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Oh Lemmy, I saw all the lightning bugs in the trees last night, blinking fast as hell because of the high temperature, and I thought of you!
I was just discussing my raggedy-ass yard and it’s contribution to the local fauna.
My neighbor HATES me because I’ve been converting my backyard into clover. We have fireflies, Butterflies, bees, bunnies, all sorts of wildlife. It smells beautiful, but we are an oasis amongst upper-middle class lawn zombies… Mowing, edging, pesticide spraying, weed killing zombies.
Meanwhile, I have milkweed, clover, chive, snapdragons, black eyed susans, grapes, raspberries, lilac, echinacea, chamomile, lavender, hydrangea, coreopsis, and salvia. I welcome wasps that eat pests, I buy bags of ladybugs, I compost… I’m really trying. It’s only 1/4 an acre, but I’m trying.
I love this and I’m working towards a no lawn/native plants setup as well. I hope your neighbour’s hate fuels you. Keep at it!
Please keep doing it. As a poor landless peasant I celebrate your attempt to preserve some of nature. You’re buying time, which is vitally important
From 1 internet stranger to another, thank you. It really means a lot to me that people are doing what they can at their own level like you. I know how demotivating and isolating it can feel to be the only one doing the necessary work.
I dislike the mowing robots because they seem to encourage the Flatt grass only gardens and I hate them.
You can still have flowers around them yes, but the grass is mostly a plant and insect desert.
Spray your neighbors lawn with salt water
My yard is the only reason we have frogs and dragonflies.
Alright I’m going to need all of your suggestions as this is the project I’m working on right now.
A bought a small townhouse in Ontario 7 months ago and I have a tiny yard.
The yard had mostly grass, but had a little bit of moss, crab grass, and clover. There is a small garden, and many dirt patches in the yard.
I have spread clover seed in the yard, especially in the dirt patches.
Then I weeded the garden area, removed about half the rocks but left some in the garden, I have my mother coming over next month to help me pick local garden flowers, and I had to pull a tiny tree out because it was planted right beside the foundation of the building and would eventually cause damage.
What else should be added to the lawn? Should I be pulling out the crabgrass? What wildflowers are native to Ontario?
I’d check for native species of clover, which is invasive in most of Canada.
Visit some Garden Centres near you- often they’ll have seed mixes of local perennial flowers available for purchase, you just need to spread the seeds in the spring or autumn.
Also, “weeds” aren’t always weeds, they’re just plants that some people decided get in the way of monocultures. If it’s flowering, it’s feeding insects, so leave it be.
The fireflies are awesome in my area this summer and my humble yard is part of that. It’s honestly so satisfying watching plants come back year after year, bigger and bigger
Lightning bug, eh? I smell a Pennsylvania native
They’re called that in a lot of places.
Source: I’m from Texas.
And here’s a pretty picture to prove it.
Funny that Californians even have a strong opinion
Ha, great observation. For those that don’t know - the fireflies/lightning bugs known to the east coast don’t live on the west coast.
Apparently there are species that live west of the Rocky Mountains, but they are active during the day, and even at night the light they produce is too dim for the human eye to perceive. So the west coast doesn’t get the beautiful light shows that the east enjoys.
It makes me happy to see the phrase “lightning bug” used so often here on Lemmy. I grew up calling them lightning bugs, yet I felt like it’s been ages since I heard or saw that word. Then I started coming here, and I see it in every post about this topic. The term brings me back to my childhood, picturing the way my parents’ backyard used to light up every summer evening.
Huh, the more you know.
Yinz can get ahtta tahn.
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Begone, Pittsburgher (more like Pittspeasant)
At least I’m not a fan of the Eagles, band and team.
#nolawnsHa! This is me and my yard. Let’s go!
