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September 07, 2006
Today I mowed the tiny strip of lawn that still exists on the parkway. It took me about 5 minutes. Previous to this, I had not started the lawnmower since July 2nd. I once again cut it as low as the mower would go, so I will not be cutting anymore this year.
The past two months have been an interesting experiment. Having been crippled by a brutal beheading from my mower and no supplemental watering, the lawn grasses barely grew at all. Nature stepped in to take care of the problem though. The parkway was gradually covered with several native annuals such as spotted spurge (Chamaesyce maculata), Canadian horseweed (Conyza canadensis), and pilewort (Erechtites hieracifolia). While these are not the most prized of native plants, they are doing their job. They moved in and grew in a hostile environment. I have learned to appreciate a wide variety of plants, even those without showy flowers. These pioneer plants were doing an admirable job of reclaiming land that was serving no purpose other than requiring me to mow it.
Next summer I may accelerate the transition to native plants, but for now I will watch and learn how it is done naturally.
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Native Suburbia Article Published
The first article that we wrote for the Wild Ones Journal has been published in the September/October 2006 issue. This is the first mention of Native Suburbia in a nationwide publication. It is true that the readership of the Wild Ones Journal consists of a very select group, but they are nonetheless distributed across the nation.
While all of the information in the article is available on this site, it is a nice condensed version that may reach a broader audience. A hardcopy format may fall into the hands of someone who is not likely to search the web and find this site. I hope that it inspires someone else to turn their yard into Native Suburbia.