So who is right? Here are what the voices from each camp are saying.

1. Clover lovers: Clover provides a healthy dose of nitrogen to the soil, both through nitrogen fixation and through nitrogen-rich clover clippings that break down when you mow, so if you make friends with clover, you’ll have a greener lawn. It’s also soft and smells great and attracts bees to your yard, plus as CloverLawn.org points out, clover stays green even with pets. One more benefit: it crowds out other, less attractive grass competitors like dandelions.
2. Clover haters: Most haters site aesthetics as their primary concern. A clover-filled lawn just doesn’t look as “perfect” as a uniform, all-grass lawn. Clover can also be a little more slippery than grass when wet. And there’s a slightly increased chance you’ll step on one of those lovely bees you’ve drawn to your yard.

Who wins? If you’re going for ease of maintenance, clover mixed with your grass seed makes a lush green lawn that much more attainable. Buy yourself some clover seed! But if you have more of a golf green vision for your lawn, stick with the straight grass. As long as you keep it healthy, you’ll keep clover at bay.

The new genetically modified grass isn’t on the market yet; it’s still in development. But it’s a variety of Kentucky bluegrass modified to be resistant to the weed killer glysophate, otherwise known as Roundup. The idea is that if you plant the Roundup-resistant grass, you can then spray your whole lawn with Roundup, one of the strongest weed killers around, and the weed killer will clear out everything except your GMO grass.

Pros and cons of a lawn resistant to weed killer

The plusses are, of course, that weed-killer-resistant grass makes it easy to have a pristine lawn, which is a nice thing. You could also possibly argue that an occasional application of Roundup might be better than all the other weed killers people are using now, trying to kill the weeds without hurting the lawn.

The negatives are fairly obvious as well. Roundup, like most herbicides, can be hazardous to the environment. When your lawn is genetically modified for the use of a specific weed killer, it’s unlikely you’re going to skip using that weed killer, even if your lawn doesn’t really need it. As has happened with other Roundup-ready GMOs, there’s also the risk that weeds will become resistant to Roundup, essentially starting an arms race where we develop harsher and harsher weed killers.

It’s a dicey issue. I see why people would want to buy this grass, and I see why other people might not want them to buy it. What do you think? GMO grass–would you or wouldn’t you?

Grass types for high traffic areas

Here’s on big lesson: if you need grass types that can stand up to heavy traffic, consider perennial ryegrass. Until 2001, the courts at Wimbeldon were a mix of 70 percent perennial ryegrass and 30 percent creeping red fescue, but when Wimbeldon’s groundskeepers determined the courts needed to stand up better to wear-and-tear, they shifted to 100 percent perennial ryegrass.

Some grass types are tougher than others, and perennial ryegrass is tough stuff. It stands up to Rafa Nadal; chances are it can stand up to your gang. If your lawn gets heavy traffic–whether it’s from family football games or neighborhood foot traffic–you might have found your grass.

But there are downsides to perennial ryegrass, which is one reason it’s often mixed with other grass types rather than planted alone. It’s more sensitive to summer heat than many other cool season grasses, so if you live in a place where summer temperatures are more extreme than a mild English summer, your perennial ryegrass lawn may slip into dormancy. It’s also sensitive to drought, which means it can struggle if you live in a dry climate.

If you need tough grass, plus a little drought and heat tolerance, a perennial ryegrass blended with a grass like Kentucky bluegrass is probably a better bet. It may not be Wimbeldon, but it’s close enough.

Protect your bloomers…from weeds

First, take some preventive measures in your flowerbeds–that’s easiest. Use a good mulch to place around the plants. The more dense it is, the less you’ll need. Mulch helps keeps moisture in and keeps weeds from sprouting up. If you have trees nearby, ask your gardener to quit blowing the leaves out of your flowerbeds. The leaves will act as a weed barrier and give your soil some much needed nutrients. If you see the weeds start to emerge, pull them out as soon as you can. You don’t want to let them go to seed and spread all over your yard.

