In 2014, my water company offered rebates to people who were willing to ditch their lawns to save water. I’d had a large front lawn and a crappy back lawn since I bought the place in 2011. I had no lawn mower and paid a gardener monthly.
I applied for the rebate and a woman came out from the water company to measure my lawn. It qualified for a $1600 rebate. I had to follow the water company’s rules.
1. no Rototilling
2. lawn covered by cardboard (dumpster diving, anyone?)
3. a layer of cow manure (less than $2 a bag at Home Depot)
4. five inches of mulch (free from a tree company)
I found a woman and her son to come cover the lawn with cardboard. While the woman worked, the son and I would drive around my town, looking for dumpsters stuffed with cardboard. The teen jumped inside the dumpster and threw the cardboard out to me. I filled up my Suburban and then drove back to my property where Mom and son continued to open up the boxes, remove the staples, and layer the cardboard. I didn’t realize how big my pie lot was until we needed to cover it all.
Multiple trips to dumpsters.
Multiple days of workers.
A trip to Home Depot to buy a boatload of manure.
Neighbor girls crying to their parents because the manure smelled so bad (it was summertime).
A double load of mulch being dumped on my driveway to layer over the manure (it took a week or so for it to arrive).
Then the water company lady came back to see the work and to make sure it was up to snuff.
A month later, my water bill reflected a $1600 credit (I didn’t pay a water bill for about thirty months).
Then I went shopping for native plants.
What happened next was a surprise. It’s been over a decade, and I have birds, butterflies, and bees. Lizards, too. The amazing thing is when I walk my dog in the green belt next to my house, I see birds swooping into my yard between the trees, no one else’s, to have a drink from my fountain, to eat my bird seed, and to hunt insects in my no-spray yard. I have accidentally created a habitat for all these animals. It’s a joy to watch.
Twice a year, I get a flock of Cedar Waxwings in my trees and at my fountain, as they migrate north or south and remember my space. Sixty identical birds at my fountain is a sight to see.
Fifty years ago, there were five billion birds. Today, that number is way down. Why? Less habitat. For every property that gives up its lawn sprayed with pesticides/herbicides, in its place a return to a more natural state where animals can thrive, from insects to feathered friends, to reptiles, and the occasional jack rabbit.
I didn’t intend to create habitat for animals. I was looking to save on my water bills and to get rid of my gardeners.
Done and done.
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 