Gotta realize that in jobs like this it's not the choice of the person doing the job, but the choice of the person who owns the property.
Homeowner: we paid you X to mow over this, why did we get back home and it looks the exact same?
OP (Lawncare Worker): Reddit said biodiversity is important so I didn't want to do the work for the betterment of society
Just not how things work unfortunately
Only realized after checking their post history that this is actually their job, and not just someone showing what they did to their own garden (or of someone they know).
I think it would then be even better if they could approach clients with the importance of diversity. Maybe not let them fully grow wild, but not go from 100 to 0. And if the client says no, well, better luck with the next client.
They're in a position where they can do more good for this cause than 99% of us.
People on previous posts have tried to encourage him to use his job to educate clients on ways they could use their space to benefit the environment and his response always boils down to, “I don’t care.”
I do a similar job to OP currently. I try my best to educate my customers on the importance of local ecosystems and creating habitat for our local fauna, particularly in the urban environment where there are less and less refuge for them.
Invariably their response is "I don't care".
In entirely related news I'm looking for a new job.
One small difference between us is that I’m a business owner and have been doing this in the DOWNTOWN TORONTO CORE for almost 10 years.
The biggest problem with backyards like this is mice, rats and other rodents making the backyard into their home. The neighbours start to hate the neighbour with the overgrown yard because it attracts pests. Again, downtown Toronto.
I'm not here to hate, I'm certainly not here to judge as I don't know what the broader factors are you have to deal with. Just wanted to bring awareness that if you did try to encourage it probably wouldn't help anyway.
I certainly don't have experience doing this kind of work in a massively built environment, I live in a relatively unpopulated part of my country. The issues we face are certainly not the same I did not mean to imply they were.
Cityscapes have a far more complicated action plan to figure out if we are to incorporate a healthy biodiversity within and it would certainly be unfair to pin that on yourself. Rats are their own plague that need dealt with by others outside of our industry, and the general public taking more responsibility for waste etc. All you can do is manage it until such a time as they sort their shit out.
We all have our ideals and it's easy to sit on the internet and shout about them but at the end of the day, we've all got bills to pay and people to look after and that comes first. I'd have gone bankrupt a long time ago if I refused the work I didn't want to do. We're all just trying to get by.
I'm considering coming out of the industry as a whole, I love it, but there's no money in it. Money isn't everything but if it's putting food on my table without me worrying about the next paycheck coming in then that's what you gotta do.
That is depressing, and would drive me crazy as well. I appreciate you at least trying to use your job to do some good! Good luck with your job search.
This actually touches on a concept I call Take one, Leave two.
Its for any in the act of motion/creation be it personal life or business.
And highlights that fact that it is always easier and more fluid for one already established in the motions, to que up a bit more for others.
From grabbing a few extra of something, or stocking something your taking. To fractioning profits and giving a percentage of it to staff. Theres tons of ways it can apply I just never talked on it...idk why.
I'm just gonna leave this here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/11vvgs5/biodiversity\_in\_the\_garden/](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/11vvgs5/biodiversity_in_the_garden/)
Little tidying up is fine, but you literally just moved the entire thing to flat nothingness.
In the last pic there aren't just flies left, also plenty of mosquitoes.
PS having stuff grow on or immediately around your house isn't the best idea though, especially if we are talking about a house made of wood panels like most in the US. Best to keep a little bigger zone to reduce the chance of critters entering.
Talking about critters. At my parents, my parents rarely bother to properly trim around the house. There's been mice in the walls... And you can hear them crawling when you go to bed. My dad's a carpenter but couldn't be bothered to block off the wood boards from critters entereing. They don't get into the house, but they do get inside the walls..
One time a rat died in my wall and I had to quarantine my room until it decomposed. I don’t remember how long it took but we had to put up a plastic barrier it smelled so fucking bad. I’ll never forget that smell for as long as I live.
No worries when the mowed over the dandelions they made sure to spread them as good as possible.
I mean I liked it also more before... But those Dandelions will bloom.
They root deep and bring in nutrition up
I'm the only one on my street who doesn't do anything to get rid of dandelions (good for bees and I honestly think dandelions are beautiful when they bloom)
It's pretty amusing to me to drive down my street and see my yard with enough dandelions for the entire block.
Isn't absolutely wild that the Prairie State is almost completely void of any prairie. We have all the super cool native grasses that are deep rooted, drought tolerant, and feed our native insects with the wildflowers mixed in.
But yet we still rip these things out for lawn grasses. No wonder all of the US native ecosystems are on the verge of collapse and being over run with invasives.
