Lawn is a four-letter word to native plant enthusiasts Andy and Sally Wasow-ski.
"We have a totally natural landscape in front of our house with no grass," says Andy. "We estimate we spend a total of about 10 hours a year maintaining it. Some people spend that much time on a lawn in a single weekend."The Wasowskis, authors of "Requiem for a Lawnmower" and "Gardening with Native Plants of the South," find more than one way to defend their choices.
Because of their high need for water, fertilizers and other maintenance, lawns are not a sensible way to landscape, say the Wasowskis.
"People see our landscape with 50 different species and think it's more complicated than grass, but it really isn't," says Andy, a freelance writer and photographer. Sally, a professional landscape designer, was named by "Southern Living" as one of the top 10 gardeners in the South.
Native plants - plants that have evolved in a particular region - are easy to garden with because they are already adapted to the conditions they will be planted in. And even if they don't really like some of them - such as long periods of drought - they can usually survive.
An example of a native plant Sally is fond of is sundrops, a medium-size mounding perennial with sunny yellow flowers that close at dusk. In her description of them in "Gardening with Native Plants of the South," Sally says sundrops can take part shade or full sun in either acidic clay soil or sandy, rocky soil. Their roots can be moist to dry. In short, it's obvious they aren't picky at all; at home almost anywhere in the South.
For shrubs, the Wasowskis like the oakleaf hydrangea, already widely planted, for its year-round interest.
"But the typical landscape is on artificial life support," says Andy. "When the house is abandoned, it's gone."
He observed what happened to a landscape of native plants in front of one store several months after the business had moved. "It still looked good. It needed a little pruning and picking up, but it was healthy."
Because native landscapes do not require pesticides, beneficial insects, butterflies and songbirds are attracted to them.
Another compelling reason for using natives is they give gardens of a certain area a sense of place.
"In our show (to accompany book tours) we show eight slides of landscapes from all over the country and you can't tell where they are from," says Andy. "They all look the same.
"A landscape ought to look like where we live."