On the green carpet tiles: instant no-mow ground covers for every situation
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As hard surfaces stamp themselves over more of our diminishing housing blocks, lawns shrink in size and importance. And what a pain it is to store a lawn mower for a lawn the size of a picnic rug. Franc and Jenny Coonan were turf farmers south of Brisbane when they saw the writing on the courtyard wall. Noting that orders for sizeable lawns were on a downward slope they converted their business from growing instant lawn to growing instant no-mow ground covers.
The Coonans have greened the carpet tile, pioneering squares of no-mow ground covers that can be laid wherever a green floor is needed. Initially the Coonans called their new business Courtyard Magic but the results were anything but magical. “People couldn’t find us, they didn’t know what we did,” recalls Coonan. So the name was changed to Plant Tiles, “and now everyone just gets it,” says Jenny.
Phillip Withers’ Welcome Garden, at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, used tiles of Dichondra repens.
Photo: Philip Withers
The tiles can form a flat, uniform surface, be trimmed to fit around paving stones, or rolled as an undulating rug tucked in at the base of rocks. That’s how I saw them used at Phillip Withers’ Welcome Garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show recently. Withers had designed a shady “mountain” of stepped, flat-topped rocks, overhung by ferns and palms, grass trees and native edibles. People were drawn to the textures of green and sat on the rocks (one of the most highly desirable items I saw at MIFGS this year, created by granite and bluestone specialists, Bamstone) with imperceptibly laid tiles of Dichondra repens at their feet.
Dichondra is the cheapest and most popular of the seven species currently grown by the Coonans. It’s a native ground cover with little round leaves and it handles both sun and shade, though might need a trim in the shade to keep it tight to the ground. Not suitable for really heavy use, Jenny Coonan nonetheless reports that several childcare centres in Brisbane have had great success with dichondra “lawns”. “The children love how soft it is to play on; it doesn’t make them itchy,” she says.
Other species grown include native violets, which are especially good in shady, damp areas on the south side of the house; Corsican mint, which will fry in hot sun, but is fragrantly sweet in the shade; and the slow-growing zoysia, which over time forms fascinating velvety mounds of very fine grass.
The tiles, 330mm square, can be ordered online. Lay them and the impact is instant. But long-term success depends on how well the surface has been prepared with organic matter to hold water, provide nutrients and allow for speedy growth of the shallow roots though a light, friable mix. Follow the included instructions or YouTube videos for lasting success with green carpet-laying.
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