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Shaping Green Spaces
A stylized lawn in the shape of a notched rectangle is accented by floral borders and paving.
 (Photo: Roger Foley)
Diamond-shaped cutouts around the bases of trees represent masterful lawn maintenance.
 (Photo: Courtesy of Mary Palmer Dargan)
Green Way
Grass-crafting extends far beyond the limits of formal lawns. One of the latest trends is to insert ornamental fingers of grass into arrival areas, such as parking courts, driveways, and front walkways. Not only does the grass visually soften and animate hard surfaces, but it also cools the area and allows moisture to percolate into the earth.

Driveways can be embellished in several ways. One of the most popular devices is to insert grass strips up the median. Old-fashioned two-tire-track driveways are also back in vogue, with grass planted in the approximately 2 1/2-foot-wide strip between the tracks.

Mowing Mastery
Designers occasionally experiment with more sophisticated decorative treatments, such as attractive diamond cutouts around the bases of trees. The cutouts, implemented with a machete or a razor-sharp spade right after the tree is planted, are maintained with a line trimmer.

Another design technique, derived from American golf courses, is to create contrasting mowing bands by using a lawn roller (available from a specialty golf-supply shop or as an attachment for a riding lawn mower). By pressing and flattening selected sections of grass, the tool allows you to make elaborate patterns, such as crisscross basket weaves, or more streamlined designs, such as long horizontal stripes. This technique is particularly effective for expansive lawns. When the morning dew spangles the contrasting bands, the effect is dazzling.

By thinking creatively and using historical precedents as a starting point, you can transform even the most prosaic lawn into a canvas of (literally) cutting-edge garden design. Just keep your blades as sharp as your imagination.


A PALETTE OF GRASSES
Dargan recommends bluegrass, fescue, St. Augustine grass, and 'Emerald' zoysia as four of the best varieties for grass-crafting.
Bluegrass will work well in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the mountains of North Carolina.
Fescue is green all winter, but can wilt in the summer heat of the South. It thrives in either partial shade or full sun, but not in too hot of a climate.
A mixture of bluegrass and fescue is most successful in Tennessee, northern Alabama, northern Georgia, and mountainous regions of the South. This mix tolerates nearly any kind of exposure.
St. Augustine grass is good for the extreme heat and shade of climates like Jacksonville, Florida's or South Carolina's -- especially if fed organic fertilizer. However, it won't thrive in dense clay unless well-drained and aerated.
Zoysia must be well-drained to thrive, but Dargan favors its fine blades, which make it the most lushly textured grass. Due to its texture and brown color, it is fabulous as a wintertime grass, but in early spring, its bleached beige color looks spotty with new grasses com-ing in slowly.
Dargan recommends lush, finely textured zoysia for small areas, and the larger-bladed St. Augustine grass for diversity in larger lawns with more than two garden areas.
Avoid Bermuda and centipede grasses for grass-crafting, as these are creepers and will be difficult to shape.

RESOURCES: Landscape architecture by Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, Dargan Landscape Architects, 2961 Hardman Ct., Atlanta, GA 30305, 404/231-3889, www.dargan.com.

For information on Mary Palmer's landscape design tours of gardens in Italy and England, sponsored by Clemson University, visit www.ccald.org. A certificate of accomplishment in landscape design is available through participation in one of these two-week programs abroad or through a series of weekend courses offered in the States.
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