Hot take: My neighbor Bill totally changed how I look at native plant gardens

I was out front last week and Bill, he's this retired guy three houses down who grows like 40 tomato plants every year, comes over and says 'you know that manicured lawn of yours is basically a green desert'. At first I got defensive, spent hours on that lawn. But then he showed me his little patch of milkweed and goldenrod in his backyard. Said it attracted 6 different butterfly species this spring. I never thought about biodiversity in a small suburban yard like that. Has anyone here switched their garden approach and noticed more insects or birds coming around?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.reese15d ago

I guess Bill's got a point about the lawn being boring for bugs, but six butterflies seems like a low number to brag about. My neighbor puts out hummingbird feeders and gets way more action than that without tearing up her grass. I just don't see the payoff for all that work replanting stuff.

daniel59315d ago

Oh man, I've been down this exact road. The thing with the feeders is they're great for hummingbirds sure, but they don't do much for the caterpillars and native bees and all that. If you want to see real diversity in bugs, you gotta plant stuff they actually evolved with. I did a small patch of milkweed and goldenrod in my backyard, took maybe an afternoon, and now I see way more than just a handful of butterflies. Plus you don't have to refill anything or clean moldy feeders. The payoff is more about watching the whole system work than just counting visitors at one spot.