Native pollinator plantings help nourish local wildlife and the ecosystem. (Photo via Getty Images)
There are 40 million acres of lawn growing in the United States today. That’s about six species of plants covering an area the size of Wisconsin.
America’s lawns have been growing in popularity since the 1700s. This quest to surround ourselves with smooth, green surfaces has come at significant cost both to homeowners and the environment. We spent almost $100 billion mowing, weeding, seeding and feeding our lawns in 2023, and that number is insignificant compared to the cost to the environment. Cultivating large numbers of a single plant species in the same space, year after year, has contributed to a dangerous decline in biodiversity (defined as the variety of organisms in an ecosystem and important for sustaining life). In effect, we are growing ecological dead zones.
Anna Galusha Aquino, who lives in Richmond and practices landscape architecture across the state, urges us to put away our mowers, pesticides and fertilizers and take up more earth-friendly practices that will build biodiversity back into the residential landscape.
As a first step, Aquino suggests converting sections of turfgrass into small groves of native trees, especially oaks, which host an astounding 500 species of moths and butterflies. She urges homeowners to “leave the leaves where they fall,” where they will offer safe harbor to the tiny pupae that drop from the foliage above. During the hottest, driest months of the year, when growth slows, mow the remaining turfgrass less often and consider switching to an electric mower, weed eater and leaf blower.
Aquino also likes to replace a lawn with what she calls “ground-hugging” plants — low-lying species that grow more horizontally than upright. She’s especially excited about a little powerhouse called phlox subulata. It’s a deer-resistant native evergreen that grows in a grass-like mat, takes full or part sun, flowers in spring, serves as a larval host plant for seven species of moths and butterflies, and tolerates some foot traffic. “It offers much-needed early season nectar and pollen and eventually grows so dense that weeds can’t get purchase,” she adds. It wants only well-draining soil in return.
For a more holistic approach, Aquino suggests “converting a high-input, manicured monoculture lawn” into a mixed-species lawn, which she fondly refers to as a “country lawn.”
“Avoid letting any one thing become too influential,” she says. Encourage clover and native violets, dandelions, mixed grasses and sedges — local colonizers whose fibrous root systems anchor soil, prevent erosion, filter pollutants and help replenish the water table, all while supporting local wildlife. They have little to no need for water or fertilizer. If you have a mixed-species lawn, celebrate “No Mow April” by letting plants flower and even set seed. They will nourish early emerging pollinators at a time of year when there are fewer nectar-producing plants available.
Deer-resistant, the low-lying native phlox subulata grows in a grass-like mat. (Photo via Getty Images)
Aquino recommends “matrix plantings” for homeowners who want an even more natural look. Designed plantings that mimic meadows in the wild, matrix plantings were made popular by Piet Oudolf, who helped design New York City’s High Line. Invest some time in planning a matrix planting. The payoff is a robust ecosystem that offers an appealing interplay of heights, textures, colors and bloom times.
Matrix plantings are organized in grids and built in layers from the ground up. A loose framework of grasses and sedges takes up 40% to 60% of the space and unites the landscape into a visually appealing, weed-resistant and resilient whole. Infill with clumps or drifts of low-growing plants, interspersed with structural specimens such as Culver’s root and blue vervain. The result is a multidimensional mixed planting where there is always something in flower. The nonprofit Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation recommends growing at least three different species that will flower in each of the three blooming seasons to ensure a continuous food supply for native wildlife. There are lists of pollinator-friendly native plants organized by region on the Xerces Society website.
Even in our own backyards, nature knows best. Put the right native plants in the right place — plants that are acclimated to the rainfall, sun and soil conditions in your location — and they will work together in the complex relationships that have evolved over millions of years. The result is a sustainable ecosystem that requires less water, no fertilizer and no pesticides. When we garden like nature does, the plants do the work.
