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Read About Mike Turning His Front Lawn into a Wildflower Patch

 

Hey everyone, Mike here. Last year, I wrote a blog about how to grow a wildflower patch in your front yard, even if you're as lazy as me. I re-posted it next to this blog, but you can also click here. Or just take my word for it if you're too lazy to click a link. But I started thinking, "It's hard to trust what you read on the internet, maybe people think i'm just green-washing myself and PRETENDING to have a wildflower patch, and PRETENDING to make it seem really easy."

So here it is, hard photo-graphic proof of my 3-year-ish front-yard-wildflower-patch project! It's great for wildlife, and my neighbors don't seem to mind that I put my Christmas tree in my front yard last year as shelter for animals!

I follow this rough schedule:

  • Lay a tarp down over the grass in, say, November (or you could do it now!);
  • Let the tarp sit on the grass for a 6-12 months (18 is even better, but.....);
  • I remove the tarp the following November; 
  • Spread a native seed mix on the dirt;
  • PS: I leave the existing wildflower patch up through the winter, the stems and dry grass are good for critters to live in;
  • In March of the following year, I'll cut down the existing wildflower stems, and watch the new patch and new flowers grow! 

So this is what looked like last year. A tarp to the existing wildflower patch. 

Then, just before the first snow in November, I took off the tarp, raked the ground (so easy, a toddler can do it!), and spread a native mix that I got from a nursery in Minnesota (Prairie Moon).

Now, as the weather warms, tiny sprouts on the new patch are coming up! On the existing patches, there are some decently-sized flowers emerging. 

In just a few months, the existing patches will really sprout and start kicking ass. By summer, some flowers will be over 5' tall. 

It's amazing! It's great for bees, animals, kids, water, nature, and it's so simple! 

Just cover, sow, grow, and mow!