Tired of their lawn, one homeowner in Belgium decided to upgrade part of it with fruit, berries, and flowers.
They shared photos of their project in r/NoLawns. Despite the name of the subreddit, not all of the members give up their lawns completely. Some, like this Michigan homeowner, convert just part of their yards to flower beds, vegetable gardens, and water-saving native plant landscaping, while others are making the change a little at a time.
This Redditor started by planting two large beds in their front yard, both in an area that used to be dominated by thirsty, high-maintenance grass.
"First section is planted with heather; creeping thyme actually was already here," they said.
The accompanying picture shows a flowerbed dotted with young plants in red, yellow, orange, green, and many shades of pink and purple, all surrounding what appears to be a young rosebush.
There's work still to be done, as only part of the flower bed has mulch over it and the underlying cardboard layer is in disarray. "Cardboard went flying; I didn't add enough wood chips," the Redditor explained.
Another photo shows the other bed, which holds half a dozen small bushes supported by stakes and surrounded by bare ground. "Cleaned the ground next to our fruits and berries and sowed white clover," said the original poster.
In a comment, they detailed their future plans. "Next actions: buy more wood chips … We want some taller vegetation close to the hedge. We'll be layering this garden in reverse, with the idea that we have a nicely layered view from our windows … All the other grass still needs to be removed, probably a path in here to invite exploration and some low maintenance vegetation."
"Great that you're transforming your lawn into something more," said one commenter. "I think adding tall grass to the edges is a very good idea as well!"
However, they were concerned about the original poster's choice of flowers. "The heather you've got there is not great," they said. "It looks pretty but the flowers are unavailable for pollinators."
They recommended natural heather varieties — native to the area — which have more open flower shapes that allow bees and butterflies to access the nectar, providing food for these important insects.
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