We planted clover; it blooms (great for pollinators), spreads fast, is very comfy to sit on, absorbs shock better when you fall on it, has a max length that’s much shorter than grass, so you don’t really need to mow the lawn unless you prefer it short and leaves less space for other undesireable plants to grow, while not needing much water to stay green (saving water). It’s pretty great honestly!
Little fact: clover is edible, so if you feel like eating clover nectar, you’ll be able to. I know some people might find that weird, but it tastes very good, which is why many farmers let their bees collect clover nectar to make their honey (it makes sweet/tangy delicious honey, due to how sweet clover nectar tastes to begin with).
I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be a cow and just eat the floor
You don’t eat the leaf of it, you pick the petal and suckle the nectar out… it’s one of the rare flowers that you can eat the nectar of. Also if you ever ate broccoli and cauliflower, congratz, you ate a flower, like a cow would.
I highly recommend clover yards. Minimal upkeep and they help nature. They also require like 60% less water and stay green longer. Only grow to about 4-6” so you don’t have to mow.
Tell that to the home owner’s association.
Please.
Native plants ftw! Did anyone look into pocket forests too? I’ll try to pitch it on my next community meeting
Our first one of the year earlier this week
Victorian aristocracy: ah, yes, mowed laws, because useful land is for peasants.
Americans: FREEDOM LAWNS
A major cultural component of the US is the cult of wealth. You’re kind of taught/expected to put forward the veneer and appearance of economic success and wealth, even if you are neither. Fundamentally, Americans have been taught a sort of economic moralism that goes that good people become wealthy people and bad people become poor people, ergo the wealthy are good and the poor are bad. So, you want to project that you’re a good person, and one way to do that is projecting the appearance of wealth. Shit drives me bananas, man.
The chinese used to present their wealth by making dumplings with a lot of meat and thin wrappings.
Still get knocks on my door from companies wanting to help me with my yard.
No thanks.
Bunnies made homes in leaves, I get to watch a red-tailed hawk hunt in my backyard with their adolescent hawks, baby deer taking naps in the grass, the turtles still visit and have a places to lay their eggs (small pond on property), peeper frogs in the spring, lightning bugs like crazy in the summer, 3ft garder snake that suns in the bushes / front steps in the summer, birds have taken over the bushes and my dogs get to chase bunnies and watch the birds from the windows.
Besides this being a remenant of slave ownership, look how many slaves I have to keep my lawn perfectly manicured type thing, it’s just another capitalist shit storm they sell you to keep you from seeing what’s really going on and paying more for things that are ultimately killing you, us, everyone.
Oh, and I don’t spend every waking fucking moment on the weekends, mowing, raking, moving specific nature into another spot, all for vanity’s sake and to turn around and do it all over again.
Or go get gas, spill it filling up the lawn mower, further pollute the atmosphere etc., (my stuff is electric anyways).
So many benefits to this.
Take your time and energy back.
Stop fighting nature.
Let the planet live like it wants.
Do you just let your grass grow wild or planted something like clover like others are suggesting?
For now, I let it grow wild and mow it in certain areas because the grass grows so long and thick it’s like a foot tall shag rug standing up. My dogs get lots in it and there’s a ton of ticks if I don’t.
I also already have wild strawberries, clovers, etc. and I’m happy for those to take over the yard. But I want to add patches / areas of native wild flowers eventually. Help the pollinators out some more.
There’s a place, in my state, that sells native griund cover and even gives tips on how to ‘kill’ your yard and replace with native ground cover.
I also didn’t specify, my backyard is all open and I’ve let that go completely. It’s really fun to see how nature has taken it back.
Part of the front is fenced in, to keep the dogs safe, but that’s the only part I do any mowing in, so I can see my pups when the grass grows too long.
Thanks for asking!
What do you do with yours?
I dead ass had a pest company come to my door and offer to flush my lawn with pesticide to get rid of all the bugs in it. I said “my guy, did you know that global insect populations are crashing and we’re heading towards complete ecological collapse? I recognize everyone’s gotta get their bread, but this is pretty bad stuff you guys are doing.” He seemed interested and moved on. I doubt he quit the company, but a boy can dream.
Edit: no HOA, and my neighbors dgaf, so I can be a proud dandelion enjoyer. Planting tons of natives, we’ll see how it goes.
Or the obvious, these bugs keep the yard healthy
I’m sorry, he wanted to exterminate your garden?
That is the stupidest thing I have heard in ages.
edit: as in, stupid on the pest company.
I mean that’s a growth market if you can convince people it’s something they need.
The best part is it’s outdoors, so the bugs will come back and then you get repeat business! I bet you even get some whales who get you out for it every month!
