Rewilding My Lot

I have only a small piece of land. I am trying to “wildscape” that as much as possible, but I also need to bear in mind that I am in the middle of a housing development where many of my neighbors (and the HOA!) have expectations as to what an urban lot should look like.

So in the front yard, which is visible to all, I want to take actions that are healthy for nature, an opportunity to educate, and respectful of my neighbors. Here are some of the choices I have made which speak to those goals.

• I scattered three kinds of wildflower seed in the center of my front yard last fall. I chose three plants that should bloom at different times so that while the meadow is “active” (i.e., not mown), there should always be something to see.
• The wildflowers that I included in the meadow will need to be reseeded each year. The plants can do that themselves, IF they are allowed to stay in the ground while they are making and dispersing seeds. Again, I picked the plants strategically so that while some are making seeds (and therefore looking less “pretty”), others are still blooming.
• I have placed a small sign that reads “Pollinator Friendly Garden” near the sidewalk. While the Bluebonnets and Firewheels are in full bloom it’s pretty obvious what I’m doing, but this was an indicator earlier in the season as well, before the blooms appeared.
• The wildflower meadow is a defined area, and I am mowing around the edges of it so that there is a separation between it and my neighbors’ yards. (I could take the extra step of placing a temporary stone border, but I will only do that if it seems necessary.)
• The earliest flowers to appear this spring were volunteers — dandelions and the like. Those early flowers are important food sources for insects and I leave as many of them as I can. However, once I had an area filled with other plants that insects use, I did cut down the spent dandelion heads to minimize the number of seed heads for plants that other people might consider weeds. I am aware that this action is rather fruitless from a botany point of view — I am not going to significantly reduce the number of dandelions in the area — but it removes those familiar seed heads from view by humans.

I think the key points here are to make my front yard wildflower area look intentional, and the most important actions there are defining a boundary and placing a sign.

My rewards are seeing a host of wildlife visitors, and also witnessing the delight of passers-by. Here are some more photos.