Many gardeners will gasp at the question, but this summer’s heatwaves have been demanding it: Should I get rid of my lawn?
I’m predicting a shift towards grassless gardens as summers get hotter and hotter (and El Niño is said to be brewing up a sweltering 2027 summer). That’s because this year’s drought and heatwave weather has wiped out thousands of gardens across the UK, leaving a brown plain of straw in its wake (although your lawn might not actually be dead, according to experts). Ideal Home‘s Editor-in-Chief, Heather, has been thinking about swapping out her lawn for a gravel garden – and after my own lawn took a beating this summer, I’m considering the switch, too.
There are pros and cons to every garden design, of course – so I decided to do a bit of digging and weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of getting rid of a lawn.
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The pros of getting rid of a lawn
It goes without saying that a lawn requires a fair amount of upkeep to keep your garden presentable. That means plenty of time spent looking at a lawn care calendar – and unless you’ve got a robot lawn mower, cutting the grass alone can be time-consuming.
If you get rid of your lawn, you’ll have no grass to worry about – and that means you can salvage back time spent on other lawn care tasks, too.
‘A grassless garden requires less fertiliser and fewer regular inputs than a conventional lawn,’ says RHS award-winning garden designer Zoe Claymore. Zoe is currently working on a gravel front garden in West London, which is inspired, in part, by Beth Chatto’s dry garden. The gravel is already on-site, which makes the process more sustainable.
A garden without grass also, of course, needs far less water. No more sprinklers desperately fighting to keep your lawn alive during the summer – and less panic when a hosepipe ban strikes.
If you’re keen to replace your lawn with gravel, B&Q has some lovely options. Personally, I love these Mellow Cotswold Decorative Stones.
A grassless garden can still be a lush, green oasis of plants – you’ll just need to choose drought-tolerant plants that thrive in pots.
‘A well-designed, drought-tolerant gravel garden should need less watering than a lawn once established,’ says Zoe. ‘Choosing plants suited to hot, dry conditions (Beth Chatto’s dry garden and the RHS Hyde Hall have great examples) can keep the garden looking green through drought. My go-tos include rosemary, thyme, bay and purple sage, as well as santolina.’
You can order bay trees from Thompson & Morgan or, on another recommendation of Zoe’s, go for Santolina chamaecyparissus from Crocus.
A lawn certainly isn’t a garden feature that will decrease property value, but a low-maintenance gravel garden can add to the appeal.
‘In terms of value, getting rid of a lawn probably won’t add a set amount to the property, but it can definitely affect how desirable a home feels to buyers,’ says Karl McArdle, co-founder of The Property Buying Company.
‘A nice and well-finished, low-maintenance garden will make a property stand out, especially for smaller homes or buyers who don’t want a lot of upkeep. On the flip side, removing the only lawn from a family-sized property could knock its appeal and even its value.’
Gravel garden essentials
B&Q
Mellow Cotswold Decorative Stones
I love lighter honey shades of gravel in the garden.
Crocus
Terracotta Plant Bowl
Terracotta pots add a Mediterranean feel to a gravel garden.
Garden Trading
Rive Droite Bistro Set (Steel, Silver)
A sleek bistro set for outdoor coffee and dining.
The cons of getting rid of a lawn
Many of you will be reading this article rather sceptically, because for a lot of us, the lawn is the star of the garden. That preference alone is enough to keep your grass and plough your efforts into reviving a dry lawn – but there are other drawbacks to getting rid of a lawn and replacing it with gravel, too.
‘Gravel can absorb and reflect heat, so a good proportion of planting is important to provide soil cooling and not heat your house up,’ Zoe explains.
‘In direct sunlight, big expanses of gravel can get absolutely scorching, so combining gravel with some planting and shaded areas is usually a more practical solution than just covering the whole thing with gravel,’ adds Karl from The Property Buying Company.
That heat absorption is especially problematic with dark-coloured gravel – so it’s best to go for a lighter colour, like these Polar White Chippings from B&Q, instead.
We already mentioned that a grassless garden is lower maintenance than a garden with a lawn, but that doesn’t mean a gravel garden can be neglected – there are other care tasks that you’ll need to factor in to keep it in good shape.
‘Gravel gardens still need regular weeding and careful editing to look good over the year,’ says Zoe.
Zoe also mentions the sustainability aspect, since you might need to transport large quantities of stone to your garden.
‘In my view, gravel gardens only make sense where there is already material on site that can be reused,’ Zoe explains. ‘Otherwise, allowing grass to grow longer, creating a wildflower meadow, or making big drought-tolerant planted borders with an organic mulch is more sustainable, cheaper, and you’ll still get a good result.’
So, should you get rid of your lawn? If you want to cultivate a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant garden, gravel can be an ideal alternative to grass – you’ll just need to choose the right material for your garden, consider costs, and keep on top of weeding.
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