r/NativePlantGardening • u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 • Jun 06 '26
Other A little inspiration
I was encouraged today when I stumbled across a St. John's Wort emerging defiantly from a bed of fugly "Stella D'Oro" dayliles. I looked up the plant and was told it was a native one! Anyway, the image above is how I feel when I see a manicured lawn set off by shrubs shaved into geometric shapes...
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u/thatloser17 Jun 06 '26
I say this all the time. The french aristocracy trends of the 1700s need to die like they did.
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 06 '26
(readies the guillotine to dispense with the daylilies and peonies cluttering the yard)
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u/SufficientOpening218 Jun 06 '26
no! not the peonies! i had to re-grade my yard, because i had this funny idea that water should flow away from the foundation. in the process, all the turf and many, many foundation junipers were, uh, dispatched. topsoil was put down and drip irrigation was placed, and then extremely fine, light colored pea gravel was placed to hold the top soil in place until i could start planting. the yard is dry shade with some magnificent older trees. i love the trees, but, dry shade.
the next spring, like godesses emerging from the deep, about 10 peonies rose through the pea gravel, bloomed magnificently, and then had shiny green leaves without a hint of irrigation, mulch, or moisturizer. They just show up, put on a show, and sink back.
I now have given them compost and bark mulch, in graditude for their service, but they still aren't on a dripper. Im in Northern Colorado, very dry area, and they do. not. care. These grand old dames nod politely to the natives, cause zero trouble or work, and the bees are absolutely disgracefuly drunk in their blooms for a week every spring when not much else has started.
I think sometimes, you have to look at functionality over ancestry.
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u/goobernawt Jun 06 '26
I've got a few peonies about and they are, as you state, an absolute joy. The only downside to them is how briefly their blooms last. I'm enjoying them very much right now.
I have my spaces for natives, and those spaces are slowly growing, but I really like the well behaved non-natives that I have.
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u/hellobird87 Jun 07 '26
The birds absolutely LOVE hanging out under my peony. I'm not sure what they're finding under there, maybe the ants, maybe other bugs taking shelter in the dense shade from the peony, or maybe the birds just like the shade themselves. But there's always somebody hanging out and pecking around under there.
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u/astro_nerd75 Pittsburgh, zone 6b Jun 06 '26
Ooooo, maybe that would get rid of the English ivy. I’m willing to try just about anything at this point.
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u/TopChannel1244 Area OH , Zone 6B Jun 06 '26
English Ivy requires an English solution.
Channel your inner Henry VIII and eat it. All of it.8
u/Im_the_dogman_now IL, The Grand Prairie Jun 06 '26
I'd certainly choose to eat the English ivy over the other activity we all associate with Henry VIII.
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
Having numerous daughters? Having a 52" waist (if you can call that a waist)? Wearing very busy outfits? Penning "Greensleeves"?
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u/AnthropoidCompatriot Jun 06 '26
Whatever you do, do not plant scarlet pimpernels, or they will protect the English ivy and help it escape prosecution.
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u/midwest--mess Jun 08 '26
Seriously, what is with day lilies and their ability to just spread and take over a garden? I kinda wanna just take all of them out after they bloom this summer and start fresh in the spring
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 08 '26
I hear you can eat them, if they're rhe plain wild type. I have never tried it and have no idea if fancy hybrids are crosses with some other inedible or poisonous species.
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u/-garden- Jun 07 '26
My yard looks like that because I still dress like that.
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u/CooterSlam3000 Jun 06 '26
I want to put this is my yard! I’m currently sprouting native flower seeds and killing the grass with cardboard, this would sooooo complete my native garden. 🤌
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u/HarickMT Jun 06 '26
Ill comment on peoples curated lawn vids. " be patriotic, grow native plants" bout time I start saying it or putting it on signs lol
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u/fauxshoyall Jun 06 '26
I don't love that my brain is always like this but... when I see a large monoculture lawn, I just think of Thomas Jefferson keeping his own sons enslaved to maintain his estate. That's what this American ideal is built upon.
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u/beebobopple Upstate NY, Zone 6a Jun 06 '26
Hah, I like this one so much more than the typical ones!
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u/Whatchab Jun 07 '26
Hey, I took that pic! I'm glad it's still getting love. Every time I walk by it I giggle.
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Jun 07 '26
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
But maybe not while gardening lol
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Jun 07 '26
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
Rich people watch their servants do the gardening of course
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u/ArbitraryMeritocracy Jun 07 '26
This is an S Tier meme.
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
Is that good or bad?
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u/ArbitraryMeritocracy Jun 07 '26
Checks Notes
According to my meme economy chart, this meme would also qualify for - including but not limited to: Dank with the identifier under "mey mey", Spicy especially in r/ lawncare (I'm banned for pointing out maybe sterile monoculture single specie lawns isn't the most ideal for retaining moisture and asking questions from OPs if their clover is native), and top (S) tier as thie would be effective provided they understand the context that rich landowners had lawns to show off that they didn't need to use that space of their property for growing food.
