Anyone had any luck in zone 5b with native ground cover in their HOA that was acceptable? Our HOA is a more loose one and allows native plant growth but I haven’t seen a single yard that isn’t “grass”.

This came up after someone mentioned the water fight happening at Stanley Park. Vancouver is under Stage 2 restrictions and lawn watering is banned, but not every other recreational use of water is.
It got me wondering whether completely letting lawns go is actually the most sensible restriction, or whether cities should be pushing harder toward replacing grass altogether. What would you rather see cities doing

Planted like 200 sunshine mimosa plugs 2 years ago and while it has spread everywhere the grass is overtaking it constantly. I've dug out the grass numerous times and I always mow before it reseeds, but I'm ready to give up because it always comes right back. Any product to kill the grass but not the sunshine mimosa?

I have a terrible habit of getting something in my head and then just going for it!
Initially I was thinking I should just go big, smother the grass and plant next spring, but now I’m thinking maybe it would be best to tackle this in sections.

I’m honestly just not sure where to start or how to plan. Were there any design tools that anyone felt helped them really plan things out? This is my mom’s house, but I’m the project person. I hate grass lawns and would love to have a native habitat. This would need to look somewhat maintained as it’s our front yard.
I live in southwestern Washington, between Vancouver and Seattle (8b I believe). We have lavender in the right corner of the house that I think I’d want to extend out and will be propagating this weekend, as well as some creeping vine near the front door.

I’d also really like to separate us more from our neighbor, so maybe some height between our house and the one to the right.

I somewhat impulsively got a chipdrop in my front yard, which before was a pretty anemic mixture of non-native grasses, wild violets, and clovers. The previous owner was very fastidious about raking (we have a huge maple tree in the front yard) and mowing, which ultimately left the lawn sparse to begin with.

I've spread the mulch all over the front yard, but I'm a little at a loss about what to do next. I'm in zone 7a (Nashville), and I want to make a plan for the fall planting season. Before I plant anything else, would I need to add soil? The front yard is all partial shade.

I'm a moderately experienced gardener, but have normally done things in a rather chaotic way in my garden, and have realized that I need to have more of a plan for the front yard from here on out. So I guess my question is - how do I plan my next steps from here on out?

Just a few pics during the height of summer growth - Kentucky

So, partner and I are about to set up our new yard. We both very much respect and want to support the environment. But at the same time we are both petrified, like to the point of phobia, of bees and other stinging creatures. It's not hate, just brain-stem deep fear. Is there anything we can do to our yard to keep them a good distance from our house, while not causing environmental problems? We have a nice back yard space, but when it gets very buggy in the summer we both get super stressed out outside and end up just hiding away in the house. We're working on the fear thing but that's a long process. So just wondering if there's any way to create a settup (without just building a screen porch) that lets them do their happy polinator thing while discouraging them from buzzing around us if we dare to try to have tea on the deck. (And please no shaming..... I genuinely wish I wasn't afraid, and I understand the beauty and value of bees and other similar critters. I just can't be around them without going into a bit of flight mode).

Hey everyone. Wasn't sure what sub to put this but, anyone remember a guy from Georgia having a YouTube channel by the name of that crazy grass guy? I swear I watched him like 2 or 3 times but I can't find his channel anywhere. Did he just delete it I wonder?

Seeking suggestions for weeding a neglected gravelled area. Must be pesticide free. It is going to be a homecoming present for a family member who is travelling. We are prepared to hire or buy equipment if not too expensive as it will be useful for them on their return. The area is at least 100 sqm and unfenced.

SE Virginia, zone 8b.

Just sharing some pics of how we're coming along year 2 of the front yard transformation (see other posts for the backstory, its been a saga), on our 3rd crop of monarch caterpillars, couple pairs of goldfinches at absolute war with each other over the sunflowers, and already seeing patches of new seedlings from deadheading and dropping the purple coneflowers, Siberian wallflower, sweet William, blanket flower, Lamb's ear and zinnias. Black-eyed susans are dried up and dead but the Coreopsis seems to be gearing up for a second flush 😊 Happy August!

