8 ms·

They use illustrations to sell the point because perhaps photographs wouldn't be so convincing.

romaaeterna 7y ago
Many natural locations near me are not pleasant for humans. Too many bugs (including ticks) and the underbrush is impassable. The areas that are more pleasant might be hard to replicate in a small space. You can't create a forest microclimate in a 1/4 acre yard. In fact, an isolated 1/4 acre yard is an unnatural habitat in a lot of ways. The easiest thing to manage there other than a lawn is usually a crop of 8ft high weeds.
- neaden 7y ago
  The article is not recommending people don't mow the lawn. It's not even saying to get rid of grass. Just to plant native plants, minimize herbicides/fertilizers and watering.
- fhbdukfrh 7y ago
  No one here is advocating untamed wilderness over a green sheet of lawn. You don't have to replicate impenetrable underbrush in your backyard. You could however focus on natural species and a broader variety
- khrbrt 7y ago
  > The areas that are more pleasant might be hard to replicate in a small space. You can't create a forest microclimate in a 1/4 acre yard Yes you can! https://youtu.be/ng-VskDFPpM https://youtu.be/ng-VskDFPpM It takes some work upfront to convert a lawn to a miniforest but it can be done. Just imagine how wonderful suburbia could be if this was the norm and not the exception. Edit: here's that same yard in early spring, where the fact that it's a normal suburban yard is more visible: https://youtu.be/CdthuPbn2uo https://youtu.be/CdthuPbn2uo . It's incredible how lush it is in the summer, you'd think it was miles away from civilization.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - romaaeterna 7y ago
    That is a good number of trees in a backyard. But it's hardly a microclimate. I imagine that I get more cooling from the (considerably larger) trees in my backyard. And it's nothing like the several degrees of cooling you get in a forest. Further, I don't see what those trees have to do with the article's advice about native plants. Surburbia might well be wonderful if that sort of backyard were the norm -- if we ditched the whole 19th and 20th century flight from urban agriculture -- I wouldn't mind being able to have a pig or a goat in the backyard, myself. But this article doesn't seem to have anything to do with that topic.
tyrust 7y ago
What a terribly cynical thing to say. A yard whose flora aligns with the local ecosystem will be much more hardy and just as beautiful than a sterile lawn and some flowers that will die within the season. For some pictures in California for example, see the California native plant society [0]. After visiting a native plant garden in SoCal I can't help but find the idea of a grass lawn absurd. [0] https://www.cnps.org/gardening https://www.cnps.org/gardening
- draw_down 7y ago
  Why would it be "cynical" to imagine illustrations more convincing than photos? I think that's pretty rude and un-called for.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  > After visiting a native plant garden in SoCal I can't help but find the idea of a grass lawn absurd. Aesthetically, you may be right. But yards are owned by and large by people with families. They have an important function to fulfill which is ruined by filling the space with plants.
  - Ididntdothis 7y ago
    " But yards are owned by and large by people with families. They have an important function to fulfill which is ruined by filling the space with plants." However I rarely see anybody actually on those beautiful, irrigated lawns in Southern CA. People are usually inside or in an area with tiles or concrete on the ground.
    - cfmcdonald 7y ago
      Don't know about Southern CA, but in the places I've lived, people usually play/relax in their back yards, not the front, and so are not easily visible.
  - fillskills 7y ago
    What makes you think that kids/families dont like to play in a plant filled yard? My kids love areas filled with trees, plants, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds etc way more as it is lot more interactive
miles 7y ago
> "They use illustrations to sell the point because perhaps photographs wouldn't be so convincing." Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604692383/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604692383/ Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743140/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743140/
- ilikehurdles 7y ago
  You can find examples of unmowed yards that are still beautiful and functional in many desirable urban-residential areas of cities. I'm thinking particularly of Hyde Park in Austin, Somerville in the Boston metro, Capitol Hill in Denver, Burlington VT, and much of Portland OR. It's not until you hit the suburbs where HOAs have dug in their claws and stand in the way of "cookie-cutter" ever becoming anything but. In Colorado, check out the Colorado Native Plant Society or the Colorado Cactus & Succulent Society. Denver Botanic Gardens is also wonderful with outreach and education efforts, but they're not strictly focused on native plants (as far as I know).
  - salixrosa 7y ago
    To add to your list, the SeaTac area has a lot of amazingly gorgeous yards, and I'd say the majority of them are not your standard grassy yard. Maybe it's because enough people have realized how nice their yard could be, maybe it's small spaces and hills, or maybe it's how difficult and irresponsible it would be to try to keep the grass green in the summer. Either way, I freaking love a lot of the landscaping around here, and have been extra-excited by yards massively overgrown with wildflowers, etc.
kleer001 7y ago
Nope. It's aesthetic. You can tell by the coherent design. Convincing of what?

