Text Box: a well maintained lawn. But, as a professional landscape designer, I have never seen a home that could not shrink the size of the lawn without any negative impact. A simple way to shrink your lawn is to extend the borders of existing plantings; plant lower-growing perennials in front of your existing shrubs. If you have trees in your lawn, create beds around them. Extend beds out to the drip line of the tree and mulch the circle. Just remember not to place the mulch right next to the trunk. Text Box: Who doesn’t have an area in their garden where grass just won’t grow? Why not plant a lawn alternative that will take some foot traffic and still function like a lawn. For sunny areas, try Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and for shadier areas try Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalid). Debbie is a garden coach, landscape designer, and writer in Stamford. Check out her blog at www.gardenofpossibilities.com. Text Box: Growing Green - Reduce Your Lawn By Debbie Roberts Text Box: Did you know that a 3.5 hp lawnmower pollutes as much in one hour as an automobile driving 350 miles? Or that the EPA says as much as 50% of urban fresh water is used to water lawns each year? Not to mention the tons of herbicides, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers we dump on our lawns every year to keep them green. Hey, I love my lawn as much as the next guy and I admit a lawn can be a real asset to any garden. Nothing showcases the planting beds and borders of a garden like Text Box: Page # Text Box: In the Garden Text Box: Volume 1, Issue 2 Text Box: Upcoming Local Events and Sales Text Box: Weekend of April 18th—Grand Spring Opening at Young’s Nurseries.  Storewide sale and raffle. Saturday, April 18—Earth Day Celebration & Recycle Fest at New Canaan Nature Center,  noon—4pm.  Arbor Day Tree & Shrub Sale, April 23-25 at Sam Bridge in Greenwich. All trees and shrubs 30% off! Saturday, April 25 - Green Day for Everyone at the Bartlett Arboretum. 10am - 3pm. Members free, non-members free with gate admission. Saturday, May 2, 9:00am-2:00pm – 48th Annual May Gardeners’ Market at the Garden Education Center of Greenwich, 130 Bible St., Cos Cob, CT 06807. Free admission, open to the public. Shop for Text Box: organic heirloom vegetable plants, unusual flowers, specialty plants (many are deer resistant and all are native to New England), top-sized dahlia tubers, unusual geraniums, and more. 12 juried vendors from specialty nurseries. The Garden Education Center is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to developing interest and involvement in horticulture, nature, and the arts – all proceeds will support the Center’s mission. Visit www.gecGreenwich.org or phone 203-869-9242 for more information. Thursday through Saturday, May 7-9 – Lilac Festival at Sam Bridge in Greenwich. Special pricing on lilacs. Saturday, May 9 - Spring Plant Sale at the Bartlett Text Box: Arboretum. Thursday, May 28, 2:00-9:00pm – Sustainable Gardening Expo. Come find out about native plants and where to buy them, alternatives to pesticides, managing turf organically, rain gardens, community gardening, and more. Five lectures in the evening about sustainable, water-quality-focused, environmental management projects. Stamford Government Center Lobby. Free to public. Vendor displays 2:00-8:00pm. Lectures 6:00-8:45pm. RSVP for lecture seating to http://sustainablegardeningexpo.eventbrite.com/. The Local Events page on The Gardeners’ List website is updated each week. For a complete list of current and upcoming events, check