A Reddit user is sharing remarkable photos of their yard after switching to native plants.
In a post on the r/Ceanothus subreddit, a user uploaded before-and-after pics of their front lawn. What began as a dry, homogenous traditional grass yard transformed into a gorgeous bed of vibrant flowers. This user's experience is a testament to how easy it is to swap out grass for native plants.
"Decided to convert my yard to natives about a year and a half ago knowing nothing about native plants, or gardening at all really," the user wrote. "I'm now obsessed with all the wildlife and growing more plants!"
The user detailed their process in a follow-up comment. "I had bermuda [grass] and it's super tough. I had someone come and remove 6k lbs of it," they wrote. "When I first converted I would walk around everyday after work and spray any grass that came up with water and vinegar or pull them if they were near plants. Just be careful to not get any spray on the new native plants. I also just liked [walking] around and enjoying the flowers/wildlife."
Elsewhere, the user enumerated which kinds of flowers they planted to replace their grass: toyon, yarrow, California poppies, red buckwheat, fuschia, milkweed, multiple types of sage, monkey flower, Douglas iris, sunflowers, and many more.
Rewilding your yard has a multitude of benefits for people and the environment. Native plants can increase biodiversity and attract vital pollinators to local ecosystems. They also typically require far less frequent maintenance and water to maintain, thus saving homeowners time and money on their yards. Native plants, clover lawns, and buffalo grass can all serve as inexpensive, beautiful alternatives to traditional grass lawns.
Other users shared their admiration for the new yard in the comments.
"From a lifeless desolate lawn to a beautiful native ecosystem. Well done! Mother Nature thanks you," one user wrote.
"Looks amazing!!!" another user said.
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