Gabrielle Stevenson needed advice on how to welcome pollinators and other wildlife to her front yard in Roseville, Calif. She knew that replacing part of her lawn with native plants was the best way to nurture biodiversity there.
But she didn’t want a mess and didn’t know where to begin.
“To be honest, I find it quite daunting,” she wrote in an email to us last month.
Native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees in cities and towns offer food and habitat for wildlife facing alarming declines, particularly insects and birds.
They also save water, since native species, when they’re placed in an appropriate spot, generally don’t require watering once established.