One Seattle homeowner turned a useless, expensive lawn into a beautiful garden that fed them and the local pollinators — and they did it all in one year.
A Redditor shared several photos of their mother's efforts in a post on r/NoLawns. "My mom's beautiful garden and first-year clover lawn!" they said. "There are already some native plants popping up and the bees seem very happy with it."
The photos take viewers for a walk through the mother's yard, with stops for a lush, green clover lawn; several patches that mix berries, greens, herbs, vegetables, and wildflowers; and at last, the gardener herself posing on the porch with some of the vegetables she's harvested.
"One of my mom's best hauls of food!" said the original poster. "The tastiest produce I've had is always homegrown."
In a comment, the Redditor went into more detail. "She has worked so hard on this the past couple months, and it's a beautiful labor of love. You can tell how excited she is when she brings in some more produce. It's amazing how rewarding growing your own food can be."
The original poster's mother is combining some of the best benefits of vegetable gardens and clover lawns. Clover is low-maintenance because it doesn't need mowing, it requires much less water than grass, and it helps attract and feed pollinators like bees and butterflies.
That's exactly what you need for vegetable gardens, berry bushes, and fruit trees because if they're not pollinated properly, the fruits and veggies won't grow. With pollinators around, though, you can expect a plentiful crop that will save you money on your grocery bill.
Plus, supporting pollinators is good for plants in the surrounding environment, which also benefit from the chance to be pollinated and develop mature seeds.
The original poster's mother even started seeing native plants and wildflowers in her yard — species that are both beautiful and hardy because they're adapted to the local growing conditions. That makes them easy and cheap to keep.
Commenters loved the result of all the gardener's hard work.
"That looks nice," said one user. "Many people probably don't know this, but Seattle is super dry during the summer. Horrible place for turf grass."
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