We are getting ready to plant a bunch of conifers and get rid of all our grass in the front yard (it’s an oval about 30ft long & 15 ft at its deepest). We have saved a ton of cardboard for this and will be getting a bunch of mulch. I think I have two questions 1) is it okay to be planting all these conifers while getting rid of the grass? We’ve spent about 2k on them so they are definitely going in. 2) we have so many weeds in the grass and I’m wondering if we can do cardboard and weed barrier or if that’s a bad idea. Thank you!

I couldn’t really find determinate info on this other than the compost/amendment “enriches the soil”. Background to why I’m asking the poll question and additional questions:

Will be converting lawn to natives in Dec (hard date to get rebate), but:

1. I just read it can take 6-8 weeks for the grass to die off enough that it won’t grow back. It’s Oct 31, so I’m late on that. Any advice to responsibly speed that along after cutting it as short as possible and stopping water?
2. Most sheet mulching advice (even at r/NoLawns and calwildgardens.com) advise a layer of compost or amendments on top of the lawn before cardboard. But that seems like it’d be providing nutrition to the lawn to strengthen resistance to the smothering?
3. I’m only putting enough mulch on top of the cardboard to be able to lift it up again. Our landscaper will be digging into 1/3-1/2 width wise of it to install a skinny raingarden and don’t want them doing more work than they have to. So I could amend after a month of smothering.

Edit: Zone 9b, suburban area, near West San Jose, Northern California

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Hi everyone, I am super excited to get started killing my lawn this weekend!

Thing is, my yard is already covered with leaves. Can I mow the leaves, cardboard on top of the mulched leaves and then lay down chips/mulch or do I need to clear the leaves and then place cardboard and mulch?

Thank you!!

Hey everyone!

I’ve been hard at work designing a seasonally-themed, pollinator-friendly garden for my yard here in Atlanta, GA (Zone 7), and I'd love to get your input on the plans. I've been inspired by Adam Woodruff and Thomas Rainer’s approach to dense, naturalistic plantings that reflect native plant communities, and I’m hoping to create something functional, beautiful, and ecologically supportive.

The Space:

The area is a right-triangle-shaped bed, around 182 square feet, with three main planting zones: a back edge near the house, a central meadow-like area, and a front border facing the street. The spot gets full sun for about 6-10 hours a day, so I’m planning to layer sun-loving native plants in a way that mimics wild prairies.

My Design and Planting Plan:

I’ve divided the area into three main sections:

• Zone A (Back Edge along the House): Featuring structural plants like Purple Muhly Grass and Threadleaf Bluestar to add height and texture, complemented by a dense cover of Texas Sedge for stabilization.
• Zone B (Central Meadow Area): This will be the heart of the garden, with a mix of medium-height grasses and perennials like Purple Coneflower, Little Bluestem, and Black-Eyed Susan for that lush meadow feel.
• Zone C (Front Border along the Street): Lower-growing natives such as Butterfly Weed, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, and clusters of tulips and daffodils for a spring color boost.

Seasonal Color Palettes:

1. Early Spring (Blues and Whites): Cool blues and whites to create a serene awakening effect, using Viola pedata and Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’.
2. Late Spring to Early Summer (Pinks and Purples): Warmer pinks and purples with Wild Lupine, Phlox, and Salvia to add vibrancy and attract pollinators.
3. Mid to Late Summer (Yellows and Oranges): Bright summer colors with Black-Eyed Susan, Blanket Flower, and Butterfly Weed.
4. Late Summer to Fall (Purples and Golds): Deeper tones to ease the transition into autumn, with New England Aster and Goldenrod.
5. Fall (Reds, Oranges, and Golds): Warm hues of Purple Muhly Grass and Threadleaf Bluestar provide a soft, cozy look to close out the growing season.

Goals and Questions:

• I’d like to hear any advice on sourcing plants in bulk, especially natives, around Atlanta. If there are any plant brokers on this site, I need some help.
• Does anyone have advice on an alternative to Carex Texensis? I'm having trouble sorucing
• Looking for general advice / feedback / lessons learned on these plants.

I’d love any thoughts, feedback, or suggestions you might have!

