From Lawn to Love: Converting Traditional Turf to Pollinator Friendly Landscaping
Converting from Conventional Lawn to Pollinator Friendly Plants
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I’ve never been much into lawns. Yes, like most, I can respect and admire a perfectly manicured lawn with a beautiful color and lush, healthy grass. But I’ve never been one to strive for something like that. The opposite is true, actually. I wish there were more natives and flowers for pollinators to visit. I want people to stop and admire the beautiful diversity of plants that stand out like an oasis in a green desert.
My front yard was a far cry from being the perfect lawn. It was bumpy, lumpy, and patchy. It would have needed a lot of work or a total replacement to get it to be a perfect lawn. And I just wasn’t going to do that. So you can imagine it was easy for me to rip it up and plant a pollinator garden.
As you can see, my lawn was nothing to write home about. I did plant an apple tree that my girlfriend got me for Christmas. I think that was one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever gotten (sorry mom and dad). She bought it on Amazon, and it is doing well except for a fungal infection.
I ripped it up with a sod cutter I’d rented and started fresh with a Midwest Wildflower Seed Mix from Eden Brothers. This seed mix needs full sun and is 60% annuals and 40% perennials. That wasn’t my ideal – I actually wanted 100% perennials (I should have bought this 100% Perennial Pollinator Wildflower Mix or this 100% Perennial Wildflower Mix, which is slightly different). After just a couple of months, I have lots of bright and beautiful flowers. One day, I was out for just a few minutes, and I saw different pollinators and a hummingbird briefly. I’ve now decided to convert more of my yard to native pollinator plants.
The thing I like about the mixes from Eden Brothers is that they give you a disclaimer that some of the plant seeds may be considered invasive in certain parts. So even though invasives are basically everywhere, at least I knew that I wasn’t causing any potential issues. Always check yourself if you’re not sure.
After running the sod cutter across my lawn. I had a blank canvas. I followed the instructions from Eden Brothers’ website and mixed the seed with sand and spread it by hand.
I was eager to spread it, and I should have taken more time to do so. At first, I threw a lot in one area and it was kinda dense. I feared I would run out, so I started to spread it thinner.
The areas that was more dense looks A LOT better. So my suggestion is, keep it dense and heavy and you will be happier with the results in the long term.
I also made sure to water it regularly.
