Getting Rid of That Lawn - My Neighbors Aren't Happy
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- Опубликовано: 17 апр 2023
- I've been systematically reducing the amount of turf in my front yard for the past several years. I work on it section by section.
I spend less time mowing and use far less water. I have no regrets and don't miss that turf at all.
Plant list mentioned in the video:
Hilltop Planting
Lemon Candy Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Podaras 3' PP2,363)
Golden Rocket Barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Golden Rocket' PP18,626)
Island Border under Tree
Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa 'Aureola')
Weigela florida 'Alexandra' (Wine & Roses PP10772 CBR2642)
Boxwood (Buxus microphylla japonica 'Winter Gem')
Sea of Gold™ Juniper (Juniperus x Pfitzeriana 'Monsan')
Cranesbill x 'Rozanne™'
Pulmonaria 'Silver Bouquet'
Heuchera 'Obsidian'
Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood')
Thanks for watching.
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#gardeningtips #gardening #lowmaintenance 
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Anytime I see a home in a suburban area like this with a garden instead of a yard, it really maximizes the positive qualities of that kind of setting. Meaning you feel like you're in a idyllic natural setting, instead of a golf course with houses on it. Imagine what this street would look like if it was lush with a diverse array of plants. Keep up the hard work!
The strange American obsession with destroying all nature and terraforming it into a golf course is... disturbing, honestly.
Repurposing the lawn is definitely an improvement. However, the lawn is FAR from the only environmental disaster that suburbs inherently are. Plus they require welfare to exist, forcing all Americans to subsidize them 😔
It actually looks goofy and lowers your neighbors home values.
@@chrisp4190 lawn looks goofy? Yeah…I’d agree with that. Years of being adamant about my lawn, I’m researching videos like this. My lawn has got to go. I can’t even feign interest in my lawn anymore…and it shows.
@@monsieurdorgat6864 It's because lawns are hard to manage which means it cam be used as a pretext for the HOA throwing people they don't want in the neighbourhood out. Which oriiginally meant black people. In our slightly less racist times they just keep going with it because they can't remember why they started.
Wow, your neighbors.... tell them if they want to complain about what they think youve done wrong they are welcome to pay for the upkeep of grass. I bet they will shut up when cars drive by slow and take pictures of you beautiful yard. Flowers help the pollinators. there are so many more benefits to a variety of plants compared to grass. not to mention all the run off from chemicals into our water systems from treating grass. Keep up the beautiful work, and ignore the ignorant judgmental comments from neighbors. They are just following an outdated standard of yard maintanence.
Ha! Your note made me giggle. Thanks for the encouragement.
That neighbor probably was upset his dog didn't have grass to pee on, it's amazing how rude so many neighbors with dogs are.
Your yard looks like a landscaping professional designed it for you! I must say, I’m not sure perennial beds are very much less work than grass. Here in zone 7b, with plenty of rain, all we have to do with our Zoysia lawn is mow it, and throw down composted manure in the spring. Whereas the garden beds, while lovely, have some shrubs that struggle and have to be replaced, and the battle with weeds and grass trying to get into the beds is endless! Zoysia, by the way, is very drought tolerant. 😊
@@patlangille5375 Thanks so much.
Your yard looks fabulous! Maybe plant a couple of "no trespassing" signs for your neighbors.
As a Landscape architect, I think you did a great job. Usually I tell people that if they are happy with their garden then that is all that matters. The heck with the neighbors.
Exactly, every person had different taste and perspective.
What's beautiful on our eyes maybe ugly to others.
Neighbors don’t like change because they think they have to change!
Yes, I had a neighbor who couldn't help himself. Was critical of my yard, but he tore out boring areas of his yard and replanted with flowers and shrubs. Of course he used many of the same flowers and shrubs I had. 😂
Lawns are so 20th century.
You are on the cutting edge. More and more people will be following your example.
Thank you.
I’m slowly eliminating my lawn too, here in Houston. In my last new expansion, I planted only native plants, so not only is my lawn smaller, which is good for many reasons, but adding natives helps wildlife- especially birds (and butterflies) . If birds don’t have native plants, they don’t have the insects and berries that they rely on. The more nonnative plants we put in, the fewer birds there will be. A recent study done on this had shocking and devastating results. Our bird population is plummeting. Your garden is magnificent. I hope going forward you will consider adding native plants to your beautiful beds. Bonus: they grow naturally in your area, so they don’t need supplemental watering. Butterflies need specific plants for their caterpillars to eat-think monarchs and milkweed- and if you want to see beautiful butterflies in your yard, planting native host plants is the way to do it. Happy gardening!
It sounds like you are doing amazing work. I agree that natives are a fantastic option. As you said, they require much less intervention and thrive.
Precisely! Thanks. I made very large beds with only enough grass to make generous, 8 - 14 foot wide walking paths (2 acre lot). I planted natives/beneficials for the birds, butterflies, pollinators so they have their natural food/nectar/nesting/wind protection. I wanted to be certain that as I grew older (and eventually take my leave) they would have what they need with the trees, flowering/berry producing shrubs and flowers growing. I stopped using bird feeders, but still use bird baths, butterfly puddling stones.
Yes! I am a very lazy gardener so picked all natives. It's been a great way to require less work for a great looking result, PLUS we get tons of bees and birds now.
I love adding native plants to my yard. I just discovered a local nursery that sells nothing but natives. I'll be picking up an order tomorrow to plant this weekend.
We don’t have milkweed where I live, but I noticed that I get swallowtail butterflies and their caterpillars after planting carrot tops! (Just don’t plant them around your garden) Plus they continually bloom for months and attract so many pollinators, I lost count of them!
