Fostering a garden from seed to bloom takes commitment. One Redditor, up to the task, shocked the internet with before-and-after photos of their first big project: a native plant garden for their friend's lawn.
Posted in the r/NativePlantGardening subreddit, the original poster showed off two images of the project site taken three years apart. In the first photo, a standard green grass lawn lays blank. In the second, fresh landscaping carpets the hill, tall grasses soften the edges, and color bursts from every corner.Â
Not only is it beautiful, but the gardener was also able to create it fairly cheaply by growing many of the plants from seed or by saving and replanting key native species that they dug up at their job at a traditional plant nursery and landscaping service.Â
In turn, they have created a money-saving hillside for their friend, who will now enjoy lower water bills and need less lawn care thanks to the native plants. That's not to mention their front yard will become an exciting hotspot for pollinators, such as bees, birds, and other bugs. Protecting those species ultimately benefits humans, too, as they are a vital cog in our food chain.
Even a lawn that is only partially rewilded can bolster the local ecosystem and return both time and money back to home gardeners. Xeriscaping, a landscaping method beneficial in drier regions, is another way to cut down watering costs.Â
The Reddit audience wasted no time throwing the original poster their deserved flowers.
​​"Nice habitat bro," wrote one commenter.
"So much more interesting and exciting than a lawn," said another. "... It's like a slice of a prairie in a neighborhood!"
"This is the front yard of my dreams," gushed a third. Â
The OP replied to many of the comments, including an answer to a question about inspiration for lawn design. They recommended reading "Planting in a Post-Wild World" and anything by author Douglas Tallamy, as well as listening to the podcast "Native Plants Healthy Planet."
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