Alternative Lawn - Heath Pearlwort

I have quite a big area planted with it to give the appearance of a flowering lawn. It's lovely to walk on but mine doesn't get much wear so I'm unsure it would stand up to kids playing football on it for example. Mine went a bit brown earlier this year when it was very dry (I have very light dry soil) but has recovered now with all the rain. The biggest issue was establishing it and preventing the weeds taking over, I spent a long time going over it hand weeding for the first two years.

I would suggest you get rid of all weeds before planting, maybe lay it fallow and keep hoeing off any plant that appears for a year.

The other downside is the cost, it's not that easy to grow from seed (I tried twice) and buying enough plants was prohibitive for my area. Eventually I bought a few plants and just kept splitting them taking cuttings, it took me two years to bulk them up so I had enough for my planting. Even then I had gaps between the plants, which is why I had to keep weeding to begin with. Once it established it forms a really dense mat and smothers all but the toughest of weeds.

So it's maintenance free in the sense that it doesn't need mowing, but you will need to spend a fair bit of time weeding it.

 

I was wondering about doing a little area myself. I was looking here.. it is expensive I agree John.. I would have to keep the dogs away from it though as it won't stand up to pets...

Heath Pearlwort Lawn

 

This is how mine looks at the moment, it's underplanted with spring flowering bulbs which are now dying off, otherwise it looks wonderful now it's all in flower:

 

Here's the progress on mine. First planted in 2015:


2016:


2017: