Once the yard standard, grass lawns just aren't as popular as they used to be. Now, people want low-maintenance, drought-friendly pollinator havens instead.
But not all homeowners (or HOAs) want to get rid of grass. For one Redditor whose landlord wants them to dig up the wild flora growing in their yard and swap it for grass, saying goodbye to the landscape is a bit of a heartbreak.
"I have to rip up the 'weeds' this weekend because my landlord wants grass," the poster captioned two photos of their yard shared in the no lawns subreddit.
The images show a backyard filled with flourishing native plants. "These are all of the 'weeds' that I let grow," they captioned the images. "I'm in love with the feather-looking ones and the yellow flowers in the background."
Letting your garden go wild can allow local plants to thrive, which in turn can support pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, who do billions of dollars worth of pollinating for free.
While grass is a water-intensive yard decision, going with native or drought-tolerant plants helps to reduce the need for water. In some places like California, there are even incentives to convert your yards away from grass for this reason.
The Reddit thread lit up with comments.
"These are grasses. People pay good money for these," wrote one Redditor. They further suggested modifying the yard as a way to appease the landlord, to add "some pathways with a nod to English-style gardening."
Another Redditor also shared some sound advice. "I think the only thing you can do is make compassion-driven arguments," they wrote. "Explain that you understand what they're going for, but that you really want to encourage the local ecosystem to flourish, by using as close to native ground coverage as you can, and you want to see if there's any room for a middle ground."
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
