Kill your lawn.

[Anonymous]

I clean up the leaves often because otherwise I’ll be continually stepping in dog poop. Plastic bags are no longer allowed for leaves in Fairfax Co, thankfully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a lawn, but I don’t leaf blow, water or strive to have perfect grass.

Can I keep my lawn that the bees, insects and wildlife love?

What did you plant to support native bugs, and where did you buy it?

Insects don’t need “support.”

If that were true we wouldn't have a massive decline in honey bees. The more we kill mosquitoes and other plants with chemicals, the more we affect the ecosystem as a whole.

I let whatever comes up in the lawn grow. If I have a bald spot I sprinkle white clover seeds. I let the clover bloom, and not mow over it the second it gets long. When I do mow, I leave the grass clippings. I have native plants - milkweed, beebalm, honeysuckle, native hibiscus, ostrich ferns, etc. I have oak and maple trees. My lawn is littered with acorns and mushrooms. I do not rake the yard. If needed we mulch leaves with the mower, but like to leave a layer over the winter. I only clean flower beds until spring. When I do the flowers are already growing underneath.

Still my yard is beautiful and vibrant. It's not overgrown or an eye sore. I keep gutters and standing water out. That's my only mosquito control. I leave snakes, bunnies, squirrels and chipmunks be on their own, welcome to whatever. I haven't had an issue with animals in the garden, because I offer them water and they have plenty of native things to eat (including each other since that's their lifecycle). I do not water the lawn ever. That's nature's job. But we live in Maryland where things are naturally green and like to grow.

I only pull/dig invasive weeds, vines and trees. I do get plant clippings from friends and neighbors. We share on Facebook, and many of us have our lawns certified as wildlife habitats.

https://www.nwf.org/certify

You must be covered up good to be pulling up weeds and generally be outside during mosquito season. The mosquitos are so terrible at my house that we don't even bother going out to our yard in the summer, unless we are bathed in repellant.

[Anonymous]

We killed our front lawn and replaced with a native conservation garden. It's only year 1 so the new plants are still small but already we've had so many more bees and butterflies than in prior years. Plus we have texture, variety, 4 season color...I love it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I clean up the leaves often because otherwise I’ll be continually stepping in dog poop. Plastic bags are no longer allowed for leaves in Fairfax Co, thankfully.

I have the opposite approach. I want my dog to poop on leaves because then it’s so easy to pick up the poop without leaving any trace of it in the grass. I pick it up immediately.

We aren’t allowed to use plastic bags in MoCo either. You put out your paper lawn and leaf bag full of yard waste and it goes right into a county vehicle that’s outfitted with a massive chipper. It all gets turned into mulch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a battery-powered leaf blower. Haven’t used a gas one in years.

Np. Same. Plus, I love my battery operated lawn mower.

[Anonymous]

Pave it all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting leaves in plastic bags is astounding. It’s America in a nutshell.

Idiotic, pointless, and obscenely wasteful? Haha yes, it is.

In Fairfax County, you have to use paper bags for lawn debris.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a lawn, but I don’t leaf blow, water or strive to have perfect grass.

Can I keep my lawn that the bees, insects and wildlife love?

That’s us too. I love our lawn.