UPDATE: Front Lawn to Native Pollinator Garden | Near Portland, OR / Zone 9a

As we transition from summer to fall, happy to report year one of the native garden (rather than lawn) is doing exceptionally well! We're seeing more bees, birds, and butterflies than ever before. It's really become such a great conversation starter with neighborhood walkers as well. It is crazy to think it has been a year since we cardboarded the front yard, designed paths with edging, and got our big deliveries of mulch and woodchips

Context Posts:

• Phase 2: Front Lawn to Native Pollinator Garden | Near Portland, OR / Zone 9a
• Sheet Mulching 9a Front Yard

Takeaways to Date:

• Edging is holding up great!
• Few weeds and blades of grass have popped up
• The biggest challenge we've experienced is voles popping up in the garden, creating little mounds
• Some plants are doing better than others
  • The plants that have struggled include Lupine, Oregon Oxalis, and Orange Honeysuckle
  • We lost a couple of plants, like one Gilia plant, a Penstemon plant, Red Flowering Currant, and two Oval-Leaved Viburnum plants- some due to bad yard placement, we believe
• We earned our Backyard Native Habitat Certification (Gold) as well as Monarch Waystation Certification
• We're planning to add a drip system next spring, otherwise we've been using our sprinkler system (previously used for our lawn)
  • We didn't see significant water savings ($20 less than average for August), but hope to see our water use continue to reduce by introducing drip in the front yard
  • Given we still have a few newer trees, we supplement watering them with buckets throughout the summer to ensure a strong, deep root system
• While we plan to add more plants over time, we're taking a break this fall, both for our budget as well as to see how plants continue to grow into the space
  • The one exception is we will be planting some Camas bulbs this fall
• Two non-native plants in our front yard
  • Luffa (growing on the first arch)- while non-native, the idea is that we'll be able to use them as sponges and reduce our use of plastic. Next year, we'll start this plant earlier because growth is coming too late in the season, but we'll harvest seeds
  • A volunteer Sulfur Cosmos plant- its a little fall color, so not mad about it!