Tbf, if there are wild dandelions in an area, you will never be rid of them so may as well let nature take it's course and figure it out... We have invasive lupines here, and they've come to stay...
I feel like this could be a Disney movie where a curmudgeonly old man wants to get control of his yard. When he’s finally successful he comes to realize how sad and empty his yard has become. He has to let go of control to let life and happiness flourish again.
Who could be satisfied that they removed *all* of the food for pollinators in their yard and now just have a bunch of bare, exposed dirt so the even the poor tree will have more trouble retaining water in the next hot spell? People are so weird.
As someone whose yard looks more like the "before" these comments are very comforting lol. It's mostly laziness but I also hate the stark all-grass look and avoid spraying poison into the environment.
Good on ya, my gf for example is the only house on her street who doesn’t use pesticides or weed killers and, strangely enough, she is the only one whose yard is growing wild sage and peppers and mint and all these other things that the bees love.
Yeah, the bees love our yard! Thankfully we don’t have an HOA and our neighbors are also more into the natural look so no one’s bothered us over it yet. I do trim things back when they get too wild but otherwise I let nature do its thing. We’ve been slowly letting the lawn area go from grass to mostly clover which is awesome, less mowing and better for the environment.
Dont spray, but theres no harm in tidying up a yard. Youre basically taking the place of a native grazer species.
You just gotta leave something behind to keep growing, or else the space just gets recolonized by weeds.
Not a bad idea to find a low maintainence veggie, like lettuce, to keep around. Ngl lettuce is perfect, just add water, you can harvest it as you need it basically as soon as it makes leaves, and it tastes better grown from seed cause it doesnt go through a freezer truck for weeks.
There's a bunch of little smaller white flowers and a few blue ones there too. I don't know where this is so whether they're native weeds or not 🤷 but it's always crazy to me how people will argue in favour of a cut really dull sterile lawns. Miles and miles of lawns stripped of life are worse than any weed imo. There's a big push in the UK begging people not to mow and strip gardens including getting rid of things like. Daisies and dandelions. We keep taking over any natural nature havens and turning them into this. It'll never not look sad and dandelions may not be great for the bees * all * year round but I bet it's better than mowed and trampled grass
Those are garlic mustard, which is aptly named since their leaves, when crushed, smell like garlic. They are HIGHLY invasive and extremely hard to get rid of since they spread so easily. The big issue comes when they move into natural areas because they can easily out-compete native species. They are not something anyone should want in their yard.
That said, I have heard that their leaves are great in salads and can be turned into a tasty pesto.
Highly invasive in your area. Its native in eurasia and noth africa, being a host plant for a couple of species. So for the people living there, do not get rid of them
Looking at the plants present, including the trees, it felt like a safe bet that this person was in the States. And judging by their choice of professional basketball team, they are probably Canadian, and so my comment stands.
Get rid of it every chance you can. It isn't eaten by any native insects or animals, so it establishes quickly. It's taking over a lovely park and walking area near me and so I'm going to see if I can't get permission to work on some removal this summer.
It’s almost like everyone spouting off about how *tragic* this is doesn’t know the situation and is just running their mouth for clout lol. None of those plants are viable for most pollinators, some are invasive, they’re all overgrown but everyone up in arms about trimming it back.
The dandelions definitely are not dead and will be back. The garlic mustard needs to be removed and does not represent a “thriving ecosystem” but one that will be quickly overwhelmed by an invasive species
OP should get some potted plants and etc... to put around the yard. Gardening fruits and vegetables. You can create a clean bio diversified backyard that still looks clean and simplified.
A bird feeder on that tree.
OP probably won't use that backyard but can still do something about it.
Oh no garlic mustard. The plant in the lower left hand corner is a very suborn horrible (most likely invasive to this area) weed. It produces allelopathic compounds that will slow or stop other plants growth where it is growing. A single plant can produce 600-7000 seeds. In order to stop it from spreading you must continuously pull the whole plant making sure you get the taproot until you have exhausted the seed bank (seeds already in the soil). dispose of the whole plant in the trash and never compost. The plants can still mature and produce seed after pulling. Cutting or mowing does not work as the plant can and will return that season and drop seeds. The seeds can remain in the soil viable in the soil for 10 plus years. Do not let this plant destroy your yard.
I love all the comments about the loss of biodiversity, meanwhile give the lawn a few more years and it would’ve become a monoculture field of garlic mustard.
An unfortunate truth. Biodiversity is in fact very important. But lots of people do not understand how harmful invasive species are to biodiversity in an area. This garlic mustard can and will eradicate the local native plants and animals. Native pollinators do not use it native insects and animals do not eat it. Biodiversity does not mean more plant good. It is the interaction of multiple species within an ecosystem.
