My only complaint about turning my lawn into a wildflower and curated garden is a rabbit like to chomp our asters before they can bloom.
He only ate one and cut down the others and left their buds to decay in the soil.
We do have other asters in the back that are now so strong he can’t do that.
Also one more good thing about the biodiversity thing: everything in my garden is massive this year, and it’s been growing so quickly. The soil is definitely thriving.
This is especially important when you have trees in your garden. If you remove all grass from your garden the regrowing& and the trees will suck your garden dry of nutrients in 20-30 years.
Remove all of the grass, let it bake in the sun until it dies, and then mulch with the dead grass. Living grass will suck your garden dry of nutrients in a time short compared to 20-30 years.
Rabbits love clover and all legumes actually. So if you got dutch white clover in your lawn they will go for that first. They will be enough to discourage most eating of garden plants. They avoid everything except my sunflower which they have been eating while they are low. Or at least something is.
I think sunflower seeds are just so delicious they get eaten by everything. Squirrels, birds, who knows what all. I can get sunflowers, but this patch of about a dozen sunflowers this year came from about 60 seeds.
Looking at the health of the whole garden / ecosystem has made me very zen. Especially when pulling things I don’t want or have too much of. I’ve been trying up transfer some to abandoned areas for things that aren’t common. They usually die but they were going to die when I pulled them anyhow.
My husband laughed at me for pulling weeds and throwing them in the yard, but they ARE the “lawn”, I don’t care if they grow out there, just want to advantage the flowers and food plants in the defined spaces.
My only complaint about turning my lawn into a wildflower and curated garden is a rabbit like to chomp our asters before they can bloom.
He only ate one and cut down the others and left their buds to decay in the soil.
We do have other asters in the back that are now so strong he can’t do that.
Also one more good thing about the biodiversity thing: everything in my garden is massive this year, and it’s been growing so quickly. The soil is definitely thriving.
i prob don’t need to tell you this but remember to leave the dead plants where they are so that the nutrients can go back into the ground, also seeds
This is especially important when you have trees in your garden. If you remove all grass from your garden the regrowing& and the trees will suck your garden dry of nutrients in 20-30 years.
Remove all of the grass, let it bake in the sun until it dies, and then mulch with the dead grass. Living grass will suck your garden dry of nutrients in a time short compared to 20-30 years.
Rabbits love clover and all legumes actually. So if you got dutch white clover in your lawn they will go for that first. They will be enough to discourage most eating of garden plants. They avoid everything except my sunflower which they have been eating while they are low. Or at least something is.
I think sunflower seeds are just so delicious they get eaten by everything. Squirrels, birds, who knows what all. I can get sunflowers, but this patch of about a dozen sunflowers this year came from about 60 seeds.
I get it. I have been doing packets of seeds to get one or two even when I press into the soil.
I get sprouts and then those get chomped. Everyone loves Sunflowers
I have white clover but they still go for the asters. There’s no clover in the front though.
I also have a groundhog who I think also eats the plants, maybe he’s involved.
I think it’s just the asters are new and relatively low, the established ones in the back don’t get eaten anymore.
Me planting in my garden meant to feed wildlife:
I’ve made peace with it.
Plants are rabbit food, if they die they die and new plants get added.
Looking at the health of the whole garden / ecosystem has made me very zen. Especially when pulling things I don’t want or have too much of. I’ve been trying up transfer some to abandoned areas for things that aren’t common. They usually die but they were going to die when I pulled them anyhow.
My husband laughed at me for pulling weeds and throwing them in the yard, but they ARE the “lawn”, I don’t care if they grow out there, just want to advantage the flowers and food plants in the defined spaces.
I always mow in anything I have pulled into the yard