Rewilding My Lot

In this second year of creating a nature garden, I’ve written before about using annual plants to fill unplanned space with native wildflowers as “green mulch”. These plants protect the ground from erosion, help to capture rain water, aerate the soil with their roots, introduce much-needed organic matter that will eventually decay, and are food and shelter for visiting wildlife.

So when I needed to create extra access to my Three Sisters mounds (because I’m about to reseed a native grass area along one side), that was easily done by cutting back a few inches of those native annuals and laying the cut stems on the ground to form a pathway. (I cut the plants rather than pulling them out to leave the roots to decay underground.) Most of the plants cut down were Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella), of which I have an abundance.

And thus I have a new pathway. As it decomposes, if it should get too messy I can always add woodchip on top like the other pathways.