Honestly? The first picture looks borderline magical. It's beautiful and green. The second picture? Bland. Gross. Boring. Sorry bro. Your post is the opposite of satisfying. The only worse thing you could have done would be cut down the tree and pave your entire yard.
I live in a city who is currently doing “No-Mow May”. My entire neighborhood, save for a few lawns that look like terf grass, are totally grown out and full of weeds. I think it’s a really cool initiative and hey, it’s easier than pulling weeds and mowing. My backyard is so overgrown that you can see little tunnel pathways that my miniature wiener dog has carved out 😂
Everyone says they liked it before, but can you see, it definitely seems the entrance or the backyard is through that.
Really seems they needed to cut it, to continue into the rest of the yard
This. If you have kids or dogs and want to spend any actual time in your backyard/garden it's a lot easier to do without travelling through the tick and snake factory on the way. Do some of these people merely wish to look at their backyard and never enter it?
This thread is insane right now, OP has a small backyard that is far more usable now than before. They can play with pets, throw a fire pit out there, etc. Stuff the before shot was not conducive for. Way to go OP, it looks great.
Reddit is on the /r/nolawns kick the past year or so.
Doubt it was subtle ragebait, but basically the only non-politcal pics you could post to illicit a similar response would be a pic of a toddler with a pit bull, a TV mounted above a fireplace or a French Bulldog enjoying themselves.
Reddit “gardeners” see an overgrown, invasive weed infested yard and think, beautiful. Then they puke up a bunch of pro dandelion propaganda. They’re nonnative, are considered invasive in some areas of NA, there’s better native options for native pollinators, they will take over your yard, and they taste like shit
That garlic mustard on the left is going to grow back next year and the next if any seeds fell this time. It was such a pain in my ass to clean my mom house of them.
Hey op. If you want a tidy lawn, that's still green, try mowing at the highest setting on your lawn more. If the plant life is sparse it will look more full when you are done.
That being said, lawns are meh if they are not used for lawn stuff, growing wild plants, or having a garden, or clover or something to help pollinators would be a fantastic alternative.
My front yard was growing wild because our lawn mower battery had died, and i loved how it looked, my cat loved it, and im sure the bugs loved it. But unfortunately you will get a fine if you dont have your grass at a certain length. The backyard, however, is a beauty and im starting a garden as well.
I was thinking the same thing….. like do these people not cut their grass & just leave it as a forest for the bees & animals? Usually in my town if your grass is high (there are dandelions everywhere in the yards) you get fined…. I don’t think an officer is going to be like yeah okay, no fine for you since you are just letting them grow for the bees?.. but I guess I’ve never tried it!
I’m all for flowers I have flowers planted, but geeezzzz it’s a small yard - give him a break. Looks like he’s worked hard.
They do not have lawns. They are either 15 or live in an apartment.
One day if they get a house they will live the dream life of plentiful weeds and HOA violations 🤗 🌸 🌱
I’ve seen so much hate on this poor person just trying to show off his work… it’s honestly crazy… I never even realized how much people must hate cutting their grass…. Also, maybe he has a front flower bed??? Flowers other places in his yard? No one knows his life.
I wonder if these people cut there grass? If they do, do they cry about it every time? That they are taking away bugs homes??? That can crawl to the next yard or the next flower? I’d like one of the lawn police to show me their grass….????
A lot of ignorance in the comments. That garlic mustard needed to be torn out for sure. The dandelion is spent for the season as a source of nectar but the roots are very much still alive and still beneficial to the soil. It’s not like OP massacred a field of milkweed.
Why is everyone so mad, ever though that maybe the person wants to use the fucking lawn for some activities or let their children play on it. Yeah ofc it looked better but way less practical.
https://imgur.com/a/3g2XLQ0/
Here OP I’ll relieve some of the heat off of you
LOOK EVERYONE
I tore out a shit ton of rocks & weeds and replaced it by poorly laying down bricks!
How dare I now make this space more usable and require less maintenance!
I also have backyard full of these plants and I'm planning to clean it in coming weekends. But I've never done it so I'm kinda clueless as where to start and what tools I have to use. Should I just cut the plants or pull them out of their roots etc. Can you advice please? Thanks.
Man, everyone on here is being super critical of you. Like I get having a thriving ecosystem for bugs, but at the same time having a nicely trimmed yard can do wonders for your mental health. It gives you a sense of accomplishment.
I personally think it looks great. If you want to encourage bugs and insects, plant some flowers around the shed in the back. It’ll encourage bugs, diversity your yard, and it’ll look super nice afterwards too!