This is actually how “entrepreneurs” think. They’ll come up with these evil, manipulative schemes and think they’re being clever.
Yeah, exactly right. I was fucking flabbergasted at first, but I had to make sure dude understood what he was doing to earn his bread
Hopefully you saved some other insects from him.
One can hope
there are a LOT of cool native ground covers in most places. grass isn’t just wasteful and ecologically devastating; it’s ugly as hell.
Yeah, fescue is not my friend. I’m looking into growing some native clump grasses and clovers and replacing my lawn with that. There’s some downright interesting plants that used to be all over the San Joaquin valley. Drives me batty when people say that nothing used to grow here before it was settled and cultivated.
Right now I’ve got California Poppies, Black Sage seedlings and Coyote Mint seedlings. There’s an epilobium species growing here that might be native and edible or non-native and poisonous (I’m an experienced and cautions forager; seems like epilobiums can be kinda bastards to tell apart, so I’m not going to proceed further there), and red clover. I’m looking into getting some Nodding Needlegrass, Three-awn grass, and some Triteleia spp. I was looking at Owl Clover, but it’s parasitic on grasses, and I don’t to piss off the neighborhood by setting off an epidemic of parasitic owl clover (my power level isn’t quite that high yet).
oh! you’re in central california! there’s some really cool stuff out there. there’s cool drought tolerant tall purple grasses.
or you could grow something more utilitarian; like vegetables or herbs or something. that’s also really nice. they don’t look as pretty, but they smell AMAZING. plus you can attract cats.
I edited this in after you posted. Right now I’ve got California Poppies, Black Sage seedlings and Coyote Mint seedlings. There’s an epilobium species growing here that might be native and edible or non-native and poisonous (I’m an experienced and cautions forager; seems like epilobiums can be kinda bastards to tell apart, so I’m not going to proceed further there), and red clover. I’m looking into getting some Nodding Needlegrass, Three-awn grass, and some Triteleia spp. I was looking at Owl Clover, but it’s parasitic on grasses, and I don’t to piss off the neighborhood by setting off an epidemic of parasitic owl clover (my power level isn’t quite that high yet). I’ve also scattered some nettle-leaf hyssop seeds, but I seem to be coming up zeroes on that front. Now, my neighbor is a heavy irrigator and always floods my side yard after years of asking them to manage it better. Nothing grows there but mud or water-loving non-native grasses, so I got my hands on some cattail seeds (and dill and fennel) and scattered them in there. I’m curious to see if I can get some cattails going.
fennel is great for spots you expect to flood. lots watery spots in CA have fennel, and it’s a unique regional anisette flavor nobody can ever put their finger on. great for salads and tomato sauces.
you could also try putting in a water break, or doing the owl clover just so your neighbor has nothing to water. fix the problem.
Lmao, I’m hoping I might get a reaction when swamp plants start coming up on their side of the fence. At any rate, cattails are such a dead useful plant, if I get a good crop of them (or better, a mix of them and dill/fennel), I won’t be too mad at the neighbor.
your life is so much more botanically interesting than mine.
No drop of rain blames themselves for the flood.
I live in a van, I’ve spent a lot of time deep in the woods all across the US. There are still hardly any insects when the nearest lawn is dozens of miles away. This is almost definitely related to industrial scale pollution effecting the entire ecosystem not just just localized habitat destruction.
I live in California’s central valley. It’s a big area that’s kind of similar to the serenghetti in terms of ecology in that it’s technically a desert purely by rainfall measures, but it’s a seasonal wetland in practice. Suffice it to say that bugs used to be off the fucking hook here; if you drove for forty minutes, your car was caked. Now, you barely get six bugs. Scared the shit out of my nature-loving mom when I pointed that out.
Pollinators HATE this one simple trick!
Not my lawn. I’ve been selectively breeding my yard to only have highly drought tolerant native plants. My neighbor brags about his st Augustine monoculture and the $400 a month water bill to keep it alive, but always asks me what my secret is because I literally never water, fertilize, or poison it (besides with specific poison for invasive fire ants).
Although I am planning on seeding clover this year, largely because I plan on urban farming in my backyard, but I won’t complain about the nitrogen fixing in the front either.
What do you use against fire ants?
Your lawn sounds far more interesting than his. I hate the cookie cutter, artificially green lawns.
I think it looks better, but I’m an outdoorsman at heart so I prefer nature.
Several years ago, developers cut down a giant tract of woods practically across the street from my house in order to build a brand new housing community. Cookie cutter homes with early 90’s Tim Burton level “perfect lawns” stretching over hundreds of acres.
