Or should I wait till the fall? Overwhelmed with analysis paralysis. I need a plan.
Zone 5b, Michigan. The soil is a heavy clay that dries hard late summer. This area of the lawn gets hot, but it has evening shade.
I do not have much desire to water this side of the house. (Maybe to get started, but definitely not long term).
First two pictures are the side I want to convert. The pictures face north. (Road is on an angle)
The other two pictures are of my garden on the south side of my house. Lots of dragonflies, butterflies, bees and other bugs in this garden. It's addicting and I want more.
by Loonster
8 Comments
Probably too late to plant but you could prep area by killing grass. Use a clear plastic tarp, I think it take 6ish weeks
Edit : and then seed heavily in fall, this will also give you time to acquire the correct seeds
Prep and research are incredibly important. Bring in people who know more for consults. Use inaturalist or other apps to learn what’s around you, what’s native and what’s invasive.
imo it takes a year of prep to get a site ready. This means killing the lawn completely, which isn’t a small task. Several rounds of spraying or an entire growing season smothering. Do not till this under any circumstances.
What do you wanna grow? Do you have local sources for seeds and plugs? Do not buy nonlocal “wildflower seed mixes.”
It takes time to kill turf and a lot of natives, especially if grown from seed, need several years to establish so starting now will still be better than waiting until later. Unless you spend a LOT of money you will not have a meadow this year.
I came to say what everyone else already said LoL it’s never too late to start prepping the site and doing research on native plants of your area (I’ve got some great resources for SE Michigan)! The best time to plant or sow native seeds is in fall once the site is already prepared bare soil. Good luck on your journey!! Excited to see updates 😁
Just stop mowing it. The taller grass will give native plants and bugs the cover and water they need to grow native plants.mo need to kill the grass. Meadow plants shade it out in about two years. No sense in putting a bunch of plastic down.
I made a four acre lawn into a meadow doing this. Mow it in April, before the ferns come up, and to allow plants to overwinter upright share the mice don’t get the seeds.
A propern self-sustaining meadow takes a few seasons to establish. Lawns are usually so over-fertilised you get lots of unwanted weeds when you first remove the grass, and those crowd out the more delicate flowers
You have such a lovely area to work with.
Depending a lot on how *you* do things, you might start small. I have had mixed results starting from seed, but I didn’t do everything perfectly. Also, I’m more of an experimenter. Some people are planners. How do you want this to progress? 1 year and done (plus lots of maintenance)? 5 years of playing?