This is my lawn that was planted using my Resilience Seed Mix, resulting from my research over the past decade. This seed mix is based on the “Grazing Lawn” concept, whereby herds of grazing mammals frequent some areas more than others (e.g. the shade of an oak grove on a hot summer day) and form a completely different plant community than that outside of the shade. This concept fits perfectly with Intermediate Disturbance Theory, where the disturbance occurs at approximately the same time, frequency, and intensity, and the ecosystem pulses upon the disturbance to maximize function and production.
What Is It?
This seed mix has 28 species of graminoids and 36 forbs blooming. When I mow my lawn, I do so in ways that drive down nitrogen (N) to help increase diversity. I have short and tall grass areas, and my conservative east-Bloomington neighbors are fine with my lawn. I do pull dandelions so my neighbors don’t freak out, but the reductions in N have reduced my dandelion populations.
We’re seeking to have our Resilience Seed mix available for you by Winter 2018. Please contact me if you want more information!
For More Research Information
For the grazing lawn, see (McNaughton, S. J. (1984). Grazing lawns: animals in herds, plant form, and coevolution. The American Naturalist, 124(6), 863-886.)
For intermediate disturbance see (Paine, R. T. (1966). Food web complexity and species diversity. The American Naturalist, 100(910), 65-75.)
For pulsing, see (Odum, H. T. (2007). Environment, power and society. New York, USA, Wiley-Interscience.)