Master Planting Plan

I'm in southern IL, and I love the look and feel of the large clover patches that surprised me in my back yard this spring. I'm sure they weren't anywhere near this thick and lush last year, and one thing I did notice about them was that they remained much shorter than the grass surrounding them at the times that I got lazy about mowing. So all summer long I have been deadheading the clover flowers and saving them, with the intent on broadcasting them in autumn and mowing them in to the front yard which is where I want to start some clover... Will this work? Scattering the dried flowers before my final mow so the seeds do that winter thing they do?

I’m wondering if anyone can suggest good lawn alternative for toddler in the garden? I want to encourage my almost two year old child to spend my time in the garden. Currently I have many California native bushes and small plants, plus large areas of walking space with wood chip mulch that seem dangerous for toddlers due to risk of splinters. Soon I’ll be removing two diseased fruit trees, so I’ll have more patch of open space opened up. I am considering pebbles, mulch, or any ground-cover for a good portion of my yard. So kid(s) can explore nature on his/her own (under supervision).

I would love native options but I can’t think of any native ground over that huge the ground like lawn.

Any tip or suggestion would be great. Thank you!

I've got some sedge I'm planting in the areas to see what happens. I was going to throw a TON of clover down but I guess I should wait until Spring to do that. I also can't tell if the Clover lasts, because I have thrown it down there before and it's not there now. I would like something that can take root now with our unusually great weather and then ride out the Winter. As in this is when I would plant grass (or sedge) for that very purpose. Is there anything good in the shade that I could plant? I don't want to keep having to buy clover seed. It's not even red clover!!

Zone is an old 7B, new 7A. East Coast. Thank you!

About to close on a new house. Former owner parked a few cars out front. Property is close to the beach in zone 8a, so the front "lawn" is just compacted sand with patches of grass. Im thinking of loading up the 1,000 sqft area with radishes before it gets too cold in January. Good idea or no? This is a small town and the only chipper ghosted me, so cheap mulch isnt really an option just yet.

*edit - radishes are to prep the soil for native inedible landscape. Will leave them in the ground to compost by spring.

I'm in NJ Zone 6b, have a 3/4 acre property that I'm very slowly converting to be more natural, more native, and more sustainable. My original landscapers were butchers. Accidentally chopping down plants they thought were weirds that I'd deliberately planted or nurtured.

The new guys are better, not perfect, but when I talk to the crew chief, he knows a lot about plants and has shown willingness to work with me. For example, he offered to instead of taking all the leaves this fall, putting some in sections of wire fencing that I turn into barrels for composting e.g. - something my previous landscaper would refuse to do.

How is with y'all?

Hi all!

I am a new member! I am trying to find some good resources on southern MN 5a native plant options? Also resources and advice on how to make a successful bio diverse lawn.

I would like to find a way to make a beautiful, low maintenance(after established I am sure it will take a while), sustainable, and PET FRIENDLY yard. I have a full Sun front yard and mostly shaded back yard with Silver Maple trees. I would like to create something that future owners of this house will also love. I know this may sound like I am asking for the world, and maybe I am, but I believe this is possible!

Thank you so much for any help! ❤️

I’ve successfully transitioned my lawn to primarily perennial peanut, with Florida native Mimosa (pretty pink flowers in spring). Primary method was using no nitrogen fertilizer. P, K, MgSO4 yes; N no. We’re getting older here in south west Florida. Looking at robot mowers . Mowing in winter is fine; summer is miserable. But the highest cutting height is about 3.5”. Is that too low? I’m asking for anecdotes or experience, or opinions. Thanks!

I can't "share" this post to this community because of reddit limitations but I am looking to make a pollination garden next spring of milkweed and wild flower.

I need to know if this birm should have it's pine needles removed this fall prior to layering leaf litter, topsoil, and manure/humis. Link to original post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NativePlantGardening/s/2NAdhMNKTu

I have a huge 100ft maple tree that shades most of my yard from spring to late fall. Does anyone have suggestions for what I could plant in full/ partial sun? I live in Western Washington. Preferably wildflowers/ annuals.

So this past summer I just let this part of my yard grow wild as it was mostly a dirt patch when I got my home. I think most of it is plants native to here, the Midwest. For next year, any advice on keeping this area sort of wild but in a cleaner way? Would you just let it grow with a cleaner perimeter, like a landscaping around the edge? Would you try to put some more order to the whole thing? Tear it out and plant natives in an orderly way? I really have no experience with landscaping.

I was happy with the flowers that bloomed this fall.

