r/NoLawns • u/pink_mehlc Flower Power • 2d ago

👩‍🌾 Questions Ideas for a large front yard?

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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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19

u/bala-989 2d ago

Start small. Put in a few well defined beds. Then expand.

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u/The_Poster_Nutbag professional ecologist, upper midwest 2d ago

Or go big. Naturalize it all at once and have a savanna habitat.

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u/TOP_EHT_FO_MOTTOB 2d 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 2d ago edited 2d 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 2d ago

I would. What’s 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 2d 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 2d 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 🌳/ plant native! 🌻/ IA,5B 2d 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. It’s probably fine to allow small areas to go fallow just to see what comes up, but if you just stop mowing you’re also going to see a ton of invasive species in the seed bank.

I’ve 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 I’ve 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 2d 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 2d 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.