A green-thumbed homeowner shared photos on Twitter showing what it looks like when a lawn is replaced with native plants.
More and more social media posts are popping up with these before-and-after transformations, as people worldwide embrace the anti-lawn movement. Some are renovating their yards on their own, while others hire companies like Yardzen for professional results.
Before and after front garden. Previously horrible laurel hedge and ryegrass lawn, now native tree mix and ponds! pic.twitter.com/5Nhr8OwuY7
— An Traonach (@TCorncrake) May 11, 2023
This example came from a Twitter user going by An Traonach (@TCorncrake). "Traonach" is the Irish word for "corncrake," an endangered bird that An Traonach hopes to protect through responsible farming practices, according to their Twitter profile.
In their tweet from May, they showed off what they'd done with their once-grassy front yard. "Before and after front garden," they said. "Previously horrible laurel hedge and ryegrass lawn, now native tree mix and ponds!"
The "before" photo, captured from Google Maps, showed a huge, featureless lawn with only one garden bed near the driveway to add variety.
The "after" photo was teeming with life. An assortment of thriving bushes and lush ground cover had completely covered the area where the lawn used to be. Even the house sported several new trellises complete with healthy vines.
Unlike grass lawns, native plants are adapted to the local environment, so they don't need much water, fertilizer, or maintenance. This makes them easy and cheap to have in the yard, not to mention they're more interesting to look at than plain old grass. Many attract pollinators or supply food and shelter for other wildlife, including the birds An Traonach hopes to attract.
Commenters were full of questions about An Traonach's work. "How long did this take?" asked one user.
"In year 3," An Traonach replied.
"What a wonderful transformation!" tweeted another. "Looks absolutely beautiful and vastly improved, especially for the wildlife; heaven for them."
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