This weekend, I asked this question to members of my community:
Are you ready to kill your lawn?
It’s the end of February, and many Vermonters — myself included — start our seeds mid- to late-March or early April, so gardening preparations are underway.
Over the past several years, I've become something of an environmentalist supporting sustainability in Vermont’s local ecology.
One way I make a real difference is killing my turf grass lawn in favor of organic, native ground cover, and other edible medicinals.
- Wild strawberries
- White clover
- Wild violets
- Dandelions
All these ground-cover plants make for hearty, nutrient-rich topsoil, protect against soil erosion, and provide a safe, soft, and comfortable place for my daughter to play.
And eventually, my family will never have to mow the yard again. This means time back in our summer schedules and fewer emissions from the gas-powered push mower.
While our yard transformation isn't complete and we still have a long way to go, one big thing has already happened in our yard space.
I told a friend a while back about the cardinals who frequent our yard, which have quadrupled, and that's not an exaggeration. We had one bonded pair when we bought our home in 2016. Now there are four bonded pairs and so many more birds, too. One day last spring, my daughter and I observed more than a dozen different birds from our front window.
I believe my Vermont community is well-positioned to show how sustainability and true environmentalism - not greenwashing - are done. And I bet you can show your community how to do it, too.
Here are some steps my family takes each season as we work toward a truly sustainable future:
Lean Into No-Mow May
Would you bring your lawn mower into a grocery store?
The question may sound absurd, but it’s a rational question to ask because every time you mow, you cut down the food Mother Nature provides for the early pollinators.
You’re mowing down Mother Nature’s grocery store.
So skip the mower this May, and let the pollinators do their jobs so we can eat come harvest season.
But don’t stop at May. Expand no-mow May into April and June, too, or — minimally — check in with your neighbors to ensure everyone is staggering their mows. Because if the whole community mows their lawns June 1, you’ll run into the same no-food situation you risked in May.
Mow Around the Keepers
Of course, you’re already mowing around those massive hostas, your ornamental flower beds, those sweet, sweet lilac bushes. And you’ll continue to mow around those bits once you pull that rip cord for the first time and listen to that little motor purr.
(I love mowing, if you can’t tell.)
But while you’re mowing around the pretty stuff, the stuff you planted, consider mowing around the native plants that popped up in your space during the month of May, too.
When I mow for the first time each season, usually mid-June, I give a wide berth to wild violets, strawberries, and lettuce, white clover, wood sorrel, dandelions (medicinal, though not native to my area), mullein, and plaintain.
All of these plants can be safely foraged and eaten by small children. My daughter loves finding “yard snacks,” and since we’re a homeschool family, our yard provides lessons in plant biology.
Note: Please don’t eat a plant from your yard (or anywhere else for that matter) if you don’t know what it is or don’t know that it’s safe to eat. Let’s not go dying on each other from accidental poisoning.
Seed with Natives
At times, our yard spaces can look a little scruffy. My dog leaves behind brown, dead grass spots in the area we refer to as the “poop garden,” so seeding is sometimes a necessity.
When we need to put down seeds, we head to the Vermont Wildflower Farm for ground cover wildflower seed mix or native grass seed mix, depending on what we’re looking for. We choose native plants because native pollinators need local foods but also because native plants develop longer and sturdier root systems, which prevent soil erosion, because they’re evolutionarily adapted to our area.
If you’re not in Vermont and need some direction on finding native seed mixes, check out American Meadows.
Do your research, though. Many seed mixes marketed as “native” include non-native plants, which can become invasive if left unchecked.
Look Before You Yank
Transforming a turf yard into a native habitat takes time, patience, and a healthy appetite for cuss words — at least, for me. Despite the strategic mowing and seeding, plants thrive in chaos and pop up wherever they damn well please.
Every time I see a too-long stem where the ground cover should be, I want to go grab my gloves for a good ole yanking sesh. There’s something so satisfying about pulling a plant right down to the root.
But before you go a-grabbin,’ find out what the plant is. I use Plant Snap, which works fairly well, and I check local resources to learn about endangered plants in my area, so I can remain extra vigilant.
For example, there’s now a rose bush in our front yard that my family didn’t plant, and there is an endangered rose species in Vermont. I’ll wait until a few blooms appear and we can properly identify the type of rose growing before deciding whether to yank it, move it, or leave it alone and just protect it.
Because if an endangered rose decided to put down roots in my front yard, it’s getting its own tomato cage of protection — no mower oopsies here — and we’ll eventually propagate the plant to encourage its re-population.
TL;DR
When planning your gardens this season and adding new ornamentals to your space, make small changes over time to kill non-native turf grasses and create native habitats for all the little critters and birds who depend on your local ecology, your local biome, to thrive.
And skip the chemical pesticides and weed killers that leech into the groundwater and present hazards to us all.
Are you killing your turf lawn? Have a favorite method that has worked well, a resource for those just getting started, or just want to chat about how tasty yard snacks can be?
Leave a comment below!
Happy growing!
<3 Fal