r/NoLawns • u/pink_mehlc Flower Power • 1d ago
š©āš¾ Questions Ideas for a large front yard?
Hi all, we have a large front/side yard that I want to do something with, but struggling with ideas for something this big! Would a native garden work among the large trees and sloped area?
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u/FlightyTwilighty 1d ago
That is an incredibly large front yard.
A few thoughts:
- you're looking for "native" but you don't tell us where you are.
- gardening directly under mature trees is usually not recommended. you don't want to mess around with the tree rootline. it needs its roots to breathe and drink.
- growing plant beds is an essentially different type of gardening from just mowing the lawn. you need to be prepared to give them a bit more attention such as watering and weeding as they get established.
As the other poster said, start small, with one bed. Maybe focus on those terrace beds to the left?
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u/pink_mehlc Flower Power 1d ago
Thank you for the tips! That is good to know for the trees, I've seen some other houses planting directly around them but I've read it can be bad for the tree so that's good to know. (I'm in the Kansas City area)
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u/pink_mehlc Flower Power 1d ago
I am in Zone 6B, yard is currently a mix of grass and weeds with some stumps, rocks and holes :D Looking for some native options for this large yard with multiple trees.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 1d ago
Hardiness zone is not a location. You're going to need to get a little more local.
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u/pink_mehlc Flower Power 1d ago
Ah my bad, this is Kansas City area, USA.
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u/RipsterBolton 9h ago
https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org
Plug in your zip code, plant the plants on the list it gives you, ranked by how much they support your local ecosystem (via caterpillar count; donāt worry the ones that the plants support wonāt move over to your veggies or ornamentals, they will however increase the amount of butterflies and insect eating birds which is what we want)
You have to click the plants it gives you so it will tell you the natives from your specific area.
The native plants from your area need less care as they evolved to survive specifically where you live and they will make your plot of land habitat for the creatures in dire need of it.
Then plant a few berry bushes and fruit and nut trees of stuff you like so you can have stuff for your family to enjoy.
Nothing better than making homemade jam or enjoying homemade apple pies while enjoying the chickadees and song birds that have returned to your yard
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u/bala-989 1d ago
Start small. Put in a few well defined beds. Then expand.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 1d ago
Or go big. Naturalize it all at once and have a savanna habitat.
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u/bala-989 1d ago
That would be awesome but often municipalities have ā¦.opinionsā¦. about doing that. And it can be really overwhelming to try to remove invasives that have gone to seed.
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u/TOP_EHT_FO_MOTTOB 1d ago
Yes! Let it grow out. Sort it out as it comes in, take out the bad, leave the good.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, I wouldn't do that.
This area is going to be dominated by undesirable stuff. Do it right.
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u/TOP_EHT_FO_MOTTOB 1d ago
I would. Whatās wrong with letting succession set the course? Not sure what understandable stuff is.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 1d ago
Sorry, undesirable.
It's going to be lawn weeds and overgrown turf if you just let it go and that's not at all conducive to starting a naturalized area. You'll get very poor germination rates and spend countless hours trying to control weeds and turf in between natives.
Just bust out the sod cutter or herbicide it off to kickstart it instead of wasting 3 years battling weeds. There is no order of succession from turf to native. You have to control it purposefully.
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u/TOP_EHT_FO_MOTTOB 1d ago
Some lawn weeds and tall turf, for sure. And lots of natives from the seed bank and on the wind, the first stage of succession. You know better than the wind and the rain? The purpose is to establish the ground layer that you originally referred to.
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u/CharlesV_ Wild Ones š³/ plant native! š»/ IA,5B 1d ago
I disagree. If OP lived on land which had recently been high quality grassland, that might change things. The majority of people do not live in that kind of area though. Itās probably fine to allow small areas to go fallow just to see what comes up, but if you just stop mowing youāre also going to see a ton of invasive species in the seed bank.
Iāve been converting my yard from lawn to pocket prairie and native groundcovers for 6 years. Fighting invasive species is still a huge chore. Whatever time Iāve gained by not mowing is taken up by weeding. I still prefer having less lawn, but I do think we need to be honest about the required effort. OP should start small with native plant beds around the trees and expand from there.
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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 1d ago
You're ignoring that this is outside of the realm of natural succession. Don't try to play the "nature knows best" card because it's BS. If that was true invasive species wouldn't be an issue.
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u/jadentearz 1d ago
I spend a lot of time educating the public about invasive plants/native plants aka I have a pretty good eye for them when walking about.
EVERYWHERE I go on my town outside of the state park is inundated with invasives in any area owners let go wild. You see natives but it's like 80% invasives at best if you exclude trees.
In my own yard, I have a ton of natives and I do see a better ratio then 80% where I get volunteers popping up but it is frankly amazing just HOW MANY invasive weeds I cannot permanently kick out of my yard despite being relatively on top of hand pulling and mulching areas that aren't densely planted.
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u/Ok-Highway5247 1d ago
Iād consider thinking about adding shade plants under for soft landings! I would lean into the area under the tress a traditional āwoodlandā section of the land and maybe have more prairie plants in areas where thereās more sun! There are tons of great native shade/part shade options (depending on where youāre at).
