The strange American obsession with destroying all nature and terraforming it into a golf course is... disturbing, honestly.

Repurposing the lawn is definitely an improvement. However, the lawn is FAR from the only environmental disaster that suburbs inherently are. Plus they require welfare to exist, forcing all Americans to subsidize them 😔

It actually looks goofy and lowers your neighbors home values.

@@chrisp4190 lawn looks goofy? Yeah…I’d agree with that. Years of being adamant about my lawn, I’m researching videos like this. My lawn has got to go. I can’t even feign interest in my lawn anymore…and it shows.

@@monsieurdorgat6864 It's because lawns are hard to manage which means it cam be used as a pretext for the HOA throwing people they don't want in the neighbourhood out. Which oriiginally meant black people. In our slightly less racist times they just keep going with it because they can't remember why they started.

Exactly, every person had different taste and perspective. What's beautiful on our eyes maybe ugly to others.

Neighbors don’t like change because they think they have to change!

Yes, I had a neighbor who couldn't help himself. Was critical of my yard, but he tore out boring areas of his yard and replanted with flowers and shrubs. Of course he used many of the same flowers and shrubs I had. 😂

Must be a Michigan thing. Back in the mid 2000's I occasionally visited and stayed at a friend's house in Michigan and she had a really fantastic native plant/wild flower island in her yard. The thing I admired most about it was the low maintenance.

It’s literally just reintroducing plant diversity that already existed (however with some not native plants) before it was ripped up to have expensive grass grown

...she added Japanese plants but sure

Thank you.

Strictly speaking have their origin in around the 18th century in England/France where it was a sign of wealth and food security to waste space for a plant that is both maintenance heavy aswell as useless. The common joe, like always, started to pick up on that rich people trend to increase their own social status which in a few years became the norm. The US picked up on that trend as the majority of colonists/settlers where originally from England and due to the deep ties with the French that was formed during the war of independence french cultural norm where, like lawns, likewise adopted by even non English/French people. In truth, the whole concept of lawns as they are an cultural leftover that seemed just insignificant and "something you just do" so it never really changed. But now with a greater understanding of how ecosystems work and an increased in urbanization it necessasitates a change so go into the opposite direction to help stabilize local eco systems. In this its important to use native plants instead of neophytes like common European or east Asian plants that out compete natives and further lead to an decrease in biodiversity. Just fyi

All of that is common in America, too.

​@@Objectified What she described is what I'd seen all my childhood growing up in Mexico. Especially lemon trees, everyone has those. But I've been living in the U.S for 10 years and do far I have only ever seen this kind of garden in low income Hispanic and Asian neighborhoods. It's always flat grass lawns everywhere else. Which part of the U.S are you in where it's common?

​@@Objectifiedas you can see by the neighbor's lawns in the video, it's not

@@arcticcmonkey Exactly. It is only just starting to become more common, but is still the exception, not the rule.

I've never been to America, but when i look at Street View, I do wonder about all that wasted space, huge plots with nothing but grass.

Ha! Your note made me giggle. Thanks for the encouragement.

That neighbor probably was upset his dog didn't have grass to pee on, it's amazing how rude so many neighbors with dogs are.

Your yard looks like a landscaping professional designed it for you! I must say, I’m not sure perennial beds are very much less work than grass. Here in zone 7b, with plenty of rain, all we have to do with our Zoysia lawn is mow it, and throw down composted manure in the spring. Whereas the garden beds, while lovely, have some shrubs that struggle and have to be replaced, and the battle with weeds and grass trying to get into the beds is endless! Zoysia, by the way, is very drought tolerant. 😊

@@patlangille5375 Thanks so much.

Your yard looks fabulous! Maybe plant a couple of "no trespassing" signs for your neighbors.

Thanks so much.

Agreed I love the color choices of the plants. They really pop.

Are there any tricks to manage mosquito population around the pond?

@@xiaominxie7948 Keep the water moving with pumps, invite bats with bat houses, try to get toads and frogs in, plant lemon grass

Thank so much Holly.

I would be asking for tips! It looks so lovely!

SO WOULD L. THE LOVE AND CARE "MS.. MOXIE TOOK ON IS QUITE BEAUTIFUL SHE CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS AN ASSET TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND FOR BUTTERFILES, LADYBUGS AND BEES TO THRIVE. PUS, IT IS A PLACE OF TEACHING FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE FASCINATED BY NATURE; IT GIVES AN OPPORTUINTY FOR KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD TO LEARN ABOUT HOW PLANTS GROW, ETC. AND I'M CERTAIN THE SENIORS LOVE IT TOO..IT GIVES THEM MOTIVATION TO GET OUT THEIR HOMES WHEN POSSIBLE TO ENJOY AN ENVIRONMENT THAT SOME DO NOT HAVE.

