The proud gardener shared photos of her prairie garden on Reddit, now in its second year.
The user shared several photos of a beautiful prairie garden filled with native plants bursting with yellow, pink and white flowers.
Photo credit: Reddit
Photo credit: Reddit
The photo also showed the original poster's dog enjoying the garden, with comments asking the original poster for tips on how to stop dogs from trampling plants.
“I love him but honestly he's my biggest gardening obstacle,” the poster replied, before sharing tips on how to protect the beautiful flower, such as creating a clear pathway and surrounding the garden with a little black fence.
Planting native plants is a great way to improve your outdoor space. Native plants, including local wildflowers, offer a variety of benefits. According to the USDA, native plants grow easier than grass and require less water, fertilizer and pesticides, making your garden easier on the wallet and to maintain.
Replacing monoculture lawns with native plants is also great for the environment. As the University of Maryland Extension explains, native plants help prevent flooding, increase biodiversity, and provide habitat for pollinators that are important for human food production. Native plants can also prevent pollutants from being carried in runoff water that enters streams, rivers, and lakes.
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Environmentally friendly alternatives to monoculture lawns include buffalo grass and clover.
Clover is great because, unlike monoculture lawns, it stays green all year round (at least in warm climates), provides habitat for pollinators, and doesn't grow too tall, meaning you can spend less time mowing (if you have to mow it all down). Because clover is also low maintenance and grows almost anywhere, switching to a natural lawn is easy.
According to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, xeriscaping is a landscaping design used to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation, making it a great option for arid regions. Xeriscaping involves planting native plants and using soil, rocks, and mulch instead of a traditional lawn. This can reduce water use by 50 to 75 percent, according to National Geographic.
Other Reddit users also shared their delight at the garden in the comments section, with one user simply saying: “Wow! Awesome!!!”
Another commented: “Looks so lovely!”
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