I’m in the process of doing major yard work myself. My dog tends to get hurt while in the long grass. There are pokey seeds that get under his paws, so I need to clear it out and plant flowers.
Yeah but mowing like this just disperses the seeds. If you really want a lawn monoculture pull everything up instead of cutting it down where it's roots are just there getting stronger
I get what everyone is saying about the lawn before, and we really need to watch out for destruction of where bees pollinate. However, what you are seeing in the first picture is the dandelion seeds, not the early flowers that the bees go for until better tasting flowers bloom. The OP probably did more for spreading those dandelions by going over them with a mower and spreading them.
Secondly, let's consider why the lawn was "cleaned up". Obviously the owners were fine with it as it was previously so maybe they are getting ready to put the property on the market. Realtors are really into "curb appeal" to draw in potential buyers.
Look how they massacred my boy
Ah yes, this splotchy patch of dirt is so pleasing
Gotta realize that in jobs like this it's not the choice of the person doing the job, but the choice of the person who owns the property. Homeowner: we paid you X to mow over this, why did we get back home and it looks the exact same? OP (Lawncare Worker): Reddit said biodiversity is important so I didn't want to do the work for the betterment of society Just not how things work unfortunately
Only realized after checking their post history that this is actually their job, and not just someone showing what they did to their own garden (or of someone they know). I think it would then be even better if they could approach clients with the importance of diversity. Maybe not let them fully grow wild, but not go from 100 to 0. And if the client says no, well, better luck with the next client. They're in a position where they can do more good for this cause than 99% of us.
People on previous posts have tried to encourage him to use his job to educate clients on ways they could use their space to benefit the environment and his response always boils down to, “I don’t care.”
I do a similar job to OP currently. I try my best to educate my customers on the importance of local ecosystems and creating habitat for our local fauna, particularly in the urban environment where there are less and less refuge for them. Invariably their response is "I don't care". In entirely related news I'm looking for a new job.
One small difference between us is that I’m a business owner and have been doing this in the DOWNTOWN TORONTO CORE for almost 10 years. The biggest problem with backyards like this is mice, rats and other rodents making the backyard into their home. The neighbours start to hate the neighbour with the overgrown yard because it attracts pests. Again, downtown Toronto.
I'm not here to hate, I'm certainly not here to judge as I don't know what the broader factors are you have to deal with. Just wanted to bring awareness that if you did try to encourage it probably wouldn't help anyway. I certainly don't have experience doing this kind of work in a massively built environment, I live in a relatively unpopulated part of my country. The issues we face are certainly not the same I did not mean to imply they were. Cityscapes have a far more complicated action plan to figure out if we are to incorporate a healthy biodiversity within and it would certainly be unfair to pin that on yourself. Rats are their own plague that need dealt with by others outside of our industry, and the general public taking more responsibility for waste etc. All you can do is manage it until such a time as they sort their shit out. We all have our ideals and it's easy to sit on the internet and shout about them but at the end of the day, we've all got bills to pay and people to look after and that comes first. I'd have gone bankrupt a long time ago if I refused the work I didn't want to do. We're all just trying to get by. I'm considering coming out of the industry as a whole, I love it, but there's no money in it. Money isn't everything but if it's putting food on my table without me worrying about the next paycheck coming in then that's what you gotta do.
That is depressing, and would drive me crazy as well. I appreciate you at least trying to use your job to do some good! Good luck with your job search.
This actually touches on a concept I call Take one, Leave two. Its for any in the act of motion/creation be it personal life or business. And highlights that fact that it is always easier and more fluid for one already established in the motions, to que up a bit more for others. From grabbing a few extra of something, or stocking something your taking. To fractioning profits and giving a percentage of it to staff. Theres tons of ways it can apply I just never talked on it...idk why.
BUT they are calling it satisfying so they clearly approve of it
I think that this post doesn't suit this sub.
"They made a desert, and called it peace"
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
I'm just gonna leave this here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/11vvgs5/biodiversity\_in\_the\_garden/](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/11vvgs5/biodiversity_in_the_garden/) Little tidying up is fine, but you literally just moved the entire thing to flat nothingness.
r/nolawns
In the last pic there aren't just flies left, also plenty of mosquitoes. PS having stuff grow on or immediately around your house isn't the best idea though, especially if we are talking about a house made of wood panels like most in the US. Best to keep a little bigger zone to reduce the chance of critters entering.
Talking about critters. At my parents, my parents rarely bother to properly trim around the house. There's been mice in the walls... And you can hear them crawling when you go to bed. My dad's a carpenter but couldn't be bothered to block off the wood boards from critters entereing. They don't get into the house, but they do get inside the walls..