It sounds like you are doing amazing work. I agree that natives are a fantastic option. As you said, they require much less intervention and thrive.

Precisely! Thanks. I made very large beds with only enough grass to make generous, 8 - 14 foot wide walking paths (2 acre lot). I planted natives/beneficials for the birds, butterflies, pollinators so they have their natural food/nectar/nesting/wind protection. I wanted to be certain that as I grew older (and eventually take my leave) they would have what they need with the trees, flowering/berry producing shrubs and flowers growing. I stopped using bird feeders, but still use bird baths, butterfly puddling stones.

Yes! I am a very lazy gardener so picked all natives. It's been a great way to require less work for a great looking result, PLUS we get tons of bees and birds now.

I love adding native plants to my yard. I just discovered a local nursery that sells nothing but natives. I'll be picking up an order tomorrow to plant this weekend.

We don’t have milkweed where I live, but I noticed that I get swallowtail butterflies and their caterpillars after planting carrot tops! (Just don’t plant them around your garden) Plus they continually bloom for months and attract so many pollinators, I lost count of them!

Thank you!

Exactly this is in my opinion something a lot of home owners don't realize. If you have a big, open lawn, there are no surprises or discoveries to be made in your garden. Building rooms and "walled of" areas is a great and relatively easy way to bring excitement and adventure to your garden.

@@martinedelius Agreed completely! This also means that homeowners might actually USE their front lawns, while also enjoying that sense of discovery. (What an idea!) So many big open lawns are big empty useless pieces of expensive square footage.... (I grew up like this and didn't question it until years later... nobody ever used their front lawns for anything practical or enjoyable.)

@@GardenMoxie Your lawn is ugly now, you are the selfish one, just move neighborhoods. Instead you abuse your neighbors hospitality, mock them, and laugh about it in a way a smug women seeking for the fleeting sense of power she gets when she grows old does. You crazy design ladys are the reason HOA's are drawn into existence. Move if you can't afford the neighborhood, instead you destroy their entire neighborhood aesthetic, by being that one old single crazy lady house. Respect the neighborhood and move to a place that fits your bill. Instead you sabotage your neighbors value, of not just their property value but their neighborhood value as a friendly open neighborhood that feels homely and friendly. And you choose selfishness and social seclusion with no respect to anyone but your own wallet... cause as you admit its about money to you, but you actually decreased your properties value by the ugly and erratic landscaping, and in doing so sabotage your neighbors and the neighborhood. So you would sabotage their property value to save yourself some money. You shouldn't be living in a nice neighborhood like that and should just move to a place that better suites you instead of choosing blatant selfishness that only an old haggard would take delight in like yourself.

Thank you and thanks for watching.

AND THE NEIGHBORS ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE BENEFIT OF SUCH A TRANSFORMATION OF YARDS SUCH AS THIS, WHICH ELEVATES PROPERTY VALUES FORE THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD AND JUST NOT FOR THE PROPERTY OWNER.

My neighbors refuse to cut their grass, throw trash everywhere, still have boxes from when they moved in three years ago in the driveway, they have a pool that has turned into a mosquito breeding ground. I guess this is what you get when your state closes public housing in the cities and hands out government homes in suburban neighborhoods. All the neighbors are furious. Our home values have dropped at least 50k. The woman that lives there has a constant stream of people coming and going at all hours. Junkies coming by to buy drugs off one of the half dozen drug dealers that live there. The cops refuse to do anything. Oh, and the pack of constantly barking pit bulls that are chained year round in the yard. One got out and attacked the neighbors German Shepards. Luckily the guy is a monster dog trainer and his dogs are extremely well trained guard dogs. Three of them were able to chase the pit bull out of the yard. Just an absolute nightmare. This is in NJ.

Amen!

@@smelltheglove2038 Yeah, but look on the bright side. Those neighbors would never complain about your efforts to beautify your front yard and eliminate your turf. 😎

@@wincoffin7985 I guess, but the lowered standard of living and the financial hit isn’t worth it. Also, if I was creating beds and a neighbor had the audacity to say something to me about it, I’d laugh in their face. The neighborhood is good in this way as everyone minds their own business, that is until it becomes their business when it starts effecting their lives, financially and personally. Another neighbor has taken to shooting out the windows of drug addicts vehicles when they are buying fentanyl off the people in the home. Two weeks ago a couple was found dead in their car in the WaWa parking lot at the end of the street. Overdoses.

