No Lawns

Is this your yard? No shame! Many people inherit landscapes like this when they move in and haven’t found the time to make a change. Check out the sidebar for resources on how to get started on a more pollinator-friendly landscape!

You don’t have to remove the whole lawn at once if it seems overwhelming. Even a small insect-friendly garden area or changes in how you manage the lawn can make a big difference.

This Xerces Society article also has some basic and easy steps: https://xerces.org/blog/bee-friendlier-with-your-lawncare

The bees are dying because of neonicatinoids in RoundUp presticides.

I remember my old house, i replaced 75% of the lawn with a flower garden and meadow flowers, moss, etc. the HOA was PISSED. I swear HOAs exist only to be miserable killjoys

Several years ago, developers cut down a giant tract of woods practically across the street from my house in order to build a brand new housing community. Cookie cutter homes with early 90's Tim Burton level "perfect lawns" stretching over hundreds of acres.

I started taking my walks down that way, since at a minimum they had sidewalks along the entire stretch making my evening walks a bit safer than trying to navigate the roadsides without them.

A couple of springs after the monstrosity was built, there was a house where about 1/4 of the lawn was covered in the mounds of ground nesting bees. I specifically chose my walking path each day so that I could go by there to witness the spectacular display. It was so neat watching the bees, males hovering over the mound nests fighting off rivals and trying to entice females. The melodious buzz of hundreds of bees dancing around the entrances to their nests was the highlight of my stroll.

Then one day I walked by and the owner of that yard was outside talking to someone from a pest control company about how to get rid of the bees in their yard. I'm not one to intrude on people, but since I was stopped at the intersection due to traffic and I overheard the conversation, I did mention to them that these mounds would be gone in a matter of days regardless of whether they were sprayed or not, and that the bees are non-aggressive natives that wouldn't/couldn't sting you and posed no threat.

A week or so later there was a sign in the yard with some statement that basically said to avoid touching the grass, keep pets and children out, dangerous pesticides had been sprayed.

The optimist in me wants to believe that something I read is true, and it basically stated that traditional pesticides are not usually very effective against ground nesting bees because the adults are short lived anyway, and most of the commonly used pesticides bind to soil and therefore don't usually penetrate deeply enough down into the soil to kill the larva/offspring.

I dead ass had a pest company come to my door and offer to flush my lawn with pesticide to get rid of all the bugs in it. I said "my guy, did you know that global insect populations are crashing and we're heading towards complete ecological collapse? I recognize everyone's gotta get their bread, but this is pretty bad stuff you guys are doing." He seemed interested and moved on. I doubt he quit the company, but a boy can dream.

Edit: no HOA, and my neighbors dgaf, so I can be a proud dandelion enjoyer. Planting tons of natives, we'll see how it goes.

Lawns are giant funko pops for the modern suburbanite home owner.

I highly recommend clover yards. Minimal upkeep and they help nature. They also require like 60% less water and stay green longer. Only grow to about 4-6” so you don’t have to mow.

Still get knocks on my door from companies wanting to help me with my yard.

No thanks.

Bunnies made homes in leaves, I get to watch a red-tailed hawk hunt in my backyard with their adolescent hawks, baby deer taking naps in the grass, the turtles still visit and have a places to lay their eggs (small pond on property), peeper frogs in the spring, lightning bugs like crazy in the summer, 3ft garder snake that suns in the bushes / front steps in the summer, birds have taken over the bushes and my dogs get to chase bunnies and watch the birds from the windows.

Besides this being a remenant of slave ownership, look how many slaves I have to keep my lawn perfectly manicured type thing, it's just another capitalist shit storm they sell you to keep you from seeing what's really going on and paying more for things that are ultimately killing you, us, everyone.

Oh, and I don't spend every waking fucking moment on the weekends, mowing, raking, moving specific nature into another spot, all for vanity's sake and to turn around and do it all over again.

Or go get gas, spill it filling up the lawn mower, further pollute the atmosphere etc., (my stuff is electric anyways).

So many benefits to this.

Take your time and energy back.

Stop fighting nature.

Let the planet live like it wants.

Victorian aristocracy: ah, yes, mowed laws, because useful land is for peasants.

Americans: FREEDOM LAWNS

Not my lawn. I've been selectively breeding my yard to only have highly drought tolerant native plants. My neighbor brags about his st Augustine monoculture and the $400 a month water bill to keep it alive, but always asks me what my secret is because I literally never water, fertilize, or poison it (besides with specific poison for invasive fire ants).

Although I am planning on seeding clover this year, largely because I plan on urban farming in my backyard, but I won't complain about the nitrogen fixing in the front either.

We planted clover; it blooms (great for pollinators), spreads fast, is very comfy to sit on, absorbs shock better when you fall on it, has a max length that's much shorter than grass, so you don't really need to mow the lawn unless you prefer it short and leaves less space for other undesireable plants to grow, while not needing much water to stay green (saving water). It's pretty great honestly!

Little fact: clover is edible, so if you feel like eating clover nectar, you'll be able to. I know some people might find that weird, but it tastes very good, which is why many farmers let their bees collect clover nectar to make their honey (it makes sweet/tangy delicious honey, due to how sweet clover nectar tastes to begin with).

I live in a van, I've spent a lot of time deep in the woods all across the US. There are still hardly any insects when the nearest lawn is dozens of miles away. This is almost definitely related to industrial scale pollution effecting the entire ecosystem not just just localized habitat destruction.

Nope, not my yard.

Our first one of the year earlier this week

Kentucky bluegrass isn't from Kentucky. It's not even from North America!

Pollinators HATE this one simple trick!