You have done a great job! I am from central Europe and it is "normal" or very common to have more of an ornamental garden with all sorts of perennials and shrubs. Even growing your own vegetables or having fruit trees (mostly for fun or occasional fresh veg and fruit, more than for being self-sustainable) is considered normal. I think you are doing your neighborhood service by saving water and helping insects. Don't worry about your neighbors :) lots of love from the Czech rep.
All of that is common in America, too.
@@Objectified What she described is what I'd seen all my childhood growing up in Mexico. Especially lemon trees, everyone has those. But I've been living in the U.S for 10 years and do far I have only ever seen this kind of garden in low income Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods. It's always flat grass lawns everywhere else. Which part of the U.S are you in where it's common?
@@Objectifiedas you can see by the neighbor's lawns in the video, it's not
@@arcticcmonkey Exactly. It is only just starting to become more common, but is still the exception, not the rule.
I've never been to America, but when i look at Street View, I do wonder about all that wasted space, huge plots with nothing but grass.
I love the idea of slowly changing a grass monoculture into interesting, low maintenance, native plant islands. It’s almost like placing unique furniture or wall art in a room. Plus, it’s much more sustainable. It’s how my mom planned our yard in Michigan growing up, and I plan on doing the same once I go from renting to buying.
Must be a Michigan thing. Back in the mid 2000's I occasionally visited and stayed at a friend's house in Michigan and she had a really fantastic native plant/wild flower island in her yard. The thing I admired most about it was the low maintenance.
It’s literally just reintroducing plant diversity that already existed (however with some not native plants) before it was ripped up to have expensive grass grown
...she added Japanese plants but sure
I’m a Landscape Designer and I say BRAVO 👏🏻! Well done! Your beds are stunning and truly looks like a pro designed them! Yes there’s less grass but wow! The impact and plant choices are fabulous! Don’t you just love Proven Winners plants? Your beds are well planned, kept up, tidy and fit the yard perfectly!
Thanks so much.
Agreed I love the color choices of the plants. They really pop.
Your neighbor sounds like my Dad. He was obsessed with his lawn & never understood why someone wouldn't want to mow 3 times a week & have large monthly water bills. You've done a beautiful job & it's exactly what I want to do, especially creating some front yard privacy.
I bet your Dad loves working on his lawn which is great. I just prefer gardening. Thanks for your kind note.
My next door neighbor mows twice a week and I hate it! I'm sure they think it's not very neighborly that I let our backyard turn into a meadow but I feel it's not very neighborly to have heavy duty mowers and blowers near my bedroom twice a week! Plus our yard supports some wildlife.
@@kateherr2893 I know the feeling! While my dad usually mowed after work when I was growing up, he did wake me up at 7am most Saturdays with a weedeater outside my bedroom window. It drove him crazy that I never had an interest in landscaping while he was alive. On his last visit to my house he said "you need to mow your lawn" as soon as we pulled into the driveway. I'll bet your backyard meadow is beautiful & I love watching wildlife.
@@kateherr2893 sounds like you should've bought a house on a bigger lot. What do you expect if you're neighbor's house is right next to yours?
@@delt19 haha, I think you got it backwards. I'm third generation here, and was good friends with the last couple who lived there until they died. New family bought the house in last few years and they want to change the feel of the neighborhood and feel entitled to it - trying to make the local school (that their kids don't go to) change their daily activities and trying to scare off pre-existing wildlife.
Your yard is gorgeous. Your neighbor should be so thankful to live near someone that puts such thought and care into their yard! 😊
AND THE NEIGHBORS ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE BENEFIT OF SUCH A TRANSFORMATION OF YARDS SUCH AS THIS, WHICH ELEVATES PROPERTY VALUES FORE THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD AND JUST NOT FOR THE PROPERTY OWNER.
My neighbors refuse to cut their grass, throw trash everywhere, still have boxes from when they moved in three years ago in the driveway, they have a pool that has turned into a mosquito breeding ground. I guess this is what you get when your state closes public housing in the cities and hands out government homes in suburban neighborhoods. All the neighbors are furious. Our home values have dropped at least 50k. The woman that lives there has a constant stream of people coming and going at all hours. Junkies coming by to buy drugs off one of the half dozen drug dealers that live there. The cops refuse to do anything. Oh, and the pack of constantly barking pit bulls that are chained year round in the yard. One got out and attacked the neighbors German Shepards. Luckily the guy is a monster dog trainer and his dogs are extremely well trained guard dogs. Three of them were able to chase the pit bull out of the yard. Just an absolute nightmare. This is in NJ.
Amen!
@@smelltheglove2038 Yeah, but look on the bright side. Those neighbors would never complain about your efforts to beautify your front yard and eliminate your turf. 😎
@@wincoffin7985 I guess, but the lowered standard of living and the financial hit isn’t worth it. Also, if I was creating beds and a neighbor had the audacity to say something to me about it, I’d laugh in their face. The neighborhood is good in this way as everyone minds their own business, that is until it becomes their business when it starts effecting their lives, financially and personally. Another neighbor has taken to shooting out the windows of drug addicts vehicles when they are buying fentanyl off the people in the home. Two weeks ago a couple was found dead in their car in the WaWa parking lot at the end of the street. Overdoses.
You took a a boring yard and made it fantastic. Such a wonderful transformation! It's so vivid and full of texture and life. The variety of plants is like eye candy. It's a shame your noisy neighbors with their two bits are lacking any sort of imagination.
I love it when people replace the yawn. Bravo!
We all have some neighbors that are still living in the stone age. You keep up the good work on your garden. It's lovely and worth being proud of. As a kid I remember watching my father getting cooked under the hot sun on his tracker mower, his eyes red and watery from the allergies, and endlessly complaining about his sore back after needlessly mowing the massive unused pastures and think that I didn't want that for my life.
