Great Low-Mow Plants

If you want to reduce your mowing, there are lots of landscaping options to help you out: trees, shrubs, ground cover, flowers, edible plants, and low-mow grasses. You can also design your low-mow space in such a way as to attract hummingbirds and other birds, bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects (there's even a wasp that will kill Japanese beetles!).

Here are some great resources for more information:

• Jefferson County Cooperative Extension from the University of Kentucky School of Agriculture
• Information on Urban Trees from the Kentucky Division of Forestry
• A list of Bernheim Select Trees, species well-suited to our climate from the staff at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest
• A pictoral guide of the 22 Benefits of Urban Street Trees from Dan Burden of the Glatting Jackson urban design firm and Walkable Communities, Inc.
• Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Flowering Plants from Michigan State University.
• An interactive tool to identify Native Plants Attractive to Wildlife in your area from North Carolina State University
• Plants Native to Kentucky from the Kentucky Native Plant Society
• Native Grasses and Wildflowers from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin
• A trove of gardening wisdom from the National Gardening Association
• A List of Invasive Plants, species that will take over and endanger the health of desirable plants from the Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council

Phrases to search for: Arbor Day, backyard wildlife, ecosystem services, Greenscapes Program, Growing Power, invasive plants, Kentucky native plants, Kentucky Native Plant Society, Kentucky trees, landscaping, native plants, natural landscaping, permaculture, pest control, pesticide programs, SPIN Farming, sustainable gardening, sustainable sites, urban ecology, weed control, Wild Ones.

Please call Air Pollution Control District at 502-574-6000 or contact APCD by email if you have any questions.