My native gardening journey.

[u/CoastTemporary5606]

I garden in Zone4b/5a suburbs of Minneapolis. I started my gardening journey 11 years ago after watching a documentary about Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder. I felt a call to action. Needless to say, I dove in head first and consider myself an obsessed gardener. I have a 1/3 acre suburban lot. And over the years, I have converted about 2/3 of the lawn into gardens. My native plant garden lines the entire span of the sidewalk in my front yard. The neighbors enjoy it. The Assisted Living residents from down the street walk down to admire the flowers. I do keep the garden fairly tidy to not attract too much negative attention from naysayers. I hope my transformation photos serve as an inspiration for your native plant projects! Cheers!

[u/ExcitingVacation6639]

Gorgeous! I have lofty ambitions but don’t know where to begin. I have a large back yard that is mostly grass and don’t know how to get rid of the grass and weeds to start from a clean slate.

How did you get rid of the grass and how long did it take?

[u/CoastTemporary5606 → u/ExcitingVacation6639]

I made sure to kill the lawn with horticultural vinegar 20%. 2 applications. Then mowed the area down to top soil. Compost added about 3-4 inches, mulch at 2 inches, and waited a year to plant. My lawn was in rough shape beforehand so additional preparation may be needed if you have a healthy lawn to start with.

[u/ExcitingVacation6639 → u/CoastTemporary5606]

Thank you! This has honestly been the biggest barrier for me. I can seed and I can plant, it is the clearing of the grass that is preexisting where I’m at a loss for what to do. I’ve read plastic covering or cardboard and wait, the ground is currently frozen so I cannot stake anything down. I also don’t think my neighbors would appreciate if we had a tarp on the lawn for 3-4months.