I started taking my walks down that way, since at a minimum they had sidewalks along the entire stretch making my evening walks a bit safer than trying to navigate the roadsides without them.
A couple of springs after the monstrosity was built, there was a house where about 1/4 of the lawn was covered in the mounds of ground nesting bees. I specifically chose my walking path each day so that I could go by there to witness the spectacular display. It was so neat watching the bees, males hovering over the mound nests fighting off rivals and trying to entice females. The melodious buzz of hundreds of bees dancing around the entrances to their nests was the highlight of my stroll.
Then one day I walked by and the owner of that yard was outside talking to someone from a pest control company about how to get rid of the bees in their yard. I’m not one to intrude on people, but since I was stopped at the intersection due to traffic and I overheard the conversation, I did mention to them that these mounds would be gone in a matter of days regardless of whether they were sprayed or not, and that the bees are non-aggressive natives that wouldn’t/couldn’t sting you and posed no threat.
A week or so later there was a sign in the yard with some statement that basically said to avoid touching the grass, keep pets and children out, dangerous pesticides had been sprayed.
The optimist in me wants to believe that something I read is true, and it basically stated that traditional pesticides are not usually very effective against ground nesting bees because the adults are short lived anyway, and most of the commonly used pesticides bind to soil and therefore don’t usually penetrate deeply enough down into the soil to kill the larva/offspring.
I remember my old house, i replaced 75% of the lawn with a flower garden and meadow flowers, moss, etc. the HOA was PISSED. I swear HOAs exist only to be miserable killjoys
My dad did the same with his, only to find his neighbour had tried (sincerely) to be helpful and mowed it while dad was out of town. My dad does not speak highly of his neighbor’s intelligence.
Mowed…the moss?
I’m not sure what stage of rewilding his garden had reached at that time, don’t think there was a lot of moss, mainly flowers and whatnot.
Oh, so even dumber, then.
Is this your yard? No shame! Many people inherit landscapes like this when they move in and haven’t found the time to make a change. Check out the sidebar for resources on how to get started on a more pollinator-friendly landscape!
You don’t have to remove the whole lawn at once if it seems overwhelming. Even a small insect-friendly garden area or changes in how you manage the lawn can make a big difference.
This Xerces Society article also has some basic and easy steps: https://xerces.org/blog/bee-friendlier-with-your-lawncare
This!!! I love the Xerxes Society! I need to save your comment because it really does seem overwhelming at first, and I want to let people know every bit helps, even a few flowers in the early spring or fall!
Check out the sidebar for resources on how to get started on a more pollinator-friendly landscape!
That’s what I’m here for. Thanks!
Even a small insect-friendly garden area can make a big difference.
I appreciate the regular advice here, and that is what I’m starting with.
It’s not perfect, but I spread a lot of regionally appropriate clover all over my existing lawn. By getting a variety of colors it means I get pretty flowers, it doesn’t grow tall which keeps the neighbors from being too unhappy and I regularly have a decent number of polinators just doing their thing.
It hasn’t killed the grass, but it is doing a good job stunting it.I’m still occasionally required to mow by code, but when I do it doesn’t eliminate the flowers and just lops off the top few inches of grass and clover.
Same! Clover is great ground cover.
We literally didnt even need to do anything. We just mowed the lawn every couple of weeks and left some areas to grow as they please and now we have an assortment of the strangest plants ive ever seen. No idea what any of it is but theres an insane number of bees wasps and other bugs in the bushes in the summer now. The only downside is im scared to walk past a particular bush in fear that i mighr get stun so i might need to remove that one bush :D
That’s my approach. Let things grow for a few weeks after the last freeze, then mow regularly. Now my yard is basically all native plants
Its not, I found the picture somewhere else.
Haha I meant to direct more at the general audience, as in does your yard look like this?
Ohh, right. also, the resources are really useful btw.
I figured it out from context, but you could add "Readers, " to the beginning of the comment to make it clearer.
The bees are dying because of neonicatinoids in RoundUp presticides.
Yes, neonicotonoids probably kill bees.
But if we want to be taken seriously, we need to be knowledgeable about the subject. Neonicotonoids are a class of insecticides. Roundup is a herbicide (glyphosate). They can both be bad, but they are bad in different ways.
And parasitic mites
And the lack of dead leaf cover over winter.
We’ve stopped mulching at the end of the year. We let the leaves fall and stay. In the spring we wait a long time until the grass is quite long.
Loose the bees and things will get bad, quickly.
We replaced our grass with clover as the bees like the flowers.
Chuck some creeping thyme into it also and some creeping camomile.
Both are factors
Lawns are giant funko pops for the modern suburbanite home owner.
