Transform Your Lawn Into A Buffet
Do you want to turn your boring grass lawn into a vibrant, wildlife-friendly habitat? Converting part or all your lawn into a native plant garden can benefit your local ecosystem and provide food and shelter for birds, pollinators, and other animals. Here are some tips for transforming your lawn based on the work of ecologist Doug Tallamy:
Start by removing the grass in sections. You can solarize, smother with cardboard and mulch, or even carefully use herbicide (not recommended). If you must use chemicals, just be sure to avoid chemicals that persist in the soil.
Replace the grass with native plants that support wildlife. Focus on trees, shrubs, and perennials that are larval hosts for native butterflies and moths. Some good options include oak, cherry, willow, milkweed, goldenrod, asters, and more. Choose a variety of plants that bloom and fruit throughout the seasons.
Arrange plants in groups, not single specimens. Massing plants together makes it easier for pollinators to move between them and provides shelter for wildlife.
Include layers in your design. Incorporate trees, shrubs, smaller plants, groundcovers, and vertical structures like trellises or dead snags. This diversity creates more niches for creatures to inhabit.
Provide elements like water, rocks, fallen leaves & branches. These offer food, shelter, nesting spots, and puddling sites for insects and other invertebrates which are crucial to the food web.
By ridding yourself of grass, you also eliminate the need for most pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Chemicals are harmful to pollinators and other beneficial insects that birds rely on for food.
Let some areas stay messy! Leave leaf litter, avoid excessive tidying, and keep some overgrown spots. This provides cover for ground-nesting bees, caterpillars, and more.
With some planning and elbow grease, you can create a vibrant habitat oasis in your yard. Be patient as your landscape establishes and enjoy watching it come to life! A wildlife-friendly garden brings beauty, diversity, and resilience to your little corner of the world. If done with the right plants, it can also become your own new healthy buffet of edibles.
For design ideas, plant suggestions and general consultations, reach out to us at [email protected]