3 Reasons Why Replacing Traditional Lawns Are Underrated

Removing traditional, suburb-style, Scott’s-fertilizer lawns is trendy. And yes, it has lots of real benefits like better water, better wildlife, better pollinators, less carbon emissions, less money, etc. But I still think it’s really underrated.

Put Your Yard To Work

When my sod died, and it became quite obvious that I wasn’t going to spend the time, money, and water replacing the Home Depot lawn look-for-look’s-sake, I was like, “so what is this land for?” When my yard was no longer a piece of decor, it forced me to get creative and thoughtful about what I wanted it to do.

Nature Hates a Vacuum

I thought I’d have to replace every square inch of the yard with the right species. Nope! It turns out that there are seeds in the soil waiting to come up. Now, I don’t want every species…but it’s been much less work than anticipated. Also, there’s an enemy of my enemy is my friend situation in the yard. Lots of species keep others in check. I have crabgrass that I really don’t mind because it outcompetes the creeping charlie.

Weeds Are Species Too

I downloaded the iSeek app, and it turns out that what were generic “weeds” have names and a natural history. The “short fluffy green stuff with white” is chickweed, an edible plant no less. Ditto for dozens of plants all in my backyard.
Look into ditching the lawn – even if it’s just a part!