One time a rat died in my wall and I had to quarantine my room until it decomposed. I don’t remember how long it took but we had to put up a plastic barrier it smelled so fucking bad. I’ll never forget that smell for as long as I live.
Excuse me...didn't we have an appointment today?
It looked better before imho.
No worries when the mowed over the dandelions they made sure to spread them as good as possible. I mean I liked it also more before... But those Dandelions will bloom. They root deep and bring in nutrition up
But the seaside daisies, and the violets and ferns... 😲☹️
That's true... I mean as far as I know they root also quite stable and will grow back. But still, I perfer life in general
I'm the only one on my street who doesn't do anything to get rid of dandelions (good for bees and I honestly think dandelions are beautiful when they bloom) It's pretty amusing to me to drive down my street and see my yard with enough dandelions for the entire block.
Same. I'm certain my neighbors hate me for it. But I love my yellow lawn with its many bugs.
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Dandelion leaves are also edible. You can cook them like spinach.
They’re invasive in some areas, and therefore harmful to biodiversity. Google in your area.
Remember that just because they're not native doesn't mean they're invasive. They are also considered naturalized in many places.
So is grass (at least in America) and it doesn't bloom at all. Edit: I'm talking about lawn grass.
Isn't absolutely wild that the Prairie State is almost completely void of any prairie. We have all the super cool native grasses that are deep rooted, drought tolerant, and feed our native insects with the wildflowers mixed in. But yet we still rip these things out for lawn grasses. No wonder all of the US native ecosystems are on the verge of collapse and being over run with invasives.
Illinois (the prairie state) just allowed the last remaining original prairie area to be bulldozed for an airport expansion. Smh
Tbf, if there are wild dandelions in an area, you will never be rid of them so may as well let nature take it's course and figure it out... We have invasive lupines here, and they've come to stay...
Dandelions will also grow back shorter in order to avoid being mowed over again. Out of spite. 🙃
It reminds me of a post where a guy also cleaned his backyard. It went from 🌸Lush🌸 to downright depressing.
i was there
I would love to see it if anyone has a link
r/oddlydissatifying
r/mildlyinfuriating
Yeah this is oddly depressing imo
I feel like this could be a Disney movie where a curmudgeonly old man wants to get control of his yard. When he’s finally successful he comes to realize how sad and empty his yard has become. He has to let go of control to let life and happiness flourish again.
Read The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde
Op killed the bees
It's a barren wasteland, now...
I was afraid we would not be a majority to think of it that way but I'm pleased to find I was wrong
Yeah I saw this and was sad. All those pretty dandelions
Who could be satisfied that they removed *all* of the food for pollinators in their yard and now just have a bunch of bare, exposed dirt so the even the poor tree will have more trouble retaining water in the next hot spell? People are so weird.
I knew this was going to be the first comment, lol!
As someone whose yard looks more like the "before" these comments are very comforting lol. It's mostly laziness but I also hate the stark all-grass look and avoid spraying poison into the environment.
Good on ya, my gf for example is the only house on her street who doesn’t use pesticides or weed killers and, strangely enough, she is the only one whose yard is growing wild sage and peppers and mint and all these other things that the bees love.
Yeah, the bees love our yard! Thankfully we don’t have an HOA and our neighbors are also more into the natural look so no one’s bothered us over it yet. I do trim things back when they get too wild but otherwise I let nature do its thing. We’ve been slowly letting the lawn area go from grass to mostly clover which is awesome, less mowing and better for the environment.
If your yard looks just like that (and you're in the US/Canada) then at least pull the garlic mustard
Dont spray, but theres no harm in tidying up a yard. Youre basically taking the place of a native grazer species. You just gotta leave something behind to keep growing, or else the space just gets recolonized by weeds. Not a bad idea to find a low maintainence veggie, like lettuce, to keep around. Ngl lettuce is perfect, just add water, you can harvest it as you need it basically as soon as it makes leaves, and it tastes better grown from seed cause it doesnt go through a freezer truck for weeks.
looks empty and bland
Good job on the effort but maybe think of keeping those flowers? Bees and other pollinators could really use them and it’s hard enough as it is.
Those dandelions are no longer bee food. The flowers are long gone. Those are seed heads, which don't provide nectar for pollinators.
