No-mow lawns are not so low-maintenance that they?EUR??,,????'???ll allow you to park the lawn mower permanently, but these special low-growing grass blends take almost all the work out of a lawn. They save time, gas, water and fertilizer.

?EUR??,,????'??We don?EUR??,,????'???t even recommend using fertilizer,?EUR??,,????'?? says Neil Diboll, owner of Prairie Nursery in Westfield, Wis. ?EUR??,,????'??I never fertilize mine, and I never use herbicides.?EUR??,,????'??

Instead of weekly mowing, Diboll recommends mowing a no-mow lawn once a year.

?EUR??,,????'??Of course, some people want a cropped look and they mow them every three weeks,?EUR??,,????'?? he says, ?EUR??,,????'??but I just go out in June and mow once, to cut the seed heads off.?EUR??,,????'??

No-mow lawns have been around for a decade or so. In the early years, they were sold to parks departments and to landscape contractors.

?EUR??,,????'??It?EUR??,,????'???s the whole movement toward ecology, toward a self- sustaining environment,?EUR??,,????'?? says Keith Hopkins, owner of Hobbs & Hopkins specialty seed company in Portland, Ore.

Since it was introduced about 10 years ago, Fleur de Lawn has caught on with second-home owners in the Pacific Northwest, and Hobbs & Hopkins has developed mixes with daisies, yarrows, clovers and grasses appropriate for climates across the country, from Los Angeles to the Northeast.

If you?EUR??,,????'???re ready to switch to low-mow grasses instead of high- maintenance turf, summer is the time to plan. Cool-season grasses should be planted in early fall to give them time to get established before summer?EUR??,,????'???s heat sets in. Warm-season grasses, such as native buffalo grass should be planted in early spring.

No-mow lawns may not save the planet all by themselves, ?EUR??,,????'??but it?EUR??,,????'???s something you can do to reduce chemical dependency, oil addiction and save time and money,?EUR??,,????'?? Diboll says.