Every year we reduce the amount of 'lawn' as we gradually turn it into meadow or forest garden, but we also find that grass paths through the planting work really nicely. There are several benefits-We mow, or 'harvest' with a battery mower (on sunny days so its charged from solar panels) and then the cuttings are used in our layered compost heaps. It also helps keep human traffic, and therefore compaction, to a defined area rather than compacting the soil where plants and trees are growing.
Here in the US, what grass I have left in my urban yard is scrappy grass (very mossy in winter) that functions as path. I use no chemicals or spray, have overseeded with yarrow (which in our increasingly summer dry climate in Southern Oregon stays green even in drought periods. The grass goes fairly brown as I don't water my lawn much in summer and we get little rain the end of May-October). I allow English Daisies and such to grow at will. My neighbors mostly have typical American lawns-abundant and monoculture, though many water and fertilize less. I do have some gravel paths. But they take a lot of attention with a garden torch to keep the weeds clear. I can't use the torch in summer-fire danger is too high, so have to resort to hand weeding. Even weed chemicals seem to have an effect on Mason Bees and other pollinators. So I refuse to use them. "Scruffy" Grass paths are easier to maintain.
Every year we reduce the amount of 'lawn' as we gradually turn it into meadow or forest garden, but we also find that grass paths through the planting work really nicely. There are several benefits-We mow, or 'harvest' with a battery mower (on sunny days so its charged from solar panels) and then the cuttings are used in our layered compost heaps. It also helps keep human traffic, and therefore compaction, to a defined area rather than compacting the soil where plants and trees are growing.
Here in the US, what grass I have left in my urban yard is scrappy grass (very mossy in winter) that functions as path. I use no chemicals or spray, have overseeded with yarrow (which in our increasingly summer dry climate in Southern Oregon stays green even in drought periods. The grass goes fairly brown as I don't water my lawn much in summer and we get little rain the end of May-October). I allow English Daisies and such to grow at will. My neighbors mostly have typical American lawns-abundant and monoculture, though many water and fertilize less. I do have some gravel paths. But they take a lot of attention with a garden torch to keep the weeds clear. I can't use the torch in summer-fire danger is too high, so have to resort to hand weeding. Even weed chemicals seem to have an effect on Mason Bees and other pollinators. So I refuse to use them. "Scruffy" Grass paths are easier to maintain.
Love it. I have mossy, ‘weedy’ grass and am gradually building a garden, but will definitely keep a bit of ‘scrappy grass’ pathway!