It's worse than being in the stone age! People didn't bother terraforming nature into golf-course-like lawns in the stone age! Save your forests and native plants. It looks better and it's better for the environment. If you want a place that naturally looks like a gold course, go check out Scotland.
Technically it would be more Victorian age, as the grass was a bragging / conspicuous waste showing they were so well off they didn't need to grow their own food.
Now our conspicuous consumption would be to have a garden as that implies the person has the time to devote to weeding, planting, amending, harvesting, etc. which is a luxury with the multiple-jobs-to-survive that is normal now.
@@monsieurdorgat6864 even Scotland isn’t naturally like that, unfortunately (speaking as a Brit). All our grassland that is currently pasture for livestock used to be heavily forested, but we lost most of our trees hundreds of years ago. It’s a huge problem. We also no longer have natural predators such as wolves, so the deer population is out of control and that makes reforestation very very difficult. But yes, Britain does naturally have the right weather to keep the grass green without effort.
@@user-ed7et3pb4o From what I've heard, those primeval forests were gone in the bronze age before UKs recorded history. I just don't think true nature is a thing in a place with as extensive human development in such confined spaces.
But yeah the net result is the grass is pretty naturally short from what I've seen, at least in Ireland. Thus the golf course terrain.
we are also avid gardeners and we've transformed most of the lawn into native perennials and bushes. our yard is registered as a wildlife habitat and a monarch waystation, we have 2 ponds, and we purposely plant native host plants for lepidoptera of all kinds.
I think what you've done with your yard is absolutely beautiful, and if your neighbors are mad about it, they can just stay mad!! you've worked so hard and done wonderfully!
Are there any tricks to manage mosquito population around the pond?
@@xiaominxie7948 Keep the water moving with pumps, invite bats with bat houses, try to get toads and frogs in, plant lemon grass
dont let the neighbors get you down, they're just jealous they don't have the patience and eye for aesthetics to make a good garden like yours! As others have said in the comments, you should consider adding native plants to your garden as well! They have adapted to the amount of rainfall your area usually gets and should be very low maintenance. Native plants are also more inviting to wildlife as well! Native plants bring native bugs, native bugs bring native birds, and so on!
the pure joy in your voice at "I don't do any supplemental watering" you jsut sounded so content!
This is such a gorgeous garden and I can't believe your neighbour would think anything else! especially given how sad and dry it got in places :( I hope you're enjoying it
I love that this method of creating plant islands also means... walking paths! It must be so delightful to walk around the different islands and feel like you're always turning a new corner to see what plants are along the next curve. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Exactly this is in my opinion something a lot of home owners don't realize. If you have a big, open lawn, there are no surprises or discoveries to be made in your garden. Building rooms and "walled of" areas is a great and relatively easy way to bring excitement and adventure to your garden.
@@martinedelius Agreed completely! This also means that homeowners might actually USE their front lawns, while also enjoying that sense of discovery. (What an idea!) So many big open lawns are big empty useless pieces of expensive square footage.... (I grew up like this and didn't question it until years later... nobody ever used their front lawns for anything practical or enjoyable.)
@@GardenMoxie Your lawn is ugly now, you are the selfish one, just move neighborhoods. Instead you abuse your neighbors hospitality, mock them, and laugh about it in a way a smug women seeking for the fleeting sense of power she gets when she grows old does. You crazy design ladys are the reason HOA's are drawn into existence. Move if you can't afford the neighborhood, instead you destroy their entire neighborhood aesthetic, by being that one old single crazy lady house. Respect the neighborhood and move to a place that fits your bill. Instead you sabotage your neighbors value, of not just their property value but their neighborhood value as a friendly open neighborhood that feels homely and friendly. And you choose selfishness and social seclusion with no respect to anyone but your own wallet... cause as you admit its about money to you, but you actually decreased your properties value by the ugly and erratic landscaping, and in doing so sabotage your neighbors and the neighborhood. So you would sabotage their property value to save yourself some money. You shouldn't be living in a nice neighborhood like that and should just move to a place that better suites you instead of choosing blatant selfishness that only an old haggard would take delight in like yourself.
You are a landscape wizard. Your neighbor is an invasive clod, sort of like a pesky weed. Your yard is beautiful and grass is a pain and expensive. I have been reducing my backyard this year and you give great inspiration. Thank you
Lol love how you put this
I love your last sentence. I am in a situation similar to yours. I am working on my native Cal. garden for 25 years, as I was learning about the plants and what their preferences are. It is always a surprise where reseeders show up and when they don't like the place that I have chosen for them and die. There are a few newcomers in the neighborhood that HATE my garden. I appreciate your encouragement .
Let me add to encourage you. You are a pioneer and have vision.
Now that I know people have to literally paint their lawns green in the US besides watering it like hell, I don't understand how come that there are still so few people like you! Gorgeous results :)
I’m really simply shocked by your neighbors’ response. I had thought by now most Americans knew how environmentally unfriendly lawns are. You’ve made a beautiful garden and given many people inspiration!
Thank you. I think the initial hill top garden looked too sparse for people when it was first planted. It definitely got attention ... ha ha.
Goes to show the ignorance that seems to have the most opinion.
My neighbors have a near compulsive obsession with the grass. We had snow Monday they grass just started turning green 3 neighbors have already mowed.
I’m sure it was a boomer. They loooove their chemlawns!!!! My neighbors mow their yard every few days because they have nothing lease to do!!!
@@jacquig1939 THE INSANITY...
I think you are educating your neighbors and they just never thought or understood there was another way. The general public is just uneducated to the benefits. As a Master Gardener, we see it every day, We also see a lot of people eager to learn. Your gardens are lovely and you are a great ambassador!
Ahh...thanks so much for the kind words of encouragement.