A pain in the grass

Crabgrass, dandelions, clover and spurge are common invaders in grass. If you have identified what weeds are growing in your yard, you might have also discovered that over-watering could be the biggest culprit in their growth. If it’s raining, you can’t do much about that. Mowing will help mitigate any weeds that go to seed, but weeds that grow from vegetation will grow regardless. You can use a weed and feed product or other herbicide if you’d like or you can go au natural and start digging them up.

Of course, if you carefully prepared your soil before planting your yard and garden, weeds won’t be a problem. Well, maybe not a big problem. Mitigate those tenacious native plants by spending some time every sunny day pulling weeds–even if it’s just ten minutes a day.

Containing Grass Indoors

You don’t need a container very deep to plant grass. Which means, you don’t need a yard of soil or buckets of water. In fact, you can probably use just a squirt bottle to supply enough moisture on a regular basis. Group different planters with different grasses for shades of green that will brighten up any corner. Short, thick dymondia margaretae, also known as silver carpet, will set off a pot of long, straight Marathon beautifully. You can trim it to keep it looking neat and tidy or let it grow to wispy strands.

The Centerpiece of Your Holidays

You can make an all-natural centerpiece for your holiday table, starting with a small plot of grass. Start with a long rectangular or square container of grass for this tablescape. Add a potted rosemary plant trimmed like a Christmas tree wherever you like it best. Cranberries strung as garland will look great wrapped around the rosemary cone. Nestle some citrus fruits–limes, lemons and oranges in the grass or use them as a border. Stud the oranges with cloves to add another dimension of fragrance. Use your creativity!

Edible Mixtures

If your mind goes toward edible plants you can use all winter, then use wheat grass and plant some herbs to grow with it in a sunny window. Chives grow quite similar to a grass and it’s so convenient to snip some tips to top your baked potato.

Grass can be an easy way to add some green in your home this winter. Get growing and no mowing!

St. Augustine as a Lawn

For anyone who grew up with St. Augustine as a lawn, the mention of it conjures up memories of really nasty grass cuts and grass stains. It’s a grass that is thick and turfy supplying some extra cushion for a rough game of tag or flag football in the front yard.

Thatching Turfgrass

St. Augustine has a broad leaf that sprouts from nodes on creeping tendrils. If given a lot of nitrogen-rich fertilizer or frequent watering, this turfgrass can really bulk up and require thatching to thin it out. Even when it grows to several layers of thickness, St. Augustine really does not take foot traffic well. It might not stop your kids from playing on it though. With regular traffic, it doesn’t die, but it looks a bit shabby.

Planting St. Augustine

Growers have found it very difficult to regularly cultivate seeds for planting St. Augustine. Sod and cultivars or plugs are more readily available. St. Augustine will spread quickly and wildly. If your neighbor doesn’t want it in their yard, make sure you install a barrier to control it and edge borders and beds regularly. Other than that, it is pretty low maintenance, especially after it has been established. It rarely needs re-seeding or replanting. A rotary mower works great to keep it neat and trimmed.

If you want a reliable, easy grass for a salty or alkaline soil, St. Augustine should be on your list of possibilities.

Growing Mondo … Not So Bizarro

Mondo grass grows in tufts (clumps) and has dark green, thin, long leaves. Some mondo variations have a very dark leaf. They are called “black” and are truly close to black. They can get to a height of 8 to16 inches.

Often confused with liriopes, both mondo and liriopes are part of the lily family and are not grasses at all. Mondo grass has a more narrow leaf. Mondo grass comes from Asia and grows best in filtered sunlight or shade.

It’s easy to transplant to spread it. Just separate a sprig, root and all, from a tuft and plant it. It will be able to take root and spread. Some see this as the downfall of mondo grass, it can be a little invasive, moving into areas regardless if you want it there.

Mondo Beneficial

Mondo grass is one of those great ground covers that is drought tolerant–if you need it to be. It prefers moist soil, but if you hold back on watering, it can still thrive.

That it grows in shade makes it a great choice for problem areas where not enough sun makes it through. It grows year round and you should check the leaves occasionally to look for fungus. If you do see affected areas, simply cut them out and discard them.

