Ann Marie Barnhill converted her lawn in Victoria's Oak Bay area.Kristen Miskelly/Supplied
Ann Marie Barnhill didn’t intend to ditch her lawn. At first, she diligently mowed and watered her sloping property in Oak Bay, B.C., from a top tier of native Garry oak trees to lawn to boulevard. She kept everything in good shape to fit in with her surroundings. “Most yards are somewhat manicured,” she says of her Victoria-area neighbourhood. “There is a level of upkeep that is absolutely maintained.”
But before long, Barnhill tired of lugging her mower around, and discovered the boulevard was nothing but weeds. The whole property was “super tough to water,” besides which, the region was prone to drought and watering restrictions. Then, she realized the oaks were struggling. “I was super worried,” she says. “They are the traditional tree of this area, and they were not thriving.”
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Barnhill knew she wanted to change things. She aspired to have healthy trees, a healthy boulevard and plenty of flowers, using pollinator-supporting native plants that would, once established, be as low maintenance and drought-resistant as possible. She also wanted the space to look good, and to avoid friction with neighbours who prefer a more traditional gardening style – and she knew there was a risk her rewilded garden could be perceived as unkempt and untended. “There is pressure to feel like you’re making an effort and that you care,” she says.
Barnhill is far from alone. Canadians are increasingly replacing lawn to support biodiversity, reduce water use and shift to a more modern landscaping aesthetic. But change can be hard and social pressure strong – both factors that might dissuade people from starting. Luckily, there are techniques to make biodiverse gardening more broadly attractive and less challenging for communities to accept.
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Know your capacity
Signs indicating that you’re rewilding to support local ecosystems can be helpful, says landscaping expert Benjamin Vogt.Benjamin Vogt/Supplied
Rewilding isn’t all or nothing. One way to avoid half-finished projects is to be realistic with your plans.
If you’re up for replacing your entire lawn with a native meadow, great. If not, it’s okay to start small, says Nebraska sustainable landscaping expert Benjamin Vogt, author of Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design. He suggests widening foundation beds or adding an island bed in the middle of the lawn as starter projects that can help you learn about native plant gardening. “We all accept foundation beds,” he says. “You’re not going to run into too many issues there.”
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Seek out support
You might be the first person on your street rewilding, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. Nurseries, enthusiasts and organizations across the country are spreading the love for native plants and biodiverse gardening and can be helpful whether you’re looking for support or aiming to hire expert assistance.
Seek out support systems and information hubs such as those offered by the David Suzuki Foundation, Pollinator Partnership and the Canadian Wildlife Federation or local groups in your region, many of which you’ll find on Facebook. One helpful tool many of them offer? Signs indicating that you’re rewilding to support local ecosystems. With these in place, Vogt says, there are often “very few complaints.”
Courts have ruled “you have the right to express your environmental beliefs in a natural garden, subject only to health and safety considerations and restrictions,” says gardening expert Lorraine Johnson, co-author of A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee: Creating Habitat Gardens for Native Pollinators. Poison-ivy patches and sidewalk tripping hazards are a no-go, but health and safety aside, rewilding your yard is protected by the Charter. “It’s a form of freedom of expression,” Johnson says.
Showcase intention
“In my experience, the main thing that upsets people is if they think an area is neglected,” says Johnson.
To counteract this, integrate what Johnson and Vogt call “cues to care,” a term introduced by landscape architect Joan Iverson Nassauer. These are signs that you’re continuing to look after the space, such as pathways, sculptures, sitting areas, arbours and walls – anything that shows “this is an intentional space and humans are welcome to use and interact with it,” says Vogt.
Spending time in your yard, even just watching insects and flowers, also demonstrates it’s a space with purpose, says Johnson. “It’s not really thought of as maintenance, but I think it is an important signal of care and management intention.”
Design deliberately – and respectfully
Vogt advocates for using mainstream landscape design principles in wildlife gardening as a tool to “extend an olive branch” to those who favour a lawn-forward approach. For instance, he likes to use matrix design in front yards: keeping plants low, with a base layer of native sedge or grass “so there’s a continuity to the landscape that simulates lawn.” Then, he’ll add colourful plants and flowers in masses and drifts throughout.
While sedges and grasses can be used as a green mulch that removes the need for other types, he points out that wood mulch also shows purpose, especially in early project stages. It’s “magical in a way, because people see it as intentional,” he says. (Just make sure not to lay it so thick that your native plants can’t self-sow and fill in gaps.)
Vogt and Johnson suggest choosing plants suited for your site and purposes, leaving a 30-centimetre or more buffer between your garden and the property line, and trimming any growth that might interfere with passersby or block sightlines. Planting densely can be useful, Vogt says, to help gardens fill in sooner and avoid large gaps. Flowers help too, Johnson adds. “People tend to respond well to landscapes with a lot of colourful flowers,” she says. “This is a great habitat feature to ensure you have plants in flower for pollinators throughout the growing season.”
Be enthusiastic and welcoming
“To do this, you have to be brave,” says Vogt. “You’re creating a breach in the status quo and you have to be willing to advocate for and defend that breach.” If you’re faced with resistance, he advises, simply listen. “Let people talk, and say, ‘I understand where you’re coming from and this is how we’re going to address those issues,’” he says.
Johnson suggests not underestimating your neighbours. “It’s important not to assume that they are not going to like this naturalization,” she says. “You might be the one leading the way” so others can follow, and this is your chance to “try to bring people in.”
As for Barnhill, she pushed forward on her rewilding efforts and hired local native plant nursery Satinflower – and involved her next-door neighbour, an avid and skilled traditional gardener – to create a landscaping plan. This helped her secure municipal support, which she could point to if any neighbours questioned her efforts, and start planting in the fall of 2019.
At first, the yard just looked like a few plants surrounded by dirt, but it gradually filled in, especially after a second planting phase a year and a half later. Now, her garden receives compliments from neighbours almost every time she leaves her house. With minimal maintenance to do, she has time to stop and smell the native flowers and enjoy the birds, butterflies, bees and other creatures who visit – even the deer who dine on blossoms she barely gets to see.