Rethinking What It Means to Have a 'Nice Yard'

Rethinking What It Means to Have a 'Nice Yard'

As iconic as the American lawn is in our culture, it might just be its own downfall when it comes to providing a future of abundance for the next generation. Our precious lawns, which have become a status symbol, are slowly eating up the biodiversity we need to survive. Despite what we may think about ourselves as a species, we are in fact dependent on our living world. In order to create a future for our children we can feel good about, we might just have to put the weed-whacker down and gain a new perspective on what a nice yard looks like. It has taken falling head over heels for my local ecology for me to shift my love of mowing into the slightly less aggressive hobby of gardening for wildlife.   

This Eastern Box Turtle and praying mantis are some of our wildlife neighbors who enjoy the gardens here at Fist of Flora’s Land Project. Photos by Mary Dell'Osa.

My name is Mary and I’m a recovering mowing addict

I will admit I love mowing, chopping, and pulling things out (sooooo funnnn ;) ; it is a weird sort of therapy that feels indoctrinated from a history of what a "nice yard" looks like. For years after my flowers were done blooming I would “clean up the garden” by chopping everything down and tidying the yard (with a mental dusting of the hands, “ahh, good human…”). Over time that shifted. Why? Because time unfolds the stories of our landscapes, and the word nice started to take on a whole new meaning, especially when I questioned who my yard was nice to?

Don’t hate me because my yard isn’t beautiful

Before you get to shaking your fist at me, let me be clear I am not advocating for no lawns. Lawns are great, soccer is great, playing and dancing are all great. I have a lawn and love it. It’s just maybe not so much lawn. Consider creating edges that are designated spaces for wildlife, then engaging in the spectrum of ecological splendor that can co-exist with our other outdoor fun. Being a nice neighbor to our native species is gratifying; after all, they’ve been nice to us our whole lives. So what exactly is a nice yard?

The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees

It was my love of birds and curiosity about what was best for them that began the un-taming of my mind to look at the dead brown seedheads as things of beauty providing food for many species of non-migrating birds like goldfinches, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches. Gaining a new perspective, and I mean this literally and figuratively, on what a beautiful yard looks like can be an extraordinary gift to our wild neighbors; in fact, it can often change our lives and theirs.

Photo by Mary Dell'Osa.

Seeing the world through compound eyes

Most of life seems to be joyfully flipping you on your head so you can look at the world from a different perspective. It took a whole lot of getting sideswiped by the intricate beauty and co-dependence of the natural world to get me off my feet and on the ground to see what life is breeding and metamorphosing right under my nose. Who knew there’s another way of looking at things when you’re seeing through compound eyes? So shiny… :O

Our native species are pretty darn amazing, and so good at luring in pollinators and spreading their seeds that they’ve become pros at being multifunctional for many different reasons. We tend to cut short the well-earned potential of their life cycles by cutting down the seed heads, removing leaves, and limiting their potential for good in our habitats. According to the EPA, 35 million tons of grass clippings and fallen leaves are removed annually from urban and suburban landscapes! The Leave the Leaves campaign is starting to gain momentum and for good reasons. What are those native flower seed heads, stalks, and leaves doing? The answer is rather extraordinary.

Above: Wildlife garden at the edge of our vegetable fields in early summer. Photo by Mary Dell'Osa.

Same field in November, with seed heads left for birds and stalks left standing for bees. Photo by Mary Dell'Osa.

Good job my leafy friends

According to the National Wildlife Federation, “a surprising 94% of moth species drop from trees into the leaf layer to complete their life cycles.” One of our most iconic, the Luna moth, creates its cocoons and chrysalises to look like dried leaves and overwinters in the loose leaf material under trees. Mammals, reptiles, and some amphibians rely on the insulation and moisture retention in the soil of our leaves; even the red-nosed bat dives into it when temperatures get below freezing! According to the Xerces Society, roughly 70% of North America’s 4,000+ native bee species nest in the ground. Many bird species forage under trees, and even foxes rely on them. Not only do the leaves shelter pupating pollinators, hibernating amphibians, and reptiles, they are also responsible for those magical summer nights full of fireflies. Fireflies lay their eggs in leaves, and their larvae depend on a thriving below-ground ecosystem. Guess what feeds that thriving ecosystem? Decomposing leaves! Have I said enough about leaves yet? 

A two-lined salamander enjoying the shelter of the leaf cover. Photo by Mary Dell'Osa.

Bee nice yards

Plant stalks are superheroes providing cozy homes to 30% of North America’s native bee species that nest in hollow or pithy plant stems. Whole secret cities with high-rise apartments are right outside our door in the plant stalks and brush. With all our love for pollinators and the lovely flowers we plant in the spring, we might not want to chop down their houses over winter if we really want to give them a fighting chance! Protect pollinator-friendly yards all year long to keep ’em strong.

Echinacea in summer, and the same plants in November with their seed heads and stalks left standing to support birds and bees. Photos by Mary Dell'Osa.

Let’s use the analogy of the nice yard again, and our original idea that life throws us on our head from time to time. Our local ecologies are a holistic system, and the life cycles within it need to be completed naturally to help our wildlife reap the benefits. Learning how to see our seed heads as food for our declining bird populations, leaving leaves for our caterpillars, and rewilding our perspective is a deep kind of "nice." Changing our behaviors in small ways can have a massive impact; it can save lives.

Here are some great ways to get started on your nice yard:

Action steps: Redefine what a nice yard means

• Leave the leaves: Skip raking under trees and shrubs; leaf litter shelters butterflies, beetles, and bumble bee queens through winter.
• Keep seed heads and stems: Let coneflowers, goldenrods, and asters stand. Their seeds feed birds, and hollow stems house bees and insects.
• Plant natives: Replace a patch of lawn with wildflowers like purple coneflower, bee balm, butterfly weed, or little bluestem. Native plants support the insects that feed our birds.
• Go easy on “clean up”: Wait until spring (above 50°F) to cut back plants. Many pollinators overwinter in the debris.
• Add water & shelter: A shallow bird bath, brush pile, or native shrub like winterberry holly provides food and cover.

Plant natives that feed pollinators through every season and leave seed heads standing for birds.
• Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – nectar for bees, seeds for goldfinches
• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) – attracts native bees and songbirds
• Bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) – loved by bumblebees and hummingbirds
• Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) – host for monarchs
• Goldenrod & asters (Solidago, Symphyotrichum) – fall nectar and winter seed
• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) – cover and seed for small birds
• Serviceberry & beautyberry (Amelanchier, Callicarpa americana) – flowers for bees, berries for birds

Sources

Xerces Society – Nesting Resources for Native Bees, Leave the Leaves!
U.S. Forest Service – Bee Pollination
Native Gardens of Blue Hill – Doing Less in the Garden: The Ecological Benefits of Leaving Things Be
College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Illinois Extension – Sparks in the Night: Fireflies and Tips on Conserving Them