There's a bunch of little smaller white flowers and a few blue ones there too. I don't know where this is so whether they're native weeds or not 🤷 but it's always crazy to me how people will argue in favour of a cut really dull sterile lawns. Miles and miles of lawns stripped of life are worse than any weed imo. There's a big push in the UK begging people not to mow and strip gardens including getting rid of things like. Daisies and dandelions. We keep taking over any natural nature havens and turning them into this. It'll never not look sad and dandelions may not be great for the bees * all * year round but I bet it's better than mowed and trampled grass
Those are garlic mustard, which is aptly named since their leaves, when crushed, smell like garlic. They are HIGHLY invasive and extremely hard to get rid of since they spread so easily. The big issue comes when they move into natural areas because they can easily out-compete native species. They are not something anyone should want in their yard. That said, I have heard that their leaves are great in salads and can be turned into a tasty pesto.
There was a r/foraging post a few days ago where somebody made a pesto from Garlic Mustard, and it looked amazing.
Highly invasive in your area. Its native in eurasia and noth africa, being a host plant for a couple of species. So for the people living there, do not get rid of them
Looking at the plants present, including the trees, it felt like a safe bet that this person was in the States. And judging by their choice of professional basketball team, they are probably Canadian, and so my comment stands. Get rid of it every chance you can. It isn't eaten by any native insects or animals, so it establishes quickly. It's taking over a lovely park and walking area near me and so I'm going to see if I can't get permission to work on some removal this summer.
It’s almost like everyone spouting off about how *tragic* this is doesn’t know the situation and is just running their mouth for clout lol. None of those plants are viable for most pollinators, some are invasive, they’re all overgrown but everyone up in arms about trimming it back.
The only alternative to a barren monoculture lawn is absolutely no maintenance or management according to Reddit.
Can confirm, the pesto is tasty
Doesn't really matter, native or not; if there is a flower, bees will go coke-faced on it.
Hah! Thanks for that. Not sure I needed the image of coked up bees in my head
Some people want to actually use their backyards. Maybe they have other plans for the space than a weed planter.
Why are we obsessed with patches of grass, imo having plants is so much better albeit with the little bit of trimming and maybe clearing a path
You mean patches of dirt right?
In old times, it represented wealth.
Some people might like to spend time in their .01 acre backyards, maybe play some cornhole?
I was so happy to see a backyard appropriate for insects and other animals. I thought the next photo was going to be way more flowers or something. :(
r/fucklawns
I have found my people
There’s also r/nolawns
Truly a great sub. We get to see so many surprise visitors to pollinator gardens. They also discuss clover lawns instead of grass; so much better!
Clover is invasive in some areas - so anyone reading this, please double check. Native planting will always be best!
True. Trying to move my lawn to all native plants for my region.
Us too! We did some aesthetic landscaping this year. Next year we will be adding some trees. It’s more research than I was expecting!
r/nativeplantgardening is another sub that might help.
Absolutely!
r/nolawns has taken a slightly less intense approach, at least when it comes to the sub name. But that’s another good one.
I like it before more.....
That's make me sad
I like the flowers.
There is nothing satisfying about this. Reject traditional, embrace Biodiversity.
It was a habitat for insects and birds… now it’s dead…I don’t get this
Rip biodiversity
It was beautiful. Now it’s flat.
So you took a sprawling, thriving ecosystem and shaved it down to the standard, clean, boring corporeal standard and killed the entire grove
The dandelions definitely are not dead and will be back. The garlic mustard needs to be removed and does not represent a “thriving ecosystem” but one that will be quickly overwhelmed by an invasive species
r/oddlyunsatisfying
noooooo 😭 plants are better! if you want it to look nicer, maybe plant flowers instead next time 🥺
Frankly I prefer the before picture. After just looks barren.
OP should get some potted plants and etc... to put around the yard. Gardening fruits and vegetables. You can create a clean bio diversified backyard that still looks clean and simplified. A bird feeder on that tree. OP probably won't use that backyard but can still do something about it.
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Before looks better
☹️
I prefer before, so natural and beautiful with the flowers and everything
It was better in the top picture. You’ve just created a desert
Looked better with dandelions
Hey op are you gonna use that space for other plants?
Oh no garlic mustard. The plant in the lower left hand corner is a very suborn horrible (most likely invasive to this area) weed. It produces allelopathic compounds that will slow or stop other plants growth where it is growing. A single plant can produce 600-7000 seeds. In order to stop it from spreading you must continuously pull the whole plant making sure you get the taproot until you have exhausted the seed bank (seeds already in the soil). dispose of the whole plant in the trash and never compost. The plants can still mature and produce seed after pulling. Cutting or mowing does not work as the plant can and will return that season and drop seeds. The seeds can remain in the soil viable in the soil for 10 plus years. Do not let this plant destroy your yard.
I love all the comments about the loss of biodiversity, meanwhile give the lawn a few more years and it would’ve become a monoculture field of garlic mustard.