Many natural locations near me are not pleasant for humans. Too many bugs (including ticks) and the underbrush is impassable. The areas that are more pleasant might be hard to replicate in a small space. You can't create a forest microclimate in a 1/4 acre yard. In fact, an isolated 1/4 acre yard is an unnatural habitat in a lot of ways. The easiest thing to manage there other than a lawn is usually a crop of 8ft high weeds.

neaden 7y ago
The article is not recommending people don't mow the lawn. It's not even saying to get rid of grass. Just to plant native plants, minimize herbicides/fertilizers and watering.
fhbdukfrh 7y ago
No one here is advocating untamed wilderness over a green sheet of lawn. You don't have to replicate impenetrable underbrush in your backyard. You could however focus on natural species and a broader variety
khrbrt 7y ago
> The areas that are more pleasant might be hard to replicate in a small space. You can't create a forest microclimate in a 1/4 acre yard Yes you can! https://youtu.be/ng-VskDFPpM https://youtu.be/ng-VskDFPpM It takes some work upfront to convert a lawn to a miniforest but it can be done. Just imagine how wonderful suburbia could be if this was the norm and not the exception. Edit: here's that same yard in early spring, where the fact that it's a normal suburban yard is more visible: https://youtu.be/CdthuPbn2uo https://youtu.be/CdthuPbn2uo . It's incredible how lush it is in the summer, you'd think it was miles away from civilization.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- romaaeterna 7y ago
  That is a good number of trees in a backyard. But it's hardly a microclimate. I imagine that I get more cooling from the (considerably larger) trees in my backyard. And it's nothing like the several degrees of cooling you get in a forest. Further, I don't see what those trees have to do with the article's advice about native plants. Surburbia might well be wonderful if that sort of backyard were the norm -- if we ditched the whole 19th and 20th century flight from urban agriculture -- I wouldn't mind being able to have a pig or a goat in the backyard, myself. But this article doesn't seem to have anything to do with that topic.

tyrust 7y ago

What a terribly cynical thing to say. A yard whose flora aligns with the local ecosystem will be much more hardy and just as beautiful than a sterile lawn and some flowers that will die within the season. For some pictures in California for example, see the California native plant society [0]. After visiting a native plant garden in SoCal I can't help but find the idea of a grass lawn absurd. [0] https://www.cnps.org/gardening https://www.cnps.org/gardening

draw_down 7y ago
Why would it be "cynical" to imagine illustrations more convincing than photos? I think that's pretty rude and un-called for.
dahfizz 7y ago
> After visiting a native plant garden in SoCal I can't help but find the idea of a grass lawn absurd. Aesthetically, you may be right. But yards are owned by and large by people with families. They have an important function to fulfill which is ruined by filling the space with plants.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  " But yards are owned by and large by people with families. They have an important function to fulfill which is ruined by filling the space with plants." However I rarely see anybody actually on those beautiful, irrigated lawns in Southern CA. People are usually inside or in an area with tiles or concrete on the ground.
  - cfmcdonald 7y ago
    Don't know about Southern CA, but in the places I've lived, people usually play/relax in their back yards, not the front, and so are not easily visible.
- fillskills 7y ago
  What makes you think that kids/families dont like to play in a plant filled yard? My kids love areas filled with trees, plants, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds etc way more as it is lot more interactive

miles 7y ago

> "They use illustrations to sell the point because perhaps photographs wouldn't be so convincing." Beautiful No-Mow Yards: 50 Amazing Lawn Alternatives https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604692383/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1604692383/ Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743140/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607743140/

ilikehurdles 7y ago
You can find examples of unmowed yards that are still beautiful and functional in many desirable urban-residential areas of cities. I'm thinking particularly of Hyde Park in Austin, Somerville in the Boston metro, Capitol Hill in Denver, Burlington VT, and much of Portland OR. It's not until you hit the suburbs where HOAs have dug in their claws and stand in the way of "cookie-cutter" ever becoming anything but. In Colorado, check out the Colorado Native Plant Society or the Colorado Cactus & Succulent Society. Denver Botanic Gardens is also wonderful with outreach and education efforts, but they're not strictly focused on native plants (as far as I know).
- salixrosa 7y ago
  To add to your list, the SeaTac area has a lot of amazingly gorgeous yards, and I'd say the majority of them are not your standard grassy yard. Maybe it's because enough people have realized how nice their yard could be, maybe it's small spaces and hills, or maybe it's how difficult and irresponsible it would be to try to keep the grass green in the summer. Either way, I freaking love a lot of the landscaping around here, and have been extra-excited by yards massively overgrown with wildflowers, etc.

kleer001 7y ago

Nope. It's aesthetic. You can tell by the coherent design. Convincing of what?