A gardener converted one client's plain grass lawn into a veritable wildflower paradise in just six months, eliciting delight from fellow native plant enthusiasts.
Horticulturist Andy Matheson (@andyson89) shared a video detailing his rewilding process. After laying down cardboard to smother the grass, his team added berms — raised soil mounds — in order to create an organically shaped garden bed.
@andyson89 ♬ Meditation with natural sounds and music that closes your eyes - Red Blue Studio
They then planted seedlings of what Matheson describes as "mostly native and native-adjacent plants, with a couple carefully selected non-native non-invasive plants." They scattered a similar mix of native grasses and native/native-adjacent wildflower seeds in the center of the yard.
And just six months later, he revealed the result: a colorful, thriving bed of wildflowers and natural ground cover that one commenter called "a fairy tale garden."
Matheson joked, "Are you jelly?"
He explained that while the native-adjacent varieties didn't evolve in this client's specific area, they came from other nearby zones with similar climates and weather conditions. Similarly, any non-native varieties were carefully selected for their slow growth and easy care without the danger of invading and stealing resources from native plants.
This rewilding method of gardening benefits homeowners in several ways. Since the plants are already evolved to thrive in the local ecosystem, they require very little maintenance and water. This means massive savings in both time and money on lawn maintenance and watering as compared to traditional grass.
Additionally, the pollinators and wildlife that live and feed from these native plants help the ecosystem stay healthy and balanced. Pollinators are critical to our food supply; approximately one-third of all food we eat would not exist without them, per Pollinator.org.
For all of these reasons, more homeowners have embraced the idea of a rewilded lawn and are implementing low-water, native-plant-heavy designs like the ones Matheson shows off in his video.
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If you were to switch from a grass lawn to a more natural option, which of these factors would be your primary motivation?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Making it look better 🌱 "Oh my goodness this is my lawn goals!" one commenter enthused.
Another said, "Results are in and I am in fact jelly."
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