Transform your lawn into a native plant sanctuary

May 31, 2023

prairie with yellow and purple flowers

Now that the weather is warm, there is lots of time to spend outside gardening and working on your lawn. Whether you have a huge area to work with or a small section, you can transform your lawn into a safe haven for local wildlife by planting native plants.

Why should you consider planting native species?

They grow well and generally require less care
They support local wildlife
They are beautiful, with showy flowers and gorgeous fall foliage

Now that we've, hopefully, convinced you to plant more native species in your lawn, you may be wondering how to do it.

Before diving into replacing your current landscape with native plants, you should do some research. Ask yourself, how much sun or shade does my yard get? What soil conditions does it have? How much space does my yard have? Once you have an idea of that, then you can decide the method you want to take to replace your non-native plants with native ones.

What options do you have to begin converting your lawn?

Sheet mulching
- Find the area in your yard you want to replace non-native plants with native ones. Lay down cardboard on top of them and mulch over the cardboard, several inches. This keeps grass and weeds from growing through. Eventually, the cardboard and weeds decompose and you can plant natives in place of them. This method requires patience!
Dig out unwanted areas
- Get down and dirty and start digging out unwanted areas of your lawn. Be sure not to dig too deep. Once you've gotten rid of the unwanted plants, replace them with native ones.
Lawn dethatching and overseeding
- Mow the lawn 1.5 - 2 inches. Then, dethatch with a thatch rake, dethatching machine, or power rake and then collect the thatch. You will also want to lay down compost. Once your soil is prepared, put down the new seed and mix the seed into the compost layer.
Motorized sod cutter
- This method is a bit pricier. Rent or buy a motorized sod cutter, which will expose the ready-to-plant soil beneath. Then, plant your native seeds! This is good for the average lawn.
Herbicide
- This method may be controversial for some. If you do not want to use chemicals, this method isn't for you. If you are looking for a faster way to convert your lawn, you can find herbicide that will get the job done, but won't persist for very long in the soil.