A Denver resident is generating buzz on Reddit after sharing their impressive backyard metamorphosis.
In a post on the r/NoLawns community, the Redditor revealed a series of before-and-after photos chronicling their journey from a lackluster lawn to a thriving oasis of native plants and produce.
"When we moved into this house, the backyard was a mixture of stumps, dying grass, layers of rock and plastic, and thankfully a few established pollinator-friendly salvia," the original poster shared. "No in-ground irrigation."
Over three years, the homeowner and their family took on the project themselves, with the exception of pouring a new patio. They sifted out buried rocks and concrete, which were repurposed to create a charming dry creek bed and border the new planting areas.
The transformed space now boasts a variety of native, pollinator-friendly plants and a bounty of fruits and vegetables growing in containers. Hops vines climb toward the sky while salvias bloom in vibrant hues.
Switching from a traditional lawn to native plants offers a host of benefits for both homeowners and the environment. Native species are adapted to local conditions, requiring less water, fertilizer, and maintenance compared to resource-hungry grass lawns.
This translates to significant savings on water bills and countless hours reclaimed from mowing and upkeep. Rewilding even a small area of your yard with native plants, clover, or buffalo grass can create a valuable habitat for essential pollinators like bees and butterflies, supporting the ecosystems that sustain us.
Fellow Redditors were quick to applaud the stunning transformation.
"I'm a Denver resident too. Love seeing beautiful native vegetation over the insanity of trying to keep Kentucky Bluegrass alive in the high desert," one commenter remarked.
Another was particularly intrigued by the dry creek bed feature, asking, "How'd the little rock creek go? Will it actually collect and flow water? I'm trying to do this as well but I need to loop it all the way from the back to the front for drainage."
The original poster replied, "We don't get a ton of rain here so it seems to do well enough at moving water away from the house and into my yarrow plant. It does an even better job of using up all the scrap concrete I had from breaking up random pads around the yard."
While they note there is still "some work to be done laying down paths and wood chips," the family's hard work has already paid off in a yard that is both "functional and beautiful."
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