I live in Oregon (8b) and we get plenty of rain - redoing our side yard and trying to decide between decomposed granite and crushed rock. I have a young child and a couple dogs to consider.

Any thoughts on which would be best?

I have begun the process of replacing a large chunk of my grass lawn with native plants. I started with an area of grass that was mostly dead already. However, when digging holes to plant, I noticed that the soil is very saturated with grass roots. Will native plants still survive in these conditions? The grass was st Augustine if that’s relevant.

Also- any recommendations for hardy, drought tolerant natives? I’m in Southern California.

Thank you!

I'm in MS, 8a. As the title says, I have a small wooded area in the back a large fenced in pasture, another acre in the back and about 1.5 acres in the front. It's pretty low to the ground and stays so wet in some places that crawdads build mud houses in my lawn and jack up my mower. I want to remove all grass, stop mowing entirely, but keep the plants VERY low. Under 6'' max if possible. I don't know what I'm doing and here is my plan.

I want to plant Corsican Mint on my forest bed to A. help mitigate ticks B. Help keep out poison ivy and C. give my forest a nice minty smell. It should remain under 2''.

In my pasture, I want to replace the grass with White micro clover. A. Very healthy for the animals. B. Should grow strong and spread easily. Remains under 6''.

In my backyard, outside the pasture I want to plant Blue and Pink Creeping Thyme. Pretty and remains under 4''

In the area the kids play in, It's got water issues, never overtly wet, but it must be just under the surface as the ground is always green with mildew. I was thinking Irish Moss with stepping stones leading to the play area in a higher, less wet area with more clover where the kids actually play around.

In the front is the most moisture (where the crawdads live occasionally) very large and expansive. I may just plant more Creeping Thyme here, I really haven't decided. After a rain, a portion is underwater for a couple days.

These are the rantings of a horticulture madman so feel free to bring me back to earth. My planned technique is simply to emplace random cardboard and mulch and seeds over time in strategic places to hopefully let the invasive nature of each do it's work and increase these plots over time. What do you think?

I'm buying my first home, and love the idea of replacing my lawn with native species. Moss and clover lawns are appealing because they're still soft to sit, walk on. Unfortunately I don't believe any trefoil clovers are native to me, and I don't think my property will have the moisture to support moss.

Anyone have suggestions for low growing plants or native grasses that are soft enough to still enjoy sitting in?

Hi all,

I'm a garden designer in NYC and have a client with a very shady, 12 by 20ft area of their small yard in NYC that they've repeatedly tried (very unsuccessfully) to convert to lawn. Their soil, however, is awful and the area receives no direct sunlight. They have four children under 10 who like to kick a soccer ball around out there, so they need something tough as well as non-toxic (a concern with imitation turf). I'm suggesting native, shade tolerant plants for the rest of the space but they're committed to keeping the area pictures as 'lawn.'

I thought of moss, but I'm not sure even the most robust sheet mosses would stand up to that amount of wear and tear.

I was wondering if there some kind of native groundcover or sedge that we could plant. Though again, the intense wear and tear might make that an unsustainable plan too....

https://preview.redd.it/say50zq385wd1.jpg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2583fe27c1aa097d27432fe5cac7d278e422d8b7

They floated the idea of imitation turf, but I'm not sure how genuinely non-toxic many of these products actually are. I'm also aware that they do need more maintenance than you might imagine (e.g: raking leaves, cleaning bird/animal excrement, making it akin to an outdoor carpet). Most pertinently, I cannot stand them either aesthetically or ecologically.

I can always enrich the soil for them by adding organic matter etc, but am a little stumped as to the best option to recommend to them. If anyone has any experience of any of these options, I'd very much appreciate your advice. Or if there's a solution I've not thought of, please send it my way!

Thanks in advance!

My husband’s argument is that he likes to lay on a grass lawn when it’s a nice day and he also doesn’t know what would be best for a dog to run around on. Personally I don’t think we will be laying in the grass as much as he might imagine but I would like something soft enough to walk around on and occasionally throw a blanket on to lay down outside. Any suggestions? Zone 10a

We just bought 5 acres of forest in SC, on which to build a log cabin. It is lawn free, (zone 8b) and we are happy to keep it that way. We do want to plant some privacy shrubs/trees on one side that was thinned out previously. What are some fast growing suggestions, beneficial to local flora and fauna? Also would like some suggestions of colorful flora that would thrive in this environment. Thanks!