Ahh...thanks so much for the kind words of encouragement.

You too! we need to garden for the climate we're in and the natural resources that can sustainably be used. Its why I love xeriscaping so much

That's a good way to look at it!

What are the qualifications to claim to be a Master Gardener?

Most states have an agricultural college that has classes you can take to qualify as a “master gardener” it’s such a fun set of classes I highly recommend it!

Let me add to encourage you. You are a pioneer and have vision.

Came here to say this! I like that idea, too!

Glad it was helpful!

I bet your Dad loves working on his lawn which is great. I just prefer gardening. Thanks for your kind note.

My next door neighbor mows twice a week and I hate it! I'm sure they think it's not very neighborly that I let our backyard turn into a meadow but I feel it's not very neighborly to have heavy duty mowers and blowers near my bedroom twice a week! Plus our yard supports some wildlife.

@@kateherr2893 I know the feeling! While my dad usually mowed after work when I was growing up, he did wake me up at 7am most Saturdays with a weedeater outside my bedroom window. It drove him crazy that I never had an interest in landscaping while he was alive. On his last visit to my house he said "you need to mow your lawn" as soon as we pulled into the driveway. I'll bet your backyard meadow is beautiful & I love watching wildlife.

​@@kateherr2893 sounds like you should've bought a house on a bigger lot. What do you expect if you're neighbor's house is right next to yours?

@@delt19 haha, I think you got it backwards. I'm third generation here, and was good friends with the last couple who lived there until they died. New family bought the house in last few years and they want to change the feel of the neighborhood and feel entitled to it - trying to make the local school (that their kids don't go to) change their daily activities and trying to scare off pre-existing wildlife.

It's worse than being in the stone age! People didn't bother terraforming nature into golf-course-like lawns in the stone age! Save your forests and native plants. It looks better and it's better for the environment. If you want a place that naturally looks like a gold course, go check out Scotland.

Technically it would be more Victorian age, as the grass was a bragging / conspicuous waste showing they were so well off they didn't need to grow their own food. Now our conspicuous consumption would be to have a garden as that implies the person has the time to devote to weeding, planting, amending, harvesting, etc. which is a luxury with the multiple-jobs-to-survive that is normal now.

@@monsieurdorgat6864 even Scotland isn’t naturally like that, unfortunately (speaking as a Brit). All our grassland that is currently pasture for livestock used to be heavily forested, but we lost most of our trees hundreds of years ago. It’s a huge problem. We also no longer have natural predators such as wolves, so the deer population is out of control and that makes reforestation very very difficult. But yes, Britain does naturally have the right weather to keep the grass green without effort.

@@user-ed7et3pb4o From what I've heard, those primeval forests were gone in the bronze age before UKs recorded history. I just don't think true nature is a thing in a place with as extensive human development in such confined spaces. But yeah the net result is the grass is pretty naturally short from what I've seen, at least in Ireland. Thus the golf course terrain.

Wow you are lucky your HOA allowed you to do whatever. I've heard horror stories about people having gardens or trying to plant stuff and HOAs fine them! A lot of them here on the east coast expect you to have a place that looks like nobody lives there.

@@kelb6073 It was hard for the Landscape Committee to say no. I had my City Council Rep sign the proposal as well as the head of the Master Gardners' program and the Director of Commercial Landscaping at the local university extension. Also the certified person who runs the Permaculture group and a local Biodynamics gardener. They still could have said no, but they'd have to do a lot of explaining. A couple of other people have been able to do similar since mine was approved. And my hope is that the common areas will take on this style and get rid of the lawns. Nevada is the driest state in the Union in the desertifying West. The least is that is would be prudent, let alone highly beneficial. I'm also fighting them killing the beavers that built dams in a creek 50' from my house. They got rid of them, but the beavers proved their worth as we are in the midst of the great snow melt and flooding of 2023. But our creek, which usually floods, is staying about the same level because the dams widened out the creek bed and made 4 tiers of water descending. Last time we had much less of a snowmelt, the water was in the street.

@@kelb6073 I'm sorry but what exactly is HOA? The comments look like it's some kind of person or is this a public committee?

Lol love how you put this

Thank you. I think the initial hill top garden looked too sparse for people when it was first planted. It definitely got attention ... ha ha.

Goes to show the ignorance that seems to have the most opinion.

My neighbors have a near compulsive obsession with the grass. We had snow Monday they grass just started turning green 3 neighbors have already mowed.

I’m sure it was a boomer. They loooove their chemlawns!!!! My neighbors mow their yard every few days because they have nothing lease to do!!!

