Last weeks column focused on ideas to make your garden lower maintenance, one of which was to controversially ditch the lawn altogether. Believe me, I don’t say this lightly since I am in favour of lawns.

They provide a green space of year round interest that connects the different elements of a garden and a soft play area for children but the truth is a traditional lawn may not suit every garden. So what are the alternatives?

If you’re wildlife conscious, transform a rarely used area of lawn into a wildflower meadow.

Mow out a few paths for walking but otherwise let it grow. Seed mixes are cheap and quick to use but wildflower turf yields faster results. If you have difficult or dangerous to mow slopes in your garden, this is a great solution.

Native wildflower meadows provide food in the form of pollen, nectar and seedheads for bees, butterflies and birds as well as providing cover for ground dwelling mammals.

For lawn areas that aren’t frequently walked on, why not try a carpeting ground cover as an alternative to grass? For sunny sites, creeping thyme (Thymus serphyllum) or chamomile works well, specifically the non-flowering Chamaemelum nobile ‘Treneague’.

If you use a flowering Chamomile cultivar, you’ll need to give it a light trim with the mower in late summer to remove the spent flower heads. For a shadier, damp corner, Corsican mint (Mentha requienii) will survive being trodden on from time to time and it releases its minty aroma when you do.

Alternatively, you could use Mind Your Own Business (Soleirolia soleirolii) but be warned - it’s invasive so will need to be contained with a border/edge of some sort.

Many people will argue the merits of artificial grass - it never needs mowing, feeding, weeding, watering or scarifying, it’s soft and it’s very green - all of which I can’t deny, but I’m not a fan.

It’s come along way from the ‘too bright’ green, bristly welcome mat textured stuff and from a distance, I do concede that it can be difficult to tell the difference between high end artificial grass and a very well tended lawn but the good stuff can be pricey and it’s not maintenance free - it still needs cleaning! But the real reason for my opposition is environmental. I love the smell of freshly mown grass in the summer months and fake grass doesn’t smell green.

It’s plastic and plastic doesn’t photosynthesise. Your lawn is home to beetles, insects and worms but how will they adjust to this outdoor carpet? Not well, I’d imagine.

In these parts, many people are fighting what they feel is the losing battle of lawn versus moss. So if all else fails, take your lead from Japanese gardeners and let moss rule.

It’s usually seen as the enemy but where it grows naturally, encourage it. A moss lawn needs little care, its soft and spongy underfoot and in our climate, it thrives. So throw out the rule book and embrace it!