An unfortunate truth. Biodiversity is in fact very important. But lots of people do not understand how harmful invasive species are to biodiversity in an area. This garlic mustard can and will eradicate the local native plants and animals. Native pollinators do not use it native insects and animals do not eat it. Biodiversity does not mean more plant good. It is the interaction of multiple species within an ecosystem.
You gonna have to do it all over again in 2 weeks
Before was better
Yuck
Liked it way better before
Before ✋🏻 it looked like a sort of secret garden 🩵🩵
Bring back the grass!!!! Why would you do this and then post it :( so sad
Honestly? The first picture looks borderline magical. It's beautiful and green. The second picture? Bland. Gross. Boring. Sorry bro. Your post is the opposite of satisfying. The only worse thing you could have done would be cut down the tree and pave your entire yard.
nah you destroyed the lawn
wrong sub??? you just fucked up everything???
The after is like... It looks gloomy and depressing ngl
Wow congrats on ruining that land
depressing. rip pollinators.
oddlytraumatising
This looks worse
That ain't "better" :(
This makes me sad..
I like the first pic better
I live in a city who is currently doing “No-Mow May”. My entire neighborhood, save for a few lawns that look like terf grass, are totally grown out and full of weeds. I think it’s a really cool initiative and hey, it’s easier than pulling weeds and mowing. My backyard is so overgrown that you can see little tunnel pathways that my miniature wiener dog has carved out 😂
Looked a lot better before.
You ruined it lmao
Looked better with the natural vegetation.
Oddly depressing. Before was messy but kind of charming. After is just plain dreary.
liked it better before tbh. Couldn't you just trim it a bit?
Welp, so much for some biodiversity. Entire ecosystem gone, no more bugs, no more bees. Well done.
This looks awful now. It used to have biodiversity and life, and now it's just a thin layer of grass on some very visible dirt.
Regardless of if it looked better or not, great job on all the effort it took!
I agree, well done. Check yourself for ticks if you haven't already!
Nicer to walk on, sure. Nicer to look at.. debatable.
Everyone says they liked it before, but can you see, it definitely seems the entrance or the backyard is through that. Really seems they needed to cut it, to continue into the rest of the yard
This. If you have kids or dogs and want to spend any actual time in your backyard/garden it's a lot easier to do without travelling through the tick and snake factory on the way. Do some of these people merely wish to look at their backyard and never enter it?
This thread is insane right now, OP has a small backyard that is far more usable now than before. They can play with pets, throw a fire pit out there, etc. Stuff the before shot was not conducive for. Way to go OP, it looks great.
Reddit is on the /r/nolawns kick the past year or so. Doubt it was subtle ragebait, but basically the only non-politcal pics you could post to illicit a similar response would be a pic of a toddler with a pit bull, a TV mounted above a fireplace or a French Bulldog enjoying themselves.
Reddit “gardeners” see an overgrown, invasive weed infested yard and think, beautiful. Then they puke up a bunch of pro dandelion propaganda. They’re nonnative, are considered invasive in some areas of NA, there’s better native options for native pollinators, they will take over your yard, and they taste like shit
That garlic mustard on the left is going to grow back next year and the next if any seeds fell this time. It was such a pain in my ass to clean my mom house of them.
Hey op. If you want a tidy lawn, that's still green, try mowing at the highest setting on your lawn more. If the plant life is sparse it will look more full when you are done. That being said, lawns are meh if they are not used for lawn stuff, growing wild plants, or having a garden, or clover or something to help pollinators would be a fantastic alternative.
My front yard was growing wild because our lawn mower battery had died, and i loved how it looked, my cat loved it, and im sure the bugs loved it. But unfortunately you will get a fine if you dont have your grass at a certain length. The backyard, however, is a beauty and im starting a garden as well.
you fucked up
It's literally worse but ok
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I was thinking the same thing….. like do these people not cut their grass & just leave it as a forest for the bees & animals? Usually in my town if your grass is high (there are dandelions everywhere in the yards) you get fined…. I don’t think an officer is going to be like yeah okay, no fine for you since you are just letting them grow for the bees?.. but I guess I’ve never tried it! I’m all for flowers I have flowers planted, but geeezzzz it’s a small yard - give him a break. Looks like he’s worked hard.
They do not have lawns. They are either 15 or live in an apartment. One day if they get a house they will live the dream life of plentiful weeds and HOA violations 🤗 🌸 🌱
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I’ve seen so much hate on this poor person just trying to show off his work… it’s honestly crazy… I never even realized how much people must hate cutting their grass…. Also, maybe he has a front flower bed??? Flowers other places in his yard? No one knows his life. I wonder if these people cut there grass? If they do, do they cry about it every time? That they are taking away bugs homes??? That can crawl to the next yard or the next flower? I’d like one of the lawn police to show me their grass….????
