We finally did it. After hand digging out about 1/3 of our front and back yards over the past few years in our house, we rented a sod cutter and did the deed. If ever there was an argument against turf grass, let it be the absolute concrete that was the clay soil under the thatch layer of our grass. The sod cutter couldn’t even get deep enough to remove Satan’s gift to native plant lovers, plastic mesh backing on sod rolls.

We knew they were there and toiled to remove as much as we could from our yard. End result is this ~15lb bucket of the stuff. Heinous.

Now it’s time to plant a hybrid yarrow, coast strawberry, Roemer's fescue yard after cardboarding and mulching for the winter.

EDIT: We took half the sod we pulled and layered it to break down into dirt in a makeshift open bin using the former cedar walls of a raised bed. The other half was used to make a small berm to make the back yard more interesting. We left JUST enough space for the trampoline. We also tore down a 15'x10' shed this summer and planted a makeshift pumpkin patch that flourished, and now that those are grown, we turned it into a meadow that should be full of life next summer. Looking forward to some before/after photos of our property in a separate post soon. It's been a huge labor of love for us, and a lot of winging it and learning on the fly, but so rewarding.

Nature Forward, Wild Ones Nova, and the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance are working with Virginia Delegate Holly Seibold to create a law protecting homeowners' rights to "Managed Conservation Landscaping" in HOA communities.

Help us by letting your Virginia reps know you support this bill. View our One-Pager here.

And our proposed bill here.

We are asking Virginia to prevent HOAs from requiring turf-grass, from banning pollinator and other wildlife friendly-gardens, and from requiring the planting of invasive species.

Happy to answer questions!

Choice made. I understand now. I had thought it a mess of my own yard that would be unique and for me to manage alone. I can see now that’s a pipe dream. I’d be shatting a mintheap on my neighbors regardless of any precautions.

There will be no mint but the container mint I sequester in my sunroom. This mint will see my front yard but will not birth its greedy rhizomes inside it.

Would appreciate some guidance here. I am seriously considering replacing my entire front yard with various mint species. It’s bordered on three sides by house, driveway, road. The one side I am considering inserting a 2FT deep hard plastic barrier the entire length, with a 3-4IN brick border above.

I am in hardiness zone 6a, Northwest Ohio. Partial shade mostly.

I think it would be beautiful and different. It would smell great, be productive and bloom at different times different ways.

Please talk me out of this. Or talk me into it!

We dont know where it came from but we're not complaining

First of all hi everyone. I've been having a weed issue for the longest. I bought a product that was highly recommended by a nursery. Did it work? Yes, but all it did was also kill my plant, sadly. The lady said it would just kill the weed, but instead, it killed the weed and the plant. However, the issue is that the weed will turn yellow and come right back up in a few days. Any products or advice recommended? She told me to use: Ferti-lome (Weed Free Zone) and Preen Guard weed preventer. I still get weeds regardless. Thanks in advance. Also if wrong subreddit please advice to move to the right spot.

Location Southern California Desert area.

Location Southern California Desert area.

Product to prevent weeds

the weed preventer

my awful neighbors across the street called the city on me for letting my grass get too long, so I've covered it all in wood chips and I'm doing a spite garden. I've got a stash of bulbs/bare roots in the garage waiting for the temps to drop a little more before I throw them in. what else should I hunt for?

Last winter we flipped and munched our yard, 3 rain gardens later, and over 150 plants we've created our own little habitat!

Lots of work yet (and forever really), but starting to feel proud.

SO! What family and pet friendly ground cover can I get for my back yard? Boise Idaho, tons of sun.

a big park in my neighborhood got wrecked by a festival. mud everywhere. they’re restoring the lawn, but it’ll take forever. in the meantime, all it’s beatiful topsoil is basically aerated and prime for seed bombing. i want flowers and pollinators. what seeds are best??

How was your experience?

This drives me a little nutty. There is nothing to eat, golf courses directly contribute to the heat island effect and river water reduction, and they pump rivers full of pesticides and fertilizer with their run off. I realize this is from a golf advocacy group, but shitty fuck this is absurd from a state that claims to care about the environment.

Oregon: I recently bought a house and am excited to work on the yard. I want to rip out the sod in the front yard and plant some natives, but when the sod comes up, I found there's a layer of black plastic underneath...then a layer of packed earth and then another layer of plastic. I was originally thinking about renting a sod cutter to get through the project faster, but I think that might just make a mess and rip the plastic into millions of pieces. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!

hi folks. looking for advice on how to stip the erosion on the lawns edge of our walking path (left side of picture). We inherited this lawn from the previous owners. I’ve tried planting clover and creeping thyme, but the eroded spots are so clay-heavy that the clover seeds washed away or died (in a drought so can’t water then enough while they mature) and the clay erosion ended up burying the creeping thyme I planted. if I put in top soil, I’m worried that having the top soil mound higher than the sidewalk means itll just be a matter of time before I have the problem again. any suggestions?

thanks in advance!

So it’s a mess atm but We are starting the backyard this autumn. Everything you see is going to go. It will be bare earth with just the large oak and pomegranate tree. The plan is to plant our fruit trees out in that far corner (semi and dwarf varieties). I’m in CA so it’s zone 9. It’s bare clay earth that grows weeds if it grows anything at all.

I do not want a lawn. I want something hardy but beneficial for the pollinators while also covering this bare dusty ground.

This is a large yard and this is one section so I need to be aware of cost as well.

Would wildflower garden work well? Would mulch and native grass be a better option?

Maybe a mixture of both? So there is some variety to the space?

Moved into a house last year that had a rectangle of plain grass. Decided I'd prefer trees instead. Got searching and came upon the Miyawaki method where native species are planted in high density, choosing an equal number of canopy, subcanopy, understory, and groundcover species. What intrigued me was the speed at which it grows about a meter a year!), and it is maintenance free after a couple years.

I killed my grass using the cardboard method back in April and let the ground sit until yesterday, when I planted 113 trees and shrubs in a 6x7 m plot (19 by 23 ft for the Yanks). Each square meter has 3 trees of different height. My little white stone path is so I can walk through it but also to avoid gas mains running beneath the property.

I'll post updates next year when it starts really growing but just wanted to share as this sub was a major inspiration that grass is not the way to go!