One homeowner on Reddit said they got shockingly quick results when they decided to start trying to attract pollinators to their yard.
Pollinators are the superheroes of the natural world. Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other small creatures visit flowers to eat the nectar there but end up carrying pollen from flower to flower on the way. That pollen is essential to help seeds and fruit mature — so pollinators are vital to humans and animals who want to harvest food from the plants, as well as to the plants themselves, which need them to reproduce.
Like many homeowners, this Redditor was tired of boring, high-maintenance "useless grass" and decided to make the change to something that would make pollinators happy. "Had this patch of grass behind our garage for some time," they said in their initial post. "Tore out the grass and have planted a variety of native [flowers]."
Native plants are a good choice because they're low maintenance; they've evolved to live on the local rainfall and soil conditions. Plus, they'll attract the native bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects already living in the area. This Redditor chose echinacea, rudbeckia, spiderwort, Joe Pye weed, aster, golden Alexander, and penstemon.
In an update, posted to the r/NoLawns subreddit, they shared progress photos of healthy, flowering plants. "For the first season I was pleasantly surprised how well everything took!" they said. "The flowers were definitely seeing a lot of action from bees and the occasional butterfly, and I can't wait for next year!"
Just as plants and the ecosystem rely on pollinators, pollinators rely on flowers to feed from — so homeowners who plant pollinator-friendly flowers are doing their local environment a big service. Plus, it's fun to watch the parade of bugs that come to visit. This Redditor shared photos of a bee and a swallowtail caterpillar from their small garden, excited at how many they were seeing just three months in.
"It looks absolutely charming; thanks for sharing!" said one commenter. "These progress pics are always so encouraging to me — especially when I've just installed a new batch of plantings."
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