You too! we need to garden for the climate we're in and the natural resources that can sustainably be used. Its why I love xeriscaping so much
That's a good way to look at it!
What are the qualifications to claim to be a Master Gardener?
Most states have an agricultural college that has classes you can take to qualify as a “master gardener” it’s such a fun set of classes I highly recommend it!
How can anyone complain, look at the difference! Drab dry grass (in the season that matters- more people out walking etc...) to abundance! Absolutely beautiful. My trouble is I want ALL the plants so find it hard to settle on a plan.
I love that you are showing your fails as well as wins, and are showing it takes a few seasons for it to really take off.
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Nice job. I really like the idea of overlaying photographs of other gardens as a planning tool. You've added an immense amount of interest to the front of your home.
Came here to say this! I like that idea, too!
Glad it was helpful!
Everything looks amazing. If I was your neighbour I’d be full of admiration 🙂🌱
Thank so much Holly.
I would be asking for tips! It looks so lovely!
SO WOULD L. THE LOVE AND CARE "MS.. MOXIE TOOK ON IS QUITE BEAUTIFUL SHE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS AN ASSET TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND FOR BUTTERFILES, LADYBUGS AND BEES TO THRIVE. PUS, IT IS A PLACE OF TEACHING FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE FASCINATED BY NATURE; IT GIVES AN OPPORTUINTY FOR KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO LEARN ABOUT HOW PLANTS GROW, ETC. AND I'M CERTAIN THE SENIORS LOVE IT TOO..IT GIVES THEM MOTIVATION TO GET OUT THEIR HOMES WHEN POSSIBLE TO ENJOY AN ENVIRONMENT THAT SOME DO NOT HAVE.
I'm with you, I'm working on replacing my lawn with shrubs and tough ground covers too. We need to normalize less lawn one yard at a time! Good for you!! Your yard is gorgeous!
Thanks so much.
@@GardenMoxie What ground cover are you using? I have a bed and a landscaper put down chips. I hate them. As if I want to plant something else the chips are hard to move out of the way and they blow into my yard grass area, and I have to rake them or mow them, and my husband will be upset. I am 83 and have to do things the easiest way. There are videos posted my Garden Answer and she puts something else down, but I have not received and answer from her, but I know it's not bark chips. I think she is trying to explain she just uses peat moss. I just need help with mulch choices. thanks
In places like western Washington, where we ironically get plenty of rain, sometimes too much at once, lawns are less common because they don't drain well. We also have a lot of hills, so many homes are on a slope and a lawn alone would not hold up against erosion. So we have our hillyness to thank the normalization of less lawn and more shrubs , especially native rhododendrons.
I'm no gardener and I wouldn't be able to do what you have done, but I can see how much prettier and natural it looks. A huge improvement
Absolutely gorgeous! I honestly don’t understand the obsession with lawns. Your flower beds are beautiful. Don’t worry about the neighbours, they’re probably just jealous lol😜
I have replaced my lawn with a clover field and several edible flowers, the clover fixes its own nitrogen, so it needs no fertilization, and receives all the water it needs in the winter snows.
The edible flowers not only look good but taste good too ^_^
Plus you're right, the neighbors aren't paying your water bill, so their opinion is as good as that.
Best to you and your garden :)
Bravo. Clover is my next goal. I have some naturally, and will research how to expand it.
I've also been systematically removing my front lawn, and my neighbours also have comments about that. Your yard still has quite a lot of grass...I'd say it's about average for my neighbourhood, so I can't believe your neighbours want you to have even MORE grass! My goodness. Good on you for taking control and doing what you want despite neighbour comments. I know how tough that can be to handle when you know you're improving things.
I'm learning to ignore the comments, but I also try to garden in my backyard more 😂
It's actually easier to ignore people's comments when you know you're improving things.
Super nice! I did the same for my high desert corner lot 15 years ago. Caring for the lawn was overwhelming and frankly absurd with out hot, dry and long summers. Our yard is very unique, we get comments on people "loving" it all the time. We won Grand Prize in our pretty large HOA. And when the mandate comes that lawns are out, which it will, sooner or later, our yard won't change a bit. I also LOVE that our yard is noiseless. No trimmers, no edgers, no mowers, no blowers, no smelly trucks. Since I work at home, that's a big bonus as the stink and noise from multiple services coming throughout the week can rattle one's nerves.
Wow you are lucky your HOA allowed you to do whatever. I've heard horror stories about people having gardens or trying to plant stuff and HOAs fine them! A lot of them here on the east coast expect you to have a place that looks like nobody lives there.
@@kelb6073 It was hard for the Landscape Committee to say no. I had my City Council Rep sign the proposal as well as the head of the Master Gardners' program and the Director of Commercial Landscaping at the local university extension. Also the certified person who runs the Permaculture group and a local Biodynamics gardener. They still could have said no, but they'd have to do a lot of explaining. A couple of other people have been able to do similar since mine was approved. And my hope is that the common areas will take on this style and get rid of the lawns. Nevada is the driest state in the Union in the desertifying West. The least is that is would be prudent, let alone highly beneficial. I'm also fighting them killing the beavers that built dams in a creek 50' from my house. They got rid of them, but the beavers proved their worth as we are in the midst of the great snow melt and flooding of 2023. But our creek, which usually floods, is staying about the same level because the dams widened out the creek bed and made 4 tiers of water descending. Last time we had much less of a snowmelt, the water was in the street.
@@kelb6073 I'm sorry but what exactly is HOA? The comments look like it's some kind of person or is this a public committee?
