After removing their grass lawn, a homeowner was excited to share before-and-after images of their new yard in Reddit's r/NoLawns forum.
The homeowner used a mix of materials and plants to transform their front yard.
"Can't wait for the plants to grow and fill in this space! All are perennials that are native or adapted to Colorado's climate," the homeowner who shared the photos wrote. "The mulch and rock were all completely free by taking it from people that were trying to offload it. … Goodbye grass!"
One Redditor was impressed with the results of the transformed lawn.
"Awesome! Great job," a user commented.
Switching to a native-plant lawn is a simple way to save time and money on yard maintenance. Native plants, such as clover and buffalo grass, conserve water and decrease your water bill. In fact, a more natural lawn requires 50% less water than a grass yard.
Each year, you can save $275 on water, $50 on fertilizer, and $50 on pesticides and weed control. Even if you add native plants to only part of your lawn, you can still decrease your water bill and cut down on maintenance.
You can also significantly reduce the amount of carbon pollution you generate. Grass yards require a lot of mowing, and gas-powered equipment releases harmful pollutants. These pollutants get trapped in Earth's atmosphere, contributing to the globe's rising temperatures.
Native plants are essential to local ecosystems as well, attracting key pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
One Redditor offered a word of warning about the free mulch.
"Gotta love the free mulch, but be [wary]. My dad has gotten almost all his mulch in socal for free but now he has a small orchard of Italian cypress that's grown from intact seeds that he needs to thin out. He also got morels, which is a plus I guess," the user noted.
"Cypress for morels? Pretty good trade, ngl," another Redditor replied.
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