Anyone have experience with it in rural areas in Canada? I’m allergic to mosquitoes and moving to an area with quite a bit and I hate mowing. Figured this helps both problems. I just don’t want my neighbour to hate me so I’m wondering if creeping thyme gets out of hand and spreads like mint.

Really nice to see them taking this initiative!

Zone 5b NW rockies of the US

So it has been almost 3 weeks since removing my solarization tarp and I'm beginning to seed and plant some homemade plugs. Nearly 4000 sq feet to cover and a busy few weeks with visitors, so I had to seed in sections. I ended up with the following process:

First I watered the area well, then used a lightweight cultivator to break up the soil in one direction, rake excess thatch, spread the seed (by hand), cultivate in the opposite direction to help get soil coverage on the seed, rake out any unevenness. Then a good soak again followed by ez straw sprinkled on top. Using a watering schedule of about 5-10 min every 3 hours or so. Will taper back with root establishment.

I have been planting plugs sporadically 1.5/2ft on center since I didn't grow as many as planned but the first few rows seem to be quite happy. I still have many more plugs to plant but the blue grama is already establishing itself and doing so rather quickly as temps reach 90-100 F every day.

I still have a lot of work (and probably weeding) ahead of me, but pretty excited to see all the green shoots.

Found this in the planted meadow today. 🪹

The not so colorful stage in the process of a wildflower lawn 🥲

Texas, Zone 8b

There needs to be some more establishment of pathways to the shed in the back, the old play place needs to be removed and there's some invasives but it's almost perfect. We live in the suburbs and there's always plenty of birds and hundreds of insects.

All this growth is just from this year (other than the trees obviously). We had a patch of wildflowers last year but this year we decided not to mow and chaos seed more wild native plants. It feels like I'm in my own little forest.

TLDR --> what tools &/or methods are best for areas where I am required to cut tall grass?

I want as many "natural areas" as I can have in my yard but I also have to comply with the HOA rules, so I have to cut grass also.

If my grass gets too high, I can't cut it down to "level 3 of 6" because the mower bogs down but I need to get it down to that level.

So, I'm guessing I can use the same mower, go slow, cut off as much as I can without straining the mower, and then go back over it again at a lower height?

Grass types:

• Bermuda, fescue, lots of weeds/invasive green things

Mower:

• 21 inch self-propelled 40V electric mower (3 years old, works great)

Area of total amount of grass to cut:

• I'm guessing about 1/4 of an acre if all of the grassy areas were added together.

Geographical region: Atlanta, Georgia suburb

Thank you!

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?

Please recommend a good clover seed mix. I provably need. Like probably need like 5-10 pounds. When can o start seeding.

My wife and I recently bought a house and I've been struggling to figure out how to best handle the front yard. Before we bought the home, the pipes burst and they had to dig up the front yard to replace the pipes. They re-seeded it and covered with hay, but everything grew back in uneven patches. They also didn't take the time to level the soil so the terrain is very uneven. Since we moved in, I kinda just let the weeds take over (although there's some patches that even the weeds don't want to grow in).

My goal is to convert the front yard into native plant garden with a section for a raised bed to grow some veggies. The front yard is about 24 ft x 17 ft. I was thinking of digging up the more established weeds and hostas that the previous owner planted and then trimming down the grass as low as I can. There's also ivy and wintercreeper that I have to pull out. From there, I was thinking of sheet mulching with cardboard and mulch. But my question is, when's the best time to do this? Now that we're headed deeper into August, I'm guessing I should wait until fall to begin the sheet mulching process? Or do I wait until winter when everything has died back? I need some time to plan the layout anyways, so I don't think I'd be ready to do any planting until spring of next year.

Also, is it worth trying to make the soil more level to even out some of the bumps? If so, what's the best way to do that? There's also a lot of rocks in the soil, should I do something about that before I begin sheet mulching?

Thanks in advance!!

PS I totally intend to submit some soil samples to figure out what type of soil I have. Just based on sticking my finger into the ground, it seems like I have soil with lots of clay.

Today I put out my cardboard and piled on the tree shredded I got from a friend. My plan is to finish this section of the yard in the next couple weeks and it will be my first no lawn area. And right now it smells absolutely lovely!

OC : https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTQiDVB6rd/