Beautiful! I applaud your moxie!🌿 My own neighbor (whom I love, btw) also made a comment when we purchased the property between us. We had decided to allow it to go un-mown, for wildlife. “I hate it!”, she said. “I know I shouldn’t say that, but I just hate it!” And then, “You’re going to get TREES!” (Wild saplings) What she didn’t know was that I’d fully planned on adding crabapple, lilacs, evergreens, fruit trees and more to the area - which I’ve done, over the past few years. I also maintain a mowing strip between us, so she can see emerald green.The area is shaping up beautifully, while still supporting nature! Soon there will be many flowering trees and shrubs to enjoy. So, I’m with you - listen to your heart! 🩷 It understands both neighbors AND gardening 😊
Such a great note. Thank you for sharing it.
I think it looks better than a boring expanse of unbroken green lawn.
Thank you
I spent the last five years trying to take care of the grass in my backyard and it drives me absolutely crazy. Every year, I dread the work it takes to look even reasonably good. Just last month I decided I was done. This year I'm taking out all the grass and replace it with plants and flowers. I've already picked a spot for my future herb garden and am figuring out where the walking path is going to go. Watching your video makes me even more excited to get started!
A small tip: if you have an area in your yard were you don't have to worry about what the neighbors think: consider taking off the grass and then doing nothing with it. It will naturally fill up with native plants, first flowers, later bushes and trees, which is ecologically fantastic for insects and birds. If you don't want a little woodland, then mow it once every two years.
That sounds lovely!!!!
Switch to clover.
It makes my blood boil when neighbors have such rude audacity, like mind your gd business! Especially when someone does something so beautiful and lovely to their own personal space. Like no ones criticizing their boring ass homes. You did a spectacular job! 💖
Great job! I'm also in Michigan, and working on planting native wildflowers and some herbs in my backyard (where there's never been good grass). Some of my neighbors have cleared out most or all of their grass and just have wildflower meadows their front yards, and it looks amazing!
You are improving the soil, providing habitat and reprieve for wildlife and pollinators, and allowing for biodiversity seen outside of the suburbs. This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us! I'm an environmental biology major doing the same thing to my yard as I learn about the history and cons of turf grass.
Awesome! Thanks for your words of encouragement.
@@GardenMoxie, It looks amazing! IDK why neighbors are so judgmental. I get tired of the notion that we need pristinely manicured European laws.
Unfortunately, I live in an HOA but my back yard has so much biodiversity. I love it! I grow my own food and provide lots of flowers for pollinators. I'm exited for my yields this year - thanks to the helpful lady bugs, lizard, and bees.
There are companies you can buy specifically native crops to your area too! Or you can forage for some
How are non-natives and uncovered ground "improving the soil?"
@@njsification it’s still improving over a giant monoculture that basically only has archea and bacteria in its rhizospehere. A traditional grass yard is completely archea and bacteria dominated so it only will contribute too methane and co2 levels
Not only was your idea smart and economic, but it also improved the look of your home. I took out the entire street portion of my lawn, about 8 x 30 feet, with newspaper, about 10 years ago. On the advice of my next door neighbor, a master gardener, I used newspaper to do the job. First, I decided on plants and placement. Then I dug the holes and planted. Next, I went back and covered the grass with about 15 layers of newspaper, which I had gathered from neighbors. Wetting it down as I went, I covered it all with mulch. Granted, you didn’t have the mulch issue by removing all the grass, but removing the grass was way too daunting. I subsequently added another area, and this rime I used cardboard. Easier to handle, lasts a little longer. By the following year all the grass had died, and I continued to mulch around plants where needed, until they all filled in. Your gardens look fantastic. Water is an expensive proposition for me too, but ten years ago I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to put water wise plants in. I have gradually changed over and there are many more plants available that are drought tolerant, deer resistant and flowering. Thanks for sharing your story.
Your garden sounds amazing. The sheet mulching is a great way to do things too. Thanks for sharing that.
Great way to turn your lawn into a park! I, too, have had great success with the cardboard method of eliminating grass. Native plants will tolerate and thrive in your climate and support pollinators and songbirds. Their roots go deep 👍😉🐛🌱
Oddly enough, newspaper HELPS the soil as it degrades. I like cardboard too.
Sounds fantastic! I hope you add some native plants sometime to help birds, bees and butterflies to survive.
@@carol1derful Sounds like you are a bit of an advanced gardener? Have you heard of the Ruth Stout Method (ruclips.net/video/X_FAm5zuJd8/видео.html)? It's perhaps not for the front yard but can make backyard gardening quite a bit easier.
Don’t listen to the neighbour. It looks so much nicer the way you designed it! Simply stunning
I was a mail carrier for a few years, so got to see all sorts of houses in all sorts of neighborhoods, and let me just say that the homes that had added more plant-beds instead of grass looked WAY better! Your yard looks great, and I applaud you for not cussing out the neighbor holy shit the nerve of some people...
LOL. Thank you and thanks for watching.
You made the value of YOUR home go up and also the neighbors. They should be thanking you!! It looks beautiful!
Actually, no.
@@Nick210 In any normal country this would raise property prices in the area. If that’s not true of the US, there’s something wrong with the US.
@@Nick210 Actually, YES... she doesn't talk about prices BUT as a homeowner I know even the smallest shrubs and plants are about $15-$30 EACH... and if you want a large shrub / medium tree ...well large shrubs are about $100 each... medium tree about $100-$200 each... Oh, and removing grass with soil attached is another expense (you cant throw dirt in your garbage can..) you will have to pay someone to haul away the grass with dirt OR you can haul it yourself BUT you still will have to pay a landfill to let you dump the dirt. If she had hired a professional landscaping company to design and PLANT everything for her LARGE yard = $Thousands of dollars... ANY nit wit can throw grass seed on dirt to get a "lawn" but a good landscape with flowers and shrubs can get expensive... good landscape definitely increases curb appeal / home value. EDIT: The average landscaping cost is $3,300 to $13,200... $3300 for a smaller house... her home is definitely not small... she would fall in the medium/large category... at least $6,000... AT LEAST $6000 if she hired a company to do EVERYTHING for her... even by doing it her self I am guessing she still spent at LEAST $1500... she will get that money back twice over if she sells the house. PERIOD. I Live in New York State, her house in New York would easily be listed for AT LEAST half a MILLION... potential buyers would fight (bid war) for that house in New York. The average New York STATE home value is $420K... and her house is definitely NOT average.
