A homeowner on Instagram just shared a funny video showing the incredible progress he's made in turning his yard into a native plant oasis.
Native plants are one of the best choices you can make for your yard. Unlike lawns, which need gallons of water to stay green and healthy, native plants have adapted to the rainfall in their area. That means a lower water bill and much less maintenance. Plus, native flowers feed pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Lately, more and more people have been planting native flowers, and some homeowners have even fought for that right in court. Instagrammer Sebastian Compagnucci (@on.terra.firma) is joining in.
"I feel so powerful," he wrote in the title of his video, which is captioned: "Me to my property after I've rewilded another section of lifeless grass with native and pollinator-friendly plants."
In the video, Sebastian snaps his fingers in front of the camera, transforming patchy, brown grass to a brick-edged garden bed full of flowers in an instant. A voiceover says: "You are healed. I have healed you."
According to Sebastian's comments, his goal is to create a microprairie — a patch of property where the native prairie plants from the area have been restored. These areas provide much-needed habitat for small wildlife species that have been pushed out of their natural environments. Not only do native flowers offer nectar for pollinators, but they can provide shelter for beneficial insects and their eggs, which in turn can feed birds and other wildlife.
"Cue the hoa Karen's complaining," read one pessimistic reply.
Nevertheless, many commenters were interested in trying the project for themselves. "I'm sure you are asked this frequently, but where do you source your plants? I have several large beds that I want to make into microprairies but I want to do it right," said one user.
"If I'm purchasing, I'm buying from local native plant nurseries," said Sebastian. "But I also grow a lot of plants myself from my own seeds."
Others were already seeing results. "After letting milkweed grow and planting a few different species of plants, our suburban house is getting butterflies, a tiger bee fly (which I hadn't seen before), bees, and now a frog!" said one user. "It's so cool seeing wildlife return."
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