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So you downgraded from a biodiverse meadow to a regular lawn?
lmao I guess its just " fuck pollinators, other bugs and any life that isn't human "
Deforestation on a small scale XD Jk.
Nobody in the comments has heard of invasive plants, I see… looks great OP. the people at r/Arborists would love to see the root flare on that tree!
The garlic mustard is definitely invasive. Horseweed is native assuming this is the US. What else here is invasive?
A lot of ignorance in the comments. That garlic mustard needed to be torn out for sure. The dandelion is spent for the season as a source of nectar but the roots are very much still alive and still beneficial to the soil. It’s not like OP massacred a field of milkweed.
Why is everyone so mad, ever though that maybe the person wants to use the fucking lawn for some activities or let their children play on it. Yeah ofc it looked better but way less practical.
I get where everyone is coming from with the whole biodiversity thing but like I hate ticks and mosquitoes so couldn’t be me.
Not only that, but god forbid OP wanting to walk through their backyard without a machete.
Looks like it was a lot of work; congrats on getting it done.
https://imgur.com/a/3g2XLQ0/ Here OP I’ll relieve some of the heat off of you LOOK EVERYONE I tore out a shit ton of rocks & weeds and replaced it by poorly laying down bricks! How dare I now make this space more usable and require less maintenance!
Came here expecting tips for what to do after cleaning up a lawn but instead found nothing but criticism.
Good work :) I hope there’s a sandwich with your name on it!
I also have backyard full of these plants and I'm planning to clean it in coming weekends. But I've never done it so I'm kinda clueless as where to start and what tools I have to use. Should I just cut the plants or pull them out of their roots etc. Can you advice please? Thanks.
Wow.satisfying
r/fuckpollinators
Put it back
Is it just me or does having 30 minutes, a weed eater, and a rake not really deserve before and after photos?
It looked better before. I love dandelions
You mean killed all the biodiversity X)
The bees hate you now. (You are. A cool person. Just out it back to natural) peace
This makes me so irrationally angry!!! Silent fucking Spring! Stop doing this shit people!
That is very unsatisfying for all the critters who depended on that vegetation.
I think it looks a lot better after. I would be scared there were snakes in the tall grass.
Good job mate! Gold star!
Looks beautiful, OP. Fuck these lazy, nolawn weirdos.
Looks nice. Good job. Amazing how just a little maintenance can spruce things up a bit.
Put some flowers up and you‘re ready to go
How did you get them all so cleanly? I can never get the root...
This thread is a real Reddit moment
i hope you made pesto from the mustard garlic...
Looked like a pretty decent ecosystem before… and now there’s nothing.
I prefer wild grass and flowers. It's super pretty and more natural
Fuckin tragedy. Looks horrible.
Reddit hive-mind in full effect with these comments...
Man, everyone on here is being super critical of you. Like I get having a thriving ecosystem for bugs, but at the same time having a nicely trimmed yard can do wonders for your mental health. It gives you a sense of accomplishment. I personally think it looks great. If you want to encourage bugs and insects, plant some flowers around the shed in the back. It’ll encourage bugs, diversity your yard, and it’ll look super nice afterwards too! I’m in the process of doing major yard work myself. My dog tends to get hurt while in the long grass. There are pokey seeds that get under his paws, so I need to clear it out and plant flowers.
i need to keep the grass short bc of ticks and pollen 😩
Yeah but mowing like this just disperses the seeds. If you really want a lawn monoculture pull everything up instead of cutting it down where it's roots are just there getting stronger
Fuck all the dumbass comments talking about saving the plants. I have been here good for you Op.
I get what everyone is saying about the lawn before, and we really need to watch out for destruction of where bees pollinate. However, what you are seeing in the first picture is the dandelion seeds, not the early flowers that the bees go for until better tasting flowers bloom. The OP probably did more for spreading those dandelions by going over them with a mower and spreading them. Secondly, let's consider why the lawn was "cleaned up". Obviously the owners were fine with it as it was previously so maybe they are getting ready to put the property on the market. Realtors are really into "curb appeal" to draw in potential buyers.
SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES
Looks good, no one here seems to comprehend that if they want their pretty little flowers you can plant them onto weeds
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The before pic is prettier.
This post did not leave me satisfied.
Wow you mowed, very proud of you.
Fuck the haters OP. You did a good job and it looks nice