Here where I live in Texas a lot of people are starting to do this for the very same reason, they're tired of the insane water bills for dealing with the grass. The plants require a lot less and it looks prettier.
So much better than partially dead grass! And the landscape really enhances the house! I love your idea to overlay photos to see what the results may look like. Genius & easy!
Like anything, there’s a learning curve. In the process of transforming my .5 acre. Currently covered lawn with wood chips, gradually adding in by sections. The birds and turtles have returned, and getting better every year. Obviously I live in a suburb with no HOA, so can do this. But the best part is becoming aware of all the plants and animals and their cycles and habits and being more observant of all the small beauties around you.
I love what you have done. Ignore those silly neighbors. Haven’t they heard that the upkeep of turf is just plain bad for this beautiful planet?
Well said 💚
And it’s not just the upkeep, it’s the lack of flowers etc.
Congratulations! Grass lawns could be the single worst thing mankind has ever done to the planet, before we realized how devastating they were. Yards like yours provide character and privacy.
Grass lawns are fine for nature as long as they are natural lawns with no artificial fertilisers. The soil below will function properly, worms, birds and insects will thrive.
There are an endless list of things a million times worse than grass lawns that mankind has done to the planet...
@@MrPicklerwoof but they ARE fertilized and watered. They don't capture nearly as much CO2 or have near the biodiversity of what was there before them. Fertilizers saturate water bodies with excess nitrogen. What's an "artificial" fertilizer? Your use of that word makes me think you're in the lawn industry spreading disinformation.
@@Zero.0ne. The vast majority of gardens/lawns around the world are not fertilized. That's largely a phenomenon in well-off US suburbia. Spend some time travelling around in the UK in the summer for example and you'll see everybody's lawns are beige or brown. No watering, no fertilizing..
As for your bizarre comment about me being "in the lawn industry spreading disinformation", well that just sounds unhinged.
@@MrPicklerwoof was maybe a bit unhinged... it was just strange seeing somebody defend grass lawns.
The only thing worse than a manicured and mono-culture lawn is artificial grass. Whether it’s plastic or organic, if it’s uniform and perfectly green it’s not good for the planet.
Your neighbor has no taste or sense. This is so beautiful and it really takes your eyes on a journey as you tour the yard with all those curves. And there’s so much texture and color patterns. So much nicer to look at than a bunch of basic sod. This was so thoughtfully and well executed. Amazing job.
I LOVE seeing yards with less grass. I mean a yard is okay but something with so much variety and color is such a nice treat. It's so beautiful and knowing it's so much better on water is good to know. I would be astounded to have anyone with this lawn as a neighbor. It's really inspiring to see this lawns in the heat here are so difficult to maintain.
This is so much more beautiful then grass, amazing job! I can’t believe your neighbors would comment such a thing, that is so rude. I replaced a big part of my front lawn with creeping thyme. It took me 5 years to fully fill in the space, but it’s amazing now and I never have to water or mow. The neighbors walking by were mostly curious and I always take the opportunity to talk about the benefits of ground covers vs lawn. One neighbor was inspired by it and is starting is own thyme patch.
Thank you. That is a fantastic idea to use creeping thyme. It's touch, it attracts pollinators, and it looks pretty. Great!
I tried creeping thyme last year. clover unfortunately overtook it. Where i live creeping phlox does much better
I think your front yard is so gorgeous. I love the curves and colors.
Thank you. 💚
“Oh wise woman, let not the foolish person in this life discourage you. Let the foolish person see your deeds and learn, let the wise people see your deeds and rejoice.”
Your yard looks marvelous! Thank you for sharing. Oh that the world’s people were as wise as you. I pray to God that He will help them to become wise, for all people are born with foolishness and we learn as we go.
You are a blessed person, ma’am. I wish a person like you was my neighbor. My neighbor is so intellectually impoverished that he once told me with a worried voice that if I didn’t mow the patch of what are endangered hyacinth flowers they would spread. He also got very upset when I let a patch of grass grow in a controlled manner in a patch of my yard because I wanted to start Meadowscaping. He called the county weed commissioner instead of talking to me. Fortunately they disagreed with him. I feel sorry for him but I wish someone would educate him about biodiversity and efficiency.
Ignore the neighbors. When I moved into my home, I removed all turf. I have a very low maintenance yard, trees shrubs, perennials, herbs and veg. I only water the new plants and vegs and containers. The rest have to survive on their own. My yard is attractive, sustainable and resilient. keep doing what you are doing, you are on the correct path.
It looks great, having a variety of beautiful plants to look at like a little botanical garden is so much better than just a flat boring unnatural plain of uniform grass.
Yes, it's much better than those big empty grass "deserts".
They never use them anyway, but in this kind of garden, you can create little rooms, you can sit in and enjoy.
@@Aoderic Besides looking better, I think this is also a more livable ecosystem for insects and other small critters.
@antred11 Yes, most definitely, it's better for the environment in many ways.
I didn't realize until recently that this is exactly what my parents do. It takes a lot more work than just letting everything get overgrown and looks great. It also takes out all of the weeds because the plants get priority. And there's still tons of room to enjoy your yard. This is what using native plants looks like, not just throwing down moss or whatever people think it is.
About half her plants are NOT native. Natives would be better.
