Homeowner shares progress photo of the ‘former lawn’ they turned into a stunning wildflower garden: ‘[A] slice of heaven’
One Redditor has shared their garden’s dazzling makeover in the r/NoLawns subreddit after they ripped up their lawn and replaced it with a blaze of colorful wildflowers.
On display are fiery orange Cheyenne spirit coneflowers, PowWow White coneflowers, and eastern purple coneflowers, all crowded so closely together that the lawn has practically vanished.
“It was my dream for a long time and I finally did it,” the Redditor commented.
Coneflowers, also known as echinacea, are an instantly recognizable variant of the daisy, which sprouts from America’s prairie lands and flat, wooded terrains.
The distinctive near-fluorescent tones of the coneflower aren’t just ideal for brightening up a monochrome lawn, they’re also well suited to low-maintenance, water-wise gardening because they grow natively in the central and eastern half of the U.S.
Unlike traditional grass lawns, which require costly amounts of water to retain their green hue, coneflowers are already well adapted to the U.S.’s particular climate and soils.
That means that cultivating coneflowers is far less water intensive — and therefore less costly — than maintaining water-guzzling grass.
The coneflower is also drought-resistant, which makes it more resilient in the extreme hot, dry temperatures increasingly hitting the U.S. than patches of brown, parched grass.
The coneflower does more than survive its habitat — it enhances it. One study found that coneflowers can help to purify soil that has been contaminated by crude oil.
Coneflowers are pollen-rich flowers, too, so they attract pollinating insects, butterflies, and birds to gardens.
Gardeners looking to rewild their garden for endangered insects would do well to plant a flower bed of blooming coneflowers.
“What a lush, colorful slice of heaven!” one Redditor commented.
“It’s like a little painting,” another agreed.
“I’m having serious coneflower envy,” wrote another.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
