Last year, one Redditor decided to do something to support their local pollinator population — and got a gorgeous garden out of the deal.
Pollinators like bees and butterflies are an essential part of any healthy environment because they help many plant species mature and reproduce — including the species that humans rely on for food. Pollinators have gotten more attention in the past few years as their populations have been threatened by insecticides and habitat loss. Some species have even experienced mass die-offs that endanger already fragile populations.
Thankfully, some homeowners are doing what they can to make their yards a haven for pollinators — this Redditor included.
"Y'all convinced me to get rid of half my lawn to make it more biodiverse," they said in a post in r/landscaping. "Now we have a bee habitat and a registered monarch butterfly sanctuary where lawn was."
The Redditor's "before" image shows a huge, sloped yard covered in manicured grass, broken only by pavement and a few small trees. A lawn like that normally takes thousands of gallons of water to maintain each year, costing the owner money, not to mention that it offers no food or shelter to pollinators.
The Redditor's "after" photos showed a yard that butterflies and bees love. While there was still plenty of lawn to enjoy, there was also a small bee house, plus a generous garden bed full of pollinator-friendly flowers like milkweed, the primary food of monarch butterflies.
They also incorporated some food for the human inhabitants of the property. "That's asparagus in the foreground if anyone was curious," they explained in a comment. "I knew people would think I was a bit crazy for planting it directly in the front, but that site has the perfect exposure and drainage, so I planted asparagus and strawberries as companion plants and whoa they are thriving! There's Japanese eggplant in there too as well as some blueberry bushes."
"So glad you incorporated vegetable gardening into your landscaping," said one commenter. "Most people treat them as separate entities, but if done right, they can be beneficial and beautiful. You sir have done it right."
"Gonna look even better as the years roll on!" another user pointed out. "You'll never get disappointed looking at all the bee/butterfly/hummingbird activity, nor will the kids."
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