@@veramae4098 It's ok to use a mix of native and non-native plants. What's important is that she's not having to water them all the time, and she likes the way her yard looks. I think it's beautiful!
@@vivicadoll249 I totally agree.
I mean, it's a front yard. Who "enjoys" their front yard?
@@seigeengine people with kids or animals or people who have the chance to enjoy sunlight after work.
I love your technique of following where the grass is dry to position and shape your planting areas. It creates some really interesting shapes too.
Im so glad you were brave and stood with your decision! It looks wonderful and is a smarter decision. People are slave to their lawns with little to no return.
I love what you’ve done. Beautiful plants and less upkeep. Now that’s Garden Moxie!
💚💚💚
Very lovely indeed! I never spend time in my front yard because quite frankly, there’s nothing there to look at! My backyard has a very eclectic feel, raised beds, flowers, bird feeders/birdbaths, wind chimes etc., so this is where I spend my time. You have created a feast for the eyes and you should be proud of it! Peace-
Thanks so much.
The front of my house is all concrete driveway as we need to use it all for the cars ( I’m in the U.K. so everything is smaller here ). But my back garden is full of flowers. I wish the neighbours knew that. As I’m sure they judge me.
My sentiments exactly.
I have been trying to keep a nice lawn for a decade now and am starting to move away from it. your video has given me some great ideas.
I appreciate anyone who is willing to figure out a way to keep natural greenery but reduce the strain on water as a resource. Especially in drought areas.
I didn’t think about deer resistant bushes until you mentioned it, and didn’t know some people have to spray their plants. So thank you for saving water and reducing pollutants(even a necessary pollutant) into the environment.
The layering of your planting looks really pretty !
Thank you.
I'm working on this process and your video was very helpful. People are really stubborn about their obsession with lawns and they need to just get over it. They are soooo bad for the environment. You're definitely on the right track and I admire all your hard work.
Thanks so much. Good luck with your lawn removal project too.
I live in New Zealand and while watching Disney movies when I was a kid, I was so confused that no matter what house I visited IRL, Noone here had any lawn sprinklers and you accidentally just taught me why! So thank you! It's been bugging me since I was 12 and i'm 22 now!
This is absolutely beautiful and so peaceful. I can't believe anyone would prefer grass.
Your lawn is outstanding and impressive. I find just grassy lawns to be boring. I appreciate the beauty of various plants plus helps birds, butterflies and bees thrive. Beautiful choices indeed!
Gotta use native plants if you want the bees and birds the thrive! :)
DONT LET THE NIEGHBORS GET YOU DOWN you have a beautiful yard and this video is great
I did something similar last year with a perennial flower garden filled with bee and butterfly attracting plants - I love it! I’m doing it again under a big tree (shade plants) this year Thanks for the advice
Your front yard is gorgeous
That neighbors comment would have hit me hard. I’m so sorry they said that to you and so grateful you turned it into an opportunity to share your wisdom and experience.
Love it! In my city they said to look at the parks and study the plants they use. The beds are designed to be compatible with our local weather and the city's gardners even start all the plants themselves. It's also easy to see which type of bed you like the best.
Does the city post what plants they actually use or just make you guess?
Your river of grass flowing between plantings is gorgeous! Much better than a boring expanse of turf! 👍
Can't believe your neighbor had the audacity to comment on your yard after you had made it even more beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Even as a child, I thought the amount of time and money adults spent on their lawns was so dumb. Good for you for thinking outside the box!
This is exactly what we have been working on slowly. It’s a love of nature to see beyond.
Thank you. I agree!
and the love of your time, mowing and watering. Oh and the love of saving money too lol
You must have some wonky neighbors stuck in the 50’s. You did a BEAUTIFUL job, from starting to scratch, all the hard manual labor, and the design scheme and layout is amazing. Goes great with your style of home too. Thanks for sharing. Any neighbor complaining must just be jealous of the transformation you did and them unwilling to put in the effort you did to transform their property. Gorgeous
What a gorgeous yard you have created.
An easier though slower method for removing lawn is to do Lasagne gardening. Cover the grass that you want gone with layers of wet newspapers, then green material and soil. Essentially you are composting in a flat area. I did this on a hill that was hard to mow and dried out. The next year I planted low perennials and ground covers. I had the most beautiful soil for growing. Far less labor intensive to get rid of the grass and maintain. A real improvement to that space.
Already looks a thousand times better! Nothing worse than just boring grass no matter how well its kept! This adds depth, textures and interesting areas to look at.
Love what you've done!
I did similar with a yard in Pewaukee Wisconsin. I had a low spot where the lawn wasn't doing well. I collected all the "will tolerate wet roots" that survive our winters, planted them, and waited to see who prospered and who died.
My lawn was a variety that sends out runners and is very persistent. I would outline a new bed, cover it with 4 layers of newsprint, then 4" of mulch, and leave for one year. This killed the grass, without using chemicals or losing top soil. One year later, I'd plant by punching holes through the paper barrier. The mulch holds the paper in place, and satisfies the neighbors who might object to the newsprint. Keep going! What a fabulous addition to your neighborhood!
I don't know what prompted RUclips to suggest this video...but I am now subscribed! I think your front garden's transformation is asbolutely stunning. As nice as the grass was in its best condition, the vast amount of a single green colour all at one flat floor-level made the property look disproportionate. The tudor styling of the house is rich in visual elements, and the hedge framing at the base of the house and 2 trees just outside the front windows create this compressed yet pleasing arrangement of horizontal and vertical lines, giving me the feeling of a cozy, tucked away cottage. But since all that is pushed to the back left corner of the property, it looks oddly unbalanced and empty when preceeding this visual complexity is just the green expanse of a purely lawn front garden. The planted garden islands now introduce great variation in colour and creates differences in height leading toward the house; the rounded and curvy shapes of the islands creating these organic lines on the ground contrasting wonderfully against the hard vertical and horizontal lines of the house, adding even more balance. I hope it's already clear, but I think what you've achieved by getting rid of the grass is a remarkable improvement, and I hope you're feeling at least a little smug at proving your neighbours both wrong and foolish!
