Hello! My wife and I moved into out first house and are wondering wtf to do with this yard. My father in law paid for the first months of grass cutting, but the guy left all the trimmings on top and my yard is dead currently (we had huge patches of grass all around the yard, guessing it got smothered but I’m not sure). I am finally buying a sprinkler and have a decent mower and weed eater.
In the case where my grass doesnt grow back, could I just plant clover or another groundcover and be fine? I have been wanting to do a more natural clover/groundcover lawn, but scared too if the mowing cycles are off.
Midwest Native Plant Society is a good resource for going with native plants.
Depending on the drainage in your yard some rain gardens or dry creek beds might be an idea for filling some of the bare patches.
Clover and walkable thyme (wooly and several other varieties out there would work) are good for walking areas. Clover is fairly easy to get started replacing grass: just overseed it in the fall, seed on top of the last snow of winter, and overseed again in the spring. I have 3 or 4 types of thyme in my yard that look great in their little spots but could easily be planted and allowed to spread into ground cover.
Sedum/stonecrop is great drought resistant ground cover that looks cool. If you have enough shade: consider moss for less trafficked areas.
I’ve used Sedum Tiles in several gardens around our yard and the walkway up to our house. They grown in well and will spread out well.
I’ll try to remember to take some pictures when I get home.