My front yard has been transformed from lawn to this beautiful wildlife garden.
What makes a front yard more hospitable to wildlife? Getting rid of your lawn of course! Even if you have a small front yard, you can make a huge impact in your beautiful wildlife garden’s helpfulness by simply removing your grass and replacing with a garden. It’s been several years now since we ditched the grass in the front, and what a wonderful change it has been. Sure, it was hard work to begin with, but most of that was due to my visions of having a garden with many textures, paths and a lot of natural stone. I also wanted a stream bed to make use of the large amount of water that comes down our driveway during a storm. Was it worth it? You be the judge.
Six years ago our front yard looked like this, with drainage problems, grass from the original owners, and not many plants for pollinators to choose from.
The new front yard starts to take shape after digging a ditch for the dry stream bed, adding river rock, boulders and lots of soil with compost and manure.
As you can see from the “before” picture there was a lot of work to be done to create what I wanted to see in the front of my house. I designed the stream bed so that all rain water collected on my property flows through this dry stream and waters the gardens all the way down the side of the house. Why does that matter for my wildlife friends? Well, the water from the sky has no chemicals, I don’t have to use so much water from the tap which saves resources, and my gardens learn how to use water more efficiently. My plants are then healthier and provide food for my wildlife friends.
Creating permeable paths allows water to seep into the surrounding garden areas.
I don't clean out the stream bed very often. Instead I allow Mother Nature to deposit twigs, decomposing plants and sand to create an ecosystem I would find out in the wild.
These plants started at the edges of the stream bed, and are naturally making their way downward, just like I see in the mountains.
Fall is always a great time of year to start thinking about what you can do to change your yard for your wildlife friends. Maybe my front yard transformation will inspire you to make a change and rip out a little of your lawn also. Just taking out a small amount of grass can make a huge difference.
Just and update: My weekly posts will be moving to Tuesdays! I hope you will join me and I look forward to your comments. Thank you so much, as I learn a lot from all of you!
© 2011, Kathy Green. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Kathy Green
We too twice had a river running down our driveway. But those spectacular winter floods, seem to have swung to global weirding. They were global weirding!
Elephant’s Eye recently posted..Summer Gold at Paradise and Roses
You wouldn’t believe how much water flows through that stream bed sometimes! Our area of the country is well known for its downpours. Yet all that water is put to use naturally, which makes my yard very happy.
Thanks Kathy for that look at your front yard.. without a lawn
So much more alive. I esp like the rock stream. So practical & natural to guide water on its way.
Kathy @nativegardener recently posted..As Autumn Leaves Fly
Kathy,
I’ve helped others rid themselves of part or all of their lawn, and everyone loves the results, especially with all of the pollinators it brings in.
Kathy it is beautiful without lawn…so hard in suburbs where there are rules, but I try to cut more and more out every year as I build my wildlife garden…at my old house it was easier because we had so many trees and the grass wouldn’t grow…
Donna Donabella recently posted..Gardens Eye Verse
Donna, I know what you mean. I have never had a lawn at my house. So, no need to pull it out!
Kathy @nativegardener recently posted..As Autumn Leaves Fly
I think more and more areas are warming up to the ideas of lawn be gone, but as we all know that takes time. I still have a small area of lawn in the back, used for playing on. It’s turf-type tall fescue and has no automatic irrigation so it’s pretty much left to its own defenses.
No dilemma in judging YOUR yard. Hands down you have created a winner. What a great transformation and the before and after really highlight what beauty can be created if you just take the time and think about how mom nature would do it….or in this case, how would Kathy Green do it? WONDERFUL!
Glad you put the aside about moving to Tuesdays. I thought I lost a few days. HA!
Loret recently posted..Pond Prank
Thanks Loret for the kind comments! I agree that pictures are the best way to show people what can be done.
Yes, I’ve moved to Tuesdays to keep our weekday slots full. It took a little bit to get used to, almost forgot to post my post!
You’ve done a beautiful job, it looks like so natural. I love seeing examples of how people have transformed their yards and lawns, the more ideas – the better. Thanks for sharing!
Julie recently posted..Catching Up
Thanks Julie! I’m glad you like my example. Being in the mountains this stream bed looks like it belongs here. But anyplace can be turned into a lawn free garden, you just need to observe your surroundings and create something that’s natural to your area.
This looks nice. It appears to blend well with the natural elements. Are most of your plants native? What is the purple flowered plant in the first photo?
Hi Michael,
The purple flowers are Walker’s Low Catmint. Not a native, but so beneficial for bees, gets absolutely no supplemental watering from me, grows in part shade and blooms for more than 2 months. So I use it in various spots in the gardens. Not to mention that it’s great for the cats.
Hi Kathy
I am an interior and landscape designer, author, photographer… in Richmond, VA. I am currently writing an article for VA Gardener and their 9 state sister publications on creating sanctuary in the garden. If you’d be interested, I’ love to include some photos from this post, with the proper credit of course. I speak to a new gardening aesthetic, and this is a great example. I appreciate your considering though am on a tight deadline. Great blog!
Vicki O’Neal, ASID, CID, VSLD
http://FandFdesign.com/
http://FandFdesign.com/blog
Facebook link: http://tiny.cc/4x21a
@FandFdesign
Vicki O’Neal recently posted..A Place For Everything… part 2
Hi Vicki,
I would be honored if you wish to include some photos. Please email me directly and I can give them to you, as long as you keep the copyright on them of course.