@@jacquig1939 THE INSANITY...

Such a great note. Thank you for sharing it.

Your garden sounds amazing. The sheet mulching is a great way to do things too. Thanks for sharing that.

Great way to turn your lawn into a park! I, too, have had great success with the cardboard method of eliminating grass. Native plants will tolerate and thrive in your climate and support pollinators and songbirds. Their roots go deep 👍😉🐛🌱

Oddly enough, newspaper HELPS the soil as it degrades. I like cardboard too.

Sounds fantastic! I hope you add some native plants sometime to help birds, bees and butterflies to survive.

​@@carol1derful Sounds like you are a bit of an advanced gardener? Have you heard of the Ruth Stout Method (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jsV2dNBm39uulGw.html)? It's perhaps not for the front yard but can make backyard gardening quite a bit easier.

Bravo. Clover is my next goal. I have some naturally, and will research how to expand it.

A small tip: if you have an area in your yard were you don't have to worry about what the neighbors think: consider taking off the grass and then doing nothing with it. It will naturally fill up with native plants, first flowers, later bushes and trees, which is ecologically fantastic for insects and birds. If you don't want a little woodland, then mow it once every two years.

That sounds lovely!!!!

Switch to clover.

I'm learning to ignore the comments, but I also try to garden in my backyard more 😂

It's actually easier to ignore people's comments when you know you're improving things.

💚💚💚

Actually, no.

@@Nick210 In any normal country this would raise property prices in the area. If that’s not true of the US, there’s something wrong with the US.

@@Nick210 Actually, YES... she doesn't talk about prices BUT as a homeowner I know even the smallest shrubs and plants are about $15-$30 EACH... and if you want a large shrub / medium tree ...well large shrubs are about $100 each... medium tree about $100-$200 each... Oh, and removing grass with soil attached is another expense (you cant throw dirt in your garbage can..) you will have to pay someone to haul away the grass with dirt OR you can haul it yourself BUT you still will have to pay a landfill to let you dump the dirt. If she had hired a professional landscaping company to design and PLANT everything for her LARGE yard = $Thousands of dollars... ANY nit wit can throw grass seed on dirt to get a "lawn" but a good landscape with flowers and shrubs can get expensive... good landscape definitely increases curb appeal / home value. EDIT: The average landscaping cost is $3,300 to $13,200... $3300 for a smaller house... her home is definitely not small... she would fall in the medium/large category... at least $6,000... AT LEAST $6000 if she hired a company to do EVERYTHING for her... even by doing it her self I am guessing she still spent at LEAST $1500... she will get that money back twice over if she sells the house. PERIOD. I Live in New York State, her house in New York would easily be listed for AT LEAST half a MILLION... potential buyers would fight (bid war) for that house in New York. The average New York STATE home value is $420K... and her house is definitely NOT average.

Awesome! Thanks for your words of encouragement.

@@GardenMoxie, It looks amazing! IDK why neighbors are so judgmental. I get tired of the notion that we need pristinely manicured European laws. Unfortunately, I live in an HOA but my back yard has so much biodiversity. I love it! I grow my own food and provide lots of flowers for pollinators. I'm exited for my yields this year - thanks to the helpful lady bugs, lizard, and bees.

How are non-natives and uncovered ground "improving the soil?"

@@joe8133 Grass sequesters carbon faster than any other plant. It's also holds in water which keeps earthworms and other soil improvers happy. There isn't any other way to build good soil than using grass.

@@njsification Re sequestration: That might be true if people didn't cut their grass. Anything cut off and rotting away is releasing greenhouse gas. Luckily for me, there are no neighborhood or zoning rules, so I don't cut the grass that grows in my sandy soil. It grows tall in bunches and is actually very beautiful especially when it goes to seed and blows in the wind.

Thanks so much.

@@GardenMoxie What ground cover are you using? I have a bed and a landscaper put down chips. I hate them. As if I want to plant something else the chips are hard to move out of the way and they blow into my yard grass area, and I have to rake them or mow them, and my husband will be upset. I am 83 and have to do things the easiest way. There are videos posted my Garden Answer and she puts something else down, but I have not received and answer from her, but I know it's not bark chips. I think she is trying to explain she just uses peat moss. I just need help with mulch choices. thanks

In places like western Washington, where we ironically get plenty of rain, sometimes too much at once, lawns are less common because they don't drain well. We also have a lot of hills, so many homes are on a slope and a lawn alone would not hold up against erosion. So we have our hillyness to thank the normalization of less lawn and more shrubs , especially native rhododendrons.

