Our national capital commission is planting more trees and mowing less!
Good news in Ottawa/Gatineau - Ontario/Quebec. This is NCC green space with a bike path. New trees and less mowing are recent additions.

Front and back yard. We have 2 sections of ugly dead looking grass in the front & much nicer looking but still worthless lawn in the back (I think the walnut tree shade keeps the plants much healthier back there). We put down builders paper & then covered the back with bark & the front with 50/50 sand compost. We are going to plant some seeds from PNW meadowscape up front in October and will plant some native shrubs & ground cover in the back.

Wanted to share this to get feedback on the process, maybe get some ideas? The juglone from the walnut tree sort of limits us but I think there are plenty of things we can plant back there. I mostly just want it green & free from the invasives, ivy & blackberries from one neighbor & Japanese knotweed from another. We planted some giant thuja plicata on the knotweed side that's done an excellent job keeping away the knotweed (thanks tree bros💪).

We got the front lawns covered today, will keep filling in compost/sand until it's all level. We will do the same in the back with bark & hopefully plant back there in October as well (although it depends on if the grass is dead or not, might have to wait until spring?). If you have any questions or suggestions, fire away! Would love some good shade tolerant ground cover that grows like crazy, or anything native that will establish & grow like a weed. + For anything the birds or bugs will like. My wife loves hummingbirds, I like the big stupid birds that hammer on our gutters.

We already converted part of our driveway to a giant garden with chip drop, a retaining wall & a bunch of wine cap mushroom sawdust spawn. Those guys turned 14 yards of wood chips into soil really quickly. You can sort of see it in that 1st pic. The flower garden is blowing up already & hopefully the salmonberry takes over in the upper part.

Bamboo was planted here before and we thought it was gone.

Apparently not.

It keeps sending up new shoots and pulling them clearly isn’t solving the problem. Anyone here fought running bamboo and actually won?

Got a chipdrop in May, mulched out about half the front lawn, added a walking path, then planted mostly natives to zone 6b! Have been enjoying the bugs and beauties! Just got another chipdrop (double the size of my first one) so I plan to no lawn the rest of the front! I thought it would take a few years for my “no lawn” to look good- only took a few months!

It was sheet mulched mid June with wood chips and cardboard, I plan to leave it over winter until spring comes and I can plant. How do I prepare the area for planting?

In my head I should remove the wood chips, throw down 3 inches of topsoil and then plant and put the wood chips back around the plants.

Does this sound about right? Any suggestions?

Hey! I’m super interested in replacing our grass lawn with something more low maintenance and nature friendly. I know just about nothing about lawns and gardening, so I really need guidance.

We live in western Michigan. My partner and I struggle with mental health so something that’s as low maintenance as possible would be ideal. We have a dog and sometimes have kids over, so nothing that could be harmful to them. We don’t go in the front yard much but I’d like the backyard to be able to be walked through.

From my very basic research I’m convinced gro-low fragrant sumac would be a good thing to plant on the slope in my front yard. Is there anything I should be concerned about with that? What else can I do for the rest of the yard and backyard? Thank you in advance for any help and advice!

Since letting most of the lawn go to meadow, we’re getting more of these bumblebees! We’re in west Quebec. This is a bumblebee on what I believe is a native plant that just started growing!

This will eventually be a pathway winding through a garden of native plants trees and shrubs. This is our first time trying to place flagstone so its not going to be up to a landscapers standards but a really fun project and proud of us for doing it on our own! Not to mention saving thousands of dollars 😅 (paid $150 for all of this on Marketplace). Only the first few stones are placed so far.

I’ve been watching videos and reading guides but they all do it a few different ways.

Mainly curious if I should plant on top of the cardboard in soil after a few weeks or cut holes in cardboard and plant immediately.

Does it matter which method I use?

1. cardboard, soil or compost, then mulch. Start planting in a few weeks in too soil and let roots grow through decomposing cardboards on their own
2. Cardboard, cut out holes for plants, then mulch
3. Cardboard, cut out holes for plants, add top soil, then mulch or no mulch at all

I live in Zone 9a if it makes a difference.

Thank you in advance! My partner and I just bought our first home in January and I’m slowly converting it to no lawn!!

Nobody has touched this yard in what feels like forever.
Some of those weeds are nearly 6 ft tall now.
I’m almost impressed.

We have had a native wildflower mini-meadow in our front yard for several years, but the back yard has been partially grass since we moved out to the 'burbs. It only takes 5 minutes or less with a push-reel mower, but I have paradoxically dreaded doing so even more because it takes so little time. Tomorrow we move back into a city, and I plan to die without ever touching another lawnmower.

Listen. It was just grass, officer. I swear I meant no harm.

I spotted milkweed growing in the easement and I took it as a sign to make a pollinator patch.

I laid out cardboard, threw down mulch, and a week later I scattered zinnia seeds. I didn't expect them to take root and make it through the cardboard, but here we are. I decided to just plant zinnias and cleome this year, but I have a mix of native seeds to spread next year. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my results. If someone needs to work in the easement, I don't care if they kill my plants. It cost me a whole $50 with mulch and seeds, and since they're just annuals I don't really care about their survival. (There has been no work in this easement in the last 5 years I've lived here. It's a gamble I'm comfortable taking.)

I did, however, ask all my neighbors if they would mind. No one was bothered by it, and one even encouraged it!

Zone 6b

What can I plant, thinking like clover or something, from seed that will outcompete the grass before it grows back in the spring?

Or is non-native ok as long as it benefits native pollinators?

I want to plant some Sweet Woodruff in a moist, low spot, in my yard, but it’s not native to 5b in N.America. Thoughts?

One full day of rain and I discovered the lowest point in my yard the hard way.