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We did something similar at the end of the garden with emphasis on native wild species and minimal maintenance - aiming for more wild than garden. The low maint

We did something similar at the end of the garden with emphasis on native wild species and minimal maintenance - aiming for more wild than garden. The low maintenance didn't quite work as planned. Nature helped and now we've gained brambles (probably the highest maintenance part, as if left alone we'd have no garden, and once in they're damned hard to get rid of), thistle, inevitable dandelions and a few unidentified things have moved in too. The blackberry, nettles and dandelions need regular encouragement not to do too well. Less effort than a boring lawn though. First year was fairly underwhelming, since then have had all sorts of insects and birds as constant backdrop. Last few years two pairs of birds, not sure if same pairs, have used it for their nesting spot - there's always one nest in the blackberries. I guess brambles are staying! The back of the garage seems to have a couple of masonry bees every summer, and there's a lovely extra sound background from it all. There's constant birdsong at the back. A local cat keeps trying for those nests, but hasn't got to them yet, and has failed noisily a few times... :) We've twice spotted a frog, but we have no pond and there's no open water near us, so that's been a bit surprising.

ChuckMcM 7y ago
> We've twice spotted a frog, but we have no pond and there's no open water near us, so that's a been bit surprising. We had a similar experience with salamanders showing up. I could not imagine what path they took to get to our garden in a pretty urban place where the nearest creek is a couple of miles away and generally concrete lined. The gardener however suggested that they come from the street drains (which in our area drain to the SF bay, they aren't sewers which take water to the water treatment plant). The nearest street drain is about 3 houses down, still quite a hike for a small beast that likes the wet but I suppose manageable.
mauvehaus 7y ago
After cutting our ivy back from taking over our patio every year for 3 years, I ripped it out and planted raspberries last spring. They're taking over, which is exactly what I hoped would happen, and seem to have successfully outcompeted any ivy I may have missed. If I'm going to have that spreads relentlessly, I may as well get berries out of it. We'll get the first fruit this year. They're biennial. Super excited.
- vram22 7y ago
  Saw an article about edible weeds on HN some time back, and got to know of a book on the same subject for a part of India, recently. Interesting topic. Work with nature instead of against it.
mulmen 7y ago
Do you have any pictures? I love the idea of a grass-free yard.

ChuckMcM 7y ago

> We've twice spotted a frog, but we have no pond and there's no open water near us, so that's a been bit surprising. We had a similar experience with salamanders showing up. I could not imagine what path they took to get to our garden in a pretty urban place where the nearest creek is a couple of miles away and generally concrete lined. The gardener however suggested that they come from the street drains (which in our area drain to the SF bay, they aren't sewers which take water to the water treatment plant). The nearest street drain is about 3 houses down, still quite a hike for a small beast that likes the wet but I suppose manageable.

mauvehaus 7y ago

After cutting our ivy back from taking over our patio every year for 3 years, I ripped it out and planted raspberries last spring. They're taking over, which is exactly what I hoped would happen, and seem to have successfully outcompeted any ivy I may have missed. If I'm going to have that spreads relentlessly, I may as well get berries out of it. We'll get the first fruit this year. They're biennial. Super excited.

vram22 7y ago
Saw an article about edible weeds on HN some time back, and got to know of a book on the same subject for a part of India, recently. Interesting topic. Work with nature instead of against it.

mulmen 7y ago

Do you have any pictures? I love the idea of a grass-free yard.