Thank you

Thank you. That is a fantastic idea to use creeping thyme. It's touch, it attracts pollinators, and it looks pretty. Great!

I tried creeping thyme last year. clover unfortunately overtook it. Where i live creeping phlox does much better

Thank you.

Thanks so much.

The front of my house is all concrete driveway as we need to use it all for the cars ( I’m in the U.K. so everything is smaller here ). But my back garden is full of flowers. I wish the neighbours knew that. As I’m sure they judge me.

Gotta use native plants if you want the bees and birds the thrive! :)

About half her plants are NOT native. Natives would be better.

​@@veramae4098 It's ok to use a mix of native and non-native plants. What's important is that she's not having to water them all the time, and she likes the way her yard looks. I think it's beautiful!

​@@vivicadoll249 I totally agree.

I mean, it's a front yard. Who "enjoys" their front yard?

@@seigeengine people with kids or animals or people who have the chance to enjoy sunlight after work.

Thanks so much. Good luck with your lawn removal project too.

Grass lawns are fine for nature as long as they are natural lawns with no artificial fertilisers. The soil below will function properly, worms, birds and insects will thrive. There are an endless list of things a million times worse than grass lawns that mankind has done to the planet...

@@MrPicklerwoof but they ARE fertilized and watered. They don't capture nearly as much CO2 or have near the biodiversity of what was there before them. Fertilizers saturate water bodies with excess nitrogen. What's an "artificial" fertilizer? Your use of that word makes me think you're in the lawn industry spreading disinformation.

@@Zero.0ne. The vast majority of gardens/lawns around the world are not fertilized. That's largely a phenomenon in well-off US suburbia. Spend some time travelling around in the UK in the summer for example and you'll see everybody's lawns are beige or brown. No watering, no fertilizing.. As for your bizarre comment about me being "in the lawn industry spreading disinformation", well that just sounds unhinged.

@@MrPicklerwoof was maybe a bit unhinged... it was just strange seeing somebody defend grass lawns.

The only thing worse than a manicured and mono-culture lawn is artificial grass. Whether it’s plastic or organic, if it’s uniform and perfectly green it’s not good for the planet.

Does the city post what plants they actually use or just make you guess?

Thank you. I agree!

and the love of your time, mowing and watering. Oh and the love of saving money too lol

Thank you. 💚

Thanks so much.

I'm the same, and I'm from Michigan too, this will help a lot!

Yes, it's much better than those big empty grass "deserts". They never use them anyway, but in this kind of garden, you can create little rooms, you can sit in and enjoy.

@@Aoderic Besides looking better, I think this is also a more livable ecosystem for insects and other small critters.

@antred11 Yes, most definitely, it's better for the environment in many ways.

Well said 💚

And it’s not just the upkeep, it’s the lack of flowers etc.

I love you motto 💚💚💚

What a gorgeous yard you have created. An easier though slower method for removing lawn is to do Lasagne gardening. Cover the grass that you want gone with layers of wet newspapers, then green material and soil. Essentially you are composting in a flat area. I did this on a hill that was hard to mow and dried out. The next year I planted low perennials and ground covers. I had the most beautiful soil for growing. Far less labor intensive to get rid of the grass and maintain. A real improvement to that space.

Thank you for your kind note.

Hello Sussex! You certainly live in a beautiful part of the world. Thanks for your note.

I bet you can have a beautiful rain garden over there lol!

Thanks so much. I love that Japanese maple. The deer chewed a big branch off so it is lop sided now. I'll need to be creative with the pruning.

It's better to just have a lawn if you're gonna plant Asian weeds in England. Plant stuff that grows in the wild there, no exceptions.

@@guyincognito320 your comment seems to assume that I'm not planting native species. You also assume that my observation that Japanese maples are beautiful means that I have planted them (or other "Japanese weeds" as you put it) whereas my comment sheds no light on what perennials and shrubs I have been planning. Perhaps you should enjoy the video rather than being a negative Nancy.

Unfortunately, we are starting to have a water in the UK too. Last year we had a lot of "hoose bans" because we were in a drought in the South. It is only spring time and some area are already showing drought signs. So... yes! Go ahead! Plant drought resistant plants! Just a question, Garden Moxie: have you thought at a system to harvest water during winter? If you already have, can you tell about it and how it helped?

@@robyrachel3 I have not harvested water in winter, but I think my area has a lot of opportunities. I need to spend more time learning what can be done.

Thank you. I love your suggestion about the stepping stones. I mean that is a brilliant idea! Plus I can see adding some kind of ground cover that could fill in between the stones. Wow!

Thanks so much.