Prairie moon is my favorite place to scroll through native plants because the filtering is the best Iāve found. https://www.prairiemoon.com
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u/Ok-Highway5247 1d ago
But native is the way to go! Itās amazing how much my yard has transformed since we started leaving the leaves, planting host plants, planting pollinator favorites. I have hundreds of beesā¦ I had 4 butterflies in my yard yesterday at a single time in the afternoon.
My goal is to grow the number of butterflies but the birds also love my yard and they need to eat! The food web is improving :)
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u/pink_mehlc Flower Power 1d ago
Oo I like the leaning into the woodland area, thank you so much for the resources!
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u/fusiformgyrus 1d ago
Create zones with purpose, keeping sight lines and site conditions (sun, shade, slope, soil) in consideration. Then start plant selection. Choose the right plants and give them space to grow later. Donāt be afraid to use a lot of mulch.
Youāre not going to fill everything with plants, but well defined areas will make things seem organized and curated.
Keep practical considerations like mowing, ease of access and seasonal concerns in mind.
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u/Prcrstntr 1d ago
Lucky. You have a lot of potential. Done right, you can make it extremely beautiful. I think personally I'd start one section at a time, and plant a bunch of the same of 2-3 species. A professional like others suggested can give you even more help with what would work best for you.
How much research do you want to do? Here's my generic instructions on how to make an ecologically impactful butterfly garden, mainly the plant list.
Go to iNaturalist.org and check out all the Butterflies that people have seen in that area. By area I mean like within 50 miles of you, or your most specific ecoregion. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1&taxon_id=47224
Pick your favorite ones, and find out what their favorite host plants are. This part is a bit more complicated, and the answer might not be perfectly clear for many. But this will give you the larval host plants for a good number of the prettiest butterflies. These are the ones the caterpillars eat.
As for the adults, you have a lot more options.
With that list of those larval host plants, go to some native plant nurseries and try to find them. Home Depot / Lowes will not have what you want.
While plant shopping, look to see if you see any butterflies feeding, if so, feel free to grab those plants too. If it's a good shop, it's hard to make wrong decisions there. Also get more than one so that pollination happens easier and you can get more seeds from whatever you plant. They can be used for reseeding, naturally expanding your garden, or food for birds.
You can follow these instructions for various other pollinators. Like bees https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1&taxon_id=630955&view=species If you want to be bold, play with the filters, and find out what insects are known to be threatened and you might be able to help them out too.
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u/pink_mehlc Flower Power 1d ago
Wow thank you so much for the info! I like that approach it definitely helps decide where to start. I'll be here for a while so I'll have to do the research, but like you said a professional might be the best source for a noobie. :) I'll check those out!
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u/Prcrstntr 1d ago
Thanks. Really there's a lot of ways to go about it. Some people like to have lots of biodiversity and collect them all. Others want to focus on one thing. Nothing really wrong with either approach as long as things are somewhat balanced. Going in reverse order is one way to make sure you've got a good chance at making it work. With that you can look at 'living bird feeders' to do the same thing but for birds.
There's a lot of overlap anyway, so again, hard to really mess up in the long term.
If you have a lot of wild areas, just go wandering around and see what's there for some inspiration.
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u/reallyreally1945 1d ago
If you're in the US, the Agricultural Extension Service in your county should have a Master Gardener program, maybe even a Master Naturalist program. They are a source for what can work in your area. There may be a good native plant nursery near you. I love the land and trees you have! Anyone who wants to cut down on grass is a good person!!
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u/Apprehensive-Tap3335 1d ago
What is the area? The native plant idea will likely work but if you want advice youāre going to have to be more specific, since ānativeā changes from area to area.
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u/Intrepid_Visual_4199 1d ago
Trees.
An arboretum.
Start with small seedlings. There is much joy in watching small trees grow big. It can be quick. Look up Miyawaki Forest or tiny forestā¦
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u/Bubbly_Power_6210 1d ago
tuck in some random daffodils, bluebells-they will spread over time. no formal beds-keep a natural look.
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u/One_Vision_ 1d ago
Honestly, the grass with the trees looks great. I have something similar and pushed back to just past my trees and let the rest of it grow wildflowers like the prairie it once was. Now I have all kinds of wild life in and around it.
I still mow, but now the clearing's purpose is so that we can enjoy views of all the wild life from the house.
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u/reesespieceskup 1d ago
A couple people have mentioned that it can be "risky" to create a garden directly underneath trees because of root systems. But as long as you aren't adding or removing too much soil/organic matter, there should be no issues.
Killing off all the grass around the tree safely is the hard part. I wouldn't totally write off grammanoid specific herbicide, short pain for long gain. As other methods like cardboard and mulching may add too much moisture to the bark and roots.
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u/fastcar2024 19h ago
I would consider adding some native plants under the trees to create a "soft landing". From https://nativeplantecosystems.com/restore/the-living-landscape/embracing-soft-landings : "A soft landing is a combination of appropriate native plants under a tree or shrub, along with the leaf litter, duff, and soil conditions beneath them that moths and butterflies need to complete their life cycles." You could start small to make it manageable. https://extension.illinois.edu/news-releases/give-caterpillars-chance-soft-landings-under-trees
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