Our lawn, in Westerville, Ohio, is the only one in our neighborhood that is not "Chem-lawned". We get some odd looks from passing neighbors but mostly positive remarks about our terraced garden front yard of Ohio native plants and the Glade which is our wooded backyard.
Your posting of the speedwell, the Bees, the soil,the rain, and the human crouching down made me want to sing the chorus..." and the green grass grew all around, all around. The green grass grew all around".
This felt like listening to a sermon in church. Only maybe better than listening to a sermon in church. Nearly 15 years ago, I found a book in the library about replacing front lawns with more diverse gardens. It wasn't such a common idea then. I brought it home with me and shared it enthusiastically with my husband. We'd just bought a house in a suburban town, and to him the idea was preposterous. Now, we live in a city neighborhood. That house, too, had a front lawn when I bought it, but it doesn't now. It's a mix of natives and other kinds of plants that I probably wouldn't choose now. My knowledge and understanding is evolving; it's nice that the garden can evolve with it. I so appreciate writing like this, that helps me with that growing I need to do.
Naughty rabbit!! But this plant obviously served ‘him’ well too, so we can’t really complain. ‘Weeds’ are such a funny thing. Things that grow where we don’t want them to grow. We have glorious vivid yellow-flowering wattles here in Australia that are deemed weeds in some areas and are just a total joy in others. And then there’s serrated tussock which takes over paddocks and leaves animals starving as there’s absolutely no nutritional value in its foliage. Nature’s a funny thing. We just need to understand how to work best with it because it will always win out in the end. Another lovely read. Thanks so much.
Our lawn, in Westerville, Ohio, is the only one in our neighborhood that is not "Chem-lawned". We get some odd looks from passing neighbors but mostly positive remarks about our terraced garden front yard of Ohio native plants and the Glade which is our wooded backyard.
Your posting of the speedwell, the Bees, the soil,the rain, and the human crouching down made me want to sing the chorus..." and the green grass grew all around, all around. The green grass grew all around".
We truly are all connected!
This felt like listening to a sermon in church. Only maybe better than listening to a sermon in church. Nearly 15 years ago, I found a book in the library about replacing front lawns with more diverse gardens. It wasn't such a common idea then. I brought it home with me and shared it enthusiastically with my husband. We'd just bought a house in a suburban town, and to him the idea was preposterous. Now, we live in a city neighborhood. That house, too, had a front lawn when I bought it, but it doesn't now. It's a mix of natives and other kinds of plants that I probably wouldn't choose now. My knowledge and understanding is evolving; it's nice that the garden can evolve with it. I so appreciate writing like this, that helps me with that growing I need to do.
Naughty rabbit!! But this plant obviously served ‘him’ well too, so we can’t really complain. ‘Weeds’ are such a funny thing. Things that grow where we don’t want them to grow. We have glorious vivid yellow-flowering wattles here in Australia that are deemed weeds in some areas and are just a total joy in others. And then there’s serrated tussock which takes over paddocks and leaves animals starving as there’s absolutely no nutritional value in its foliage. Nature’s a funny thing. We just need to understand how to work best with it because it will always win out in the end. Another lovely read. Thanks so much.