With hot weather and water restrictions, lawns are definitely not looking their best. Do you really want to keep the swath of green growing or make a change and swap it out? If you’re up for trying something different, now’s a great time to do it. You can get financial rebates from the local water districts, and with high summer temperatures, you can speed up the process of lawn removal with sheet mulching.
Marin Water is offering customers a $3 per square foot cash rebate in return for replacing grass in their landscapes and, as a result, reducing the need for irrigation. And if that isn’t good enough, they’re also offering “Mulch Madness” – let them do the work! You can apply for their “Mulch Madness” free sheet mulching program – they’ll deliver and install the materials, and cap your sprinklers. North Marin Water District is offering a similar set of incentives. Here’s more information on How to Replace Your Lawn – & What to Put There Instead.
Sheet mulching also works great on weedy areas that you might want to plant at some future time. Sheet mulching kills weeds by starving them of light. Layers of different materials are spread onto the lawn or weeds and left in place. Over time, the plants and layering materials will break down into compost, leaving you with richer soil and beneficial soil microbes.