have any driveway at all! That’s the magical illusion of a green driveway.

Read all the Green Driveway articles

Who helped us build our Green driveway? See credits.

Planting and seeding our green driveway © 2007 Franke James;
Photography, illustration and writing by Franke James, MFA
(except Toronto Star photo by Lucas Oleniuk as noted)

ECO-LAWN GROWTH UPDATE: Eight days growth / October 3, 2007

The Eco-Lawn is growing! You can definitely see it up close — and even from a distance.

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