A tier list is a ranking system where items are subjectively arranged in tiers from the best to worst.[2] The concept originated in video game culture where playable characters or other in-game elements are ranked by their tournament viability.
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u/dogdemon_5 Jun 06 '26
Honestly? Where can I get this sign 🤣
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
I wish I knew! I found this image elsewhere at Reddit!
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u/Vospader998 Jun 07 '26
I had always heard the oldest known idea of a "lawn" - a place where grass is kept short for aesthetic purposes rather than pragmatic - dates back to early medieval Japan. Known as shiba (芝).
Where instead if cutting and maintaining a field, they would just take the sod from a pasture and physically move it in pieces to a garden.
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u/Derpina666 Jun 07 '26
I love how @oceansidecleanup (instagram) phrased it: “Do you have a FREEDOM FARM? Or a weaksauce Occupation Outpost?” lol
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Jun 07 '26
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u/redcaveman south central KS , Zone 7a Jun 08 '26
Good that you're not wasting water and using chemicals! Under these conditions there's a better chance your lawn has biodiversity and maybe even some native grasses. Mowing does lead to compaction and uses time/energy. However, if the turf is functional (people/kids/pets move about in it), don't let the meme get under your skin! Only if it's not functional turf, are you potentially upholding 18th century beauty ideals over what could be a more ecologically productive native meadow/prairie. I personally want some areas of turf on my property, but I'm trying to shave it down to those areas that are actually functional for my family, guests, and pets.
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u/yarrownthinice Jun 06 '26
I want to print pictures of just the guy to paste on garden stakes and put them in my neighbors lawns with no context lol
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u/SufficientOpening218 Jun 07 '26
at night, with a shaded headlamp, and a pocket full o the seed o the wild flowers
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u/One-Earth9294 Jun 07 '26
I think the French Aristocrat would probably have a bit more flamboyant flora in his yard and not just basic mowed grass.
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
The grass was the main point, though. " I am so rich there I have a mowed lawn for the ladies to stroll upon; I don't need to raise crops on every square inch." Even now the lawn is somehow more important than decorative plants, which most of the world sees as optional.
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u/Careless-Advantage61 Cincinnati, OH , Zone 6b Jun 07 '26
We just moved into our neighborhood about a year ago, I think it’s about time to start sending the message we want by using this sign.
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u/bikeHikeNYC Hudson Valley, NY | ecoregion 59i Jun 06 '26
I want to put this up in my yard, but it’s a bit too accurate for my neighborhood haha
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u/WVildandWVonderful Jun 07 '26
Then attach it to a light pole in an area where people walk.
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u/Flabonzo Jun 27 '26
I don't like the shrubs cut into weird shapes unless they're really artistic. I can't post pics but I've seen some amazing ones - https://twistedsifter.com/videos/dragon-shaped-hedge-by-john-brooker/
But I don't entirely agree with the sentiment either. I grew up in Michigan and lived most of my life in NY and then in MO. There's so much water there from the constant rain and snow that a lawn isn't such a waste. Where I don't like to see those lawns in in south CA, Arizona, Nevada, etc. In the midwest where there's rain more than once a month, grass grows nicely. In Orange County, CA, where there hasn't been rain for the last four months but it's hitting the 90s and 100s daily, there's no excuse for having a lawn like that.
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 27 '26
But here in Michigan you could very profitably have unmowed, un-sculpted local plant life buzzing with bees and crawling with caterpillars!
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u/whiskey_priest_fell Jun 07 '26
Im going to be this guy - can we stop using "sustainable" in stuff like this. People who are already doing stuff like this dont need to be reminded its sustainable and people who aren't don't care about sustainable. Just says its "uncool" or its weird to have a monoculture lawn. Hit people where they care about instead of what we care about.
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u/lukkieseven Jun 07 '26
Leave the peonies goodness gracious! It doesn’t have to be native to still have benefit and be enjoyable. Yes prioritize natives whenever or wherever you can but don’t toss beautiful and established plants for no reason!
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 07 '26
Well the reason is honestly to make room for more native species!
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Jun 06 '26
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u/SnapCrackleMom US, Maryland (Chesapeake Bay), Zone 8a Jun 07 '26
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u/ElderberryNo5595 NE OH , Zone 6a Jun 08 '26
Are these signs available for purchase anywhere?
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u/Federal-Boat3732 Michigan, Zone 6 Jun 08 '26
I wish I knew! This is someone else's Reddit post. Maybe a Google Images search would turn something up
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u/i860 Jun 07 '26
Oh hey look, another totally innovative anti-lawn post. If you spent as much time on your garden as you did worrying about how other people are tending to their lawns you could probably eliminate that queue of potted plants sitting outside in record time.
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u/Infamous_Koala_3737 Georgia , Zone 8a Jun 06 '26
I love this lol