If you don’t have a green thumb, this grass is mondo perfect for you!

What is a Picnic without Some Grass?

Every day isn’t a picnic: that’s a given. But hopefully you and your family indulged in at least one picnic this summer. Perhaps it was not a traditional “fried chicken in a basket” picnic, maybe it was a bottle of wine and a wedge of brie with your favorite friend at a concert in the park. What would that experience have been without beautiful rolling grass? Maybe for you it was sans-grass and you noted that a lawn would have made it better.

Run Like the Wind!

Parks and playgrounds are wonderful places for children (and adults) to run and play. Whether soccer is your game or you just want to go fly a kite, a green grass lawn makes the experience so much more natural than Astroturf or concrete could ever do. Running, rolling, and getting grass stains are experiences that everyone should have with a healthy lawn.

Value of Greenbelts

Greenbelts in communities are sort of an ideal urban planning element. They secure open spaces for a community, reduce carbon dioxide in the environment and bring life to areas that could appear very industrial and almost desolate. How lush is a beach when it has a greenbelt? It shows someone cares, and adds a sense of cleanliness to any area.

Next time you notice a gorgeous lawn in your community, thank your councilman and appreciate your tax dollars put toward your enjoyment of your beautiful community.

“Don’t step on it!” her mother shrieks from a chaise lounge on the deck.

Just fertilized? A dousing of herbicide? You wonder why the toddler can’t step on that green pasture of a lawn. The answer: it’s dichondra, also spelled “dicondra.”

The Beauty of Dichondra

Dichondra grows with small leaves on the top of stems that are about two inches high. The flat leaves growing right next to each other create what looks like a low canopy of ground cover. It’s a bright green, and it only needs to be mowed about every one to two weeks to keep it looking neat. You really don’t have to mow it all–it’s not actually considered a grass. It is a “broadleaf groundcover.”

The Downfall of Dichondra

Dichondra is not super easy to grow, and is not tolerant to drought or salinity. It is best grown in smaller areas, especially since it does not tolerate traffic well at all. Mother’s screaming is just as necessary to protect the dichondra as it is to protect the work that went into it. Herbicides and insecticides will probably be necessary, if you want to keep it looking in tip-top shape.

Dichondra Needs Love

This broadleaf groundcover needs loose soil that should be roto-tilled down six inches to start. It can’t be watered too frequently or you will encourage weeds. It needs deep watering to encourage the roots to establish properly.

All in all, dichondra is a beautiful groundcover that is not a good choice for the casual gardener–unless you will do anything not to have to mow your yard.

Wheatgrass: Bottoms Up!

Ask someone who grows wheatgrass if you can grow it as a lawn and they’ll laugh. But wouldn’t it be pretty? Wheatgrass grows thick and straight up. It is architecturally very modern looking and looks great grown in a decorative planter, but it doesn’t work as a ground cover. Because of its nutritional value and ability to cleanse the body of pollutants and toxins, it is a favorite shot at Jamba Juice and many health food stores. Jamba Juice sells it for $1.95 for one ounce and $3.25 for two ounces. Think of the cash crop that would be in your yard. When you start looking at all the Web sites on the Internet dedicated to growing it, you realize that it is a sensitive plant that could not sustain foot traffic or even usual weather cycles. According to the manager at Jamba Juice, where they cut a bunch and juice it on demand, it is best to be drank as a shot alone. Its shelf life is only 15 minutes until it starts to ferment. As gardeners, we’d call it “composting.”

Thai One On With Lemongrass

A popular ingredient in Thai and Vietnamese food, lemongrass is hardly a grass and not at all a groundcover. Before it’s harvested it grows in a bunch like blue fescue, with spines poking out each way. Once pulled from the ground, you can see the small bulbous end that makes it look like a small green onion. Both the grass blade and the bulb is called for in recipes. It has a distinct, yet light, lemon flavor in soups, curries and other dishes. You can grow it outside and bring it indoors for the winter.

So sometimes grass is not ground cover, and sometimes the purposes of grass can cover a lot of ground. Bon appetit!