Rewilding My Lot

The area to the north of the house is quite shady, and this year I’ve added some plants into that location that should be happy there — the builder-installed Bermudagrass certainly isn’t happy, but I’m fine with that.

I have previously planted Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) and Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata) behind the AC unit, and they are doing well. In addition, wildflowers have been growing from shredded annual plants that were put on the ground as mulch.

Now I have added a Chile Pequin (Capsicum annuum) plant in front of the AC unit, one Pigeonberry (Rivina humilis) in front of the AC unit, and another Pigeonberry behind.

In this photo below, the Pigeonberry and Chile Pequin are in pots. The other plants are volunteers, including a Dill on the left and next to that against the house, a Bluebonnet.

In the photo below, the small pot holds the second Pigeonberry, the plant with large leaves is a Frostweed, and to the left of that in the foreground is a Lyreleaf Sage.

And here’s an image of the shadier part, behind the AC unit.

The only other thing I plan to add to the shade beds this year are some seeds for Inland Sea Oats aka Inland Wood Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), but before doing that I’d like us to get some much-needed rain. We are still in drought with daytime temperatures of 90 F. I’ll also put some more mulch down, to cover the bare soil.

So the shade beds will have a variety of things introduced by planting, seeding (intentional and via mulch), and volunteering. This will be a somewhat experimental area, and I’ll be interested to see what grows well, and where. I will also need to keep the AC unit area accessible for access and ventilation.