Thanks so much.
I'm the same, and I'm from Michigan too, this will help a lot!
It seems you have a similar motto as mine, "The more you grow, the less you have to mow." I love the diversity, the colors...Your neighbors are just jealous!
I love you motto 💚💚💚
Wonderful ideas! It makes the place look less sterile and stiff.
From a uk gardener I have to say I loved this ❤
Your new lawn looks STUNNING! Don't listen to your jealous neighbors, what you're doing is better for the environment and adds so much character to your home.
Your yard is beautiful!!!! If I was your neighbor, I would be very envious. Good job!!!!
Thank you for your kind note.
Thanks for your beautiful garden. We have a small yard but over time we have also been removing grass and replacing it with pollinator friendly flowers and shrubs. I don’t think people who have conventional lawns appreciate how totally boring and lifeless they look. No one will say that about your yard ever!
I really dislike the empty front yards, such a waste of space and planting opprotunities. So good job, I love the change 😊
Great job! Your garden is stunning! Lucky neighbours to look out on such beauty and seasonal interest. From Sussex, England. 😍
Hello Sussex! You certainly live in a beautiful part of the world. Thanks for your note.
You go girl! I let my front bed go native last year. Neighbors went nuts but it was loaded with bees and butterflies so was a win in my opinion. For under your tree, maybe consider a lovely stepping stone path. Not the concrete square ones but natural stone. That would be beautiful. Thanks for your video. Your yard is beautiful. 😊
Thank you. I love your suggestion about the stepping stones. I mean that is a brilliant idea! Plus I can see adding some kind of ground cover that could fill in between the stones. Wow!
Beautiful job! Well done. It looks so much bigger and more interesting now it’s been broken up with some wonderful borders.
reminds me of mother's garden, beautiful, I can only hope to have such a gorgeous yard one day. don't let the nosy neighbors get you down, this is lovely.
I live in a tiny Japanese apartment with no garden at all so this is a completely different world for me. That maple is going to be so beautiful in the autumn 🍁
I think it looks great! We love a planted border in the UK! Grass here tends to end up bog-like a lot of the time due to our rainfall so I’ve never found large lawns to look that nice. A border is such a nice way to break it up. You’ve chosen some lovely shrubs too.
I bet you can have a beautiful rain garden over there lol!
your garden looks great , i love the diversity in your flowers , its a thousand times more dynamic than the straight boring lawns everywhere .
Pay no attention to the neighbors. You are right that they don't pay your water bill so continue. The new plantings look beautiful. The new beds look so much more interesting.
Your yard looks wonderful! Another trick I‘ve used sometimes for those strips of consistently dry soil due to tree roots is to not fight it and make a little path through the bed out of flagstones or wood and stones. Besides solving the ‘desert’ in that spot, it also breaks up the expanse of plantings to the eye and invites you into the garden. Ha! A definite ‘deer resistant’ addition!
Good job! What you have done looks really good. I'm in the UK and we don't have a shortage of rain but I've never been a fan of the sterile monoculture that is a lawn, so I've been digging mine up and replacing it with perennials and shrubs. Japanese maples are so beautiful too.
Thanks so much. I love that Japanese maple. The deer chewed a big branch off so it is lop sided now. I'll need to be creative with the pruning.
It's better to just have a lawn if you're gonna plant Asian weeds in England. Plant stuff that grows in the wild there, no exceptions.
@@guyincognito320 your comment seems to assume that I'm not planting native species. You also assume that my observation that Japanese maples are beautiful means that I have planted them (or other "Japanese weeds" as you put it) whereas my comment sheds no light on what perennials and shrubs I have been planning. Perhaps you should enjoy the video rather than being a negative Nancy.
Unfortunately, we are starting to have a water in the UK too. Last year we had a lot of "hoose bans" because we were in a drought in the South. It is only spring time and some area are already showing drought signs.
So... yes! Go ahead! Plant drought resistant plants!
Just a question, Garden Moxie: have you thought at a system to harvest water during winter? If you already have, can you tell about it and how it helped?
@@robyrachel3 I have not harvested water in winter, but I think my area has a lot of opportunities. I need to spend more time learning what can be done.
People still don't realize how ugly their empty lawns are. Keep up your work, it's amazing.
Local wildflowers are something people are trying.
Protects bees, attracts birds and looks nice!
Your landscaping is absolutely stunning! Beautiful selection of plants, and beautiful arrangements of them as well!
I love what you did and I'm trying to do the same thing. I live a rural area and we cut acres of grass. The area near the house is manicured but what is further from the house is slightly higher. I've created and expanded perennial borders, planted hedges and trees, and slowly converting an old pasture into a forest by transplanting trees that are growing in the woods. I'd like to create a wildflower meadow and then just maintain a few mowed paths for walking.
We have slowly reduced the amount of lawn/mowed pasture by almost 50% (so 8 acres to 4). Ultimate goal is just to have only the area in the front of rear of house as lawn (and a small area surrounding the family cemetery. Better for the environment, cheaper, and less maintenance as we get older. Added bonuses are beautiful flowers and a shaded forest for walking.
Why is your voice so comforting 🥹 was falling asleep while listening to you! Your voice is perfect for audio books! Anyways I'm happy you didn't listen to the neighbors! Your garden looks awesome keep up the great work!
First time homeowner here, this year is the season of trying to plant some flowers and shrubs. this video is pretty inspiring for diverse plant types. thanks!