Fall is considered the optimal time to renovate your lawn. And we did just that — with a pickaxe and a pitchfork — our favorite tools for quickly removing swaths of turf grass to make way for better things. Safe to say, we are all in on the “Less Lawn — More Life” challenge sweeping across America and firmly taking root right here in the East Bay!  

The idea behind the Less Lawn — More Life movement is to urge individuals to transform the spaces outside their homes into vibrant, biodiverse places that benefit humans and the environment in ways conventional turf grass lawns simply do not.  

Key principles include:  

• Reducing lawn areas to only what you truly need (think area rug, not wall-to-wall carpet)  

• Planting diverse and plentiful native flowers, shrubs, and trees  

• Incorporating edible components in the landscape  

• Consciously creating habitat that nurtures pollinators, songbirds, and wildlife  

• Embracing ecological land care practices that include forgoing the use of pesticides (including herbicides, fungicides, and lawn treatments), drastically minimizing the use of power equipment, and keeping organic matter (like leaves) right on site  

The benefits of individually and collectively embracing these principles include:  

• Conservation of water and energy 
• Reduction in pollution and exposure to toxins  
• Increased biodiversity  
• Enhanced ecosystem services including flood prevention and waterway protection  
• Improved mental health and well-being  
• Positive community engagement and education  
• And the list goes on…  

When ‘Wildscapers’ collaborate

What was once considered a fad relegated to long-time “Wildscapers” like us, has now become an organized challenge spearheaded by the team at a New York design firm called Plan It Wild. It is further nurtured by an array of highly respected ecological non-profit partners who are helping bring it all to life. You may already be familiar with some of the partners like Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park or the Pollinator Pathway with a growing number of stops across the East Bay.  

This now trendy movement is seeping out into the mainstream with feature segments on the Today Show and headlines in the New York Times where iconic garden writer Margaret Roach said “What if the first step in transforming your lawn-dominated home landscape into a place of enhanced biodiversity could be fun, educational — and free?” Sounds pretty good, right?

No wonder rapid traction has taken root and there are now thousands of people signed on across 49 different states — including a few hundred here in our area. Imagine a concept that transcends state boundaries and brings people together with a common goal of making the world a little bit better, starting right outside our own doors.  

The challenge

If you don’t own an outdoor space of your own that’s ok. The challenge includes a focus on transforming not only residential spaces but also school campuses, municipal properties, community and corporate spaces. Right here at home, residents of all ages are working across a variety of settings to creatively build public gardens that positively buzz with life. Come to think of it, that sounds like a great story of its own; one we might just connect with our industrious East Bay Life editor to help tell!

Over this past summer the Less Lawn — More Life (https://www.lesslawnmorelife.com/) team ran a national campaign that many local residents took part in. The challenge included videos, webinars, resources, tips, and a supportive community. Local experts like yours truly engaged with the national team to help elevate the message and assist with managing questions during national webinars.

And, if you missed it — no worries — just last week they launched an on-demand version so you can now jump in at any time! In fact, these upcoming quieter, darker, colder months are the perfect time to learn and plan for all the ways that you can make Less Lawn — More Life a reality for your yard next season. The program also includes a fun feature known as the Wildr Score (https://score.planitwild.com/), a tool that will help you assess your property’s current status and create a roadmap to unlock its full potential. The Wildr Score considers a series of science-backed, measured, and tested factors. These things weigh together in evaluating how well your space nurtures nature in its current form. The tool fosters a spirit of progress — not perfection. But as you work through the plan there are some simple “do’s” and “dont’s” we all can learn from, like:  

DO: plant native plants (including trees, shrubs, and perennials), shrink the lawn, leave the leaves - save the stems - keep the logs and branches, buy pesticide- free plants from local nurseries, learn about and remove invasive plants, observe and document biodiversity  

DON’T: use pesticides or herbicides (even organic), leave outdoor lights on at night, blast leaves with leaf blowers, plant invasive exotic species, clean up too early in spring, dominate the landscape with hardscape  

Getting your Wildr score takes less than five minutes and involves answering a series of simple questions. Throughout the quick and engaging quiz there are prompts that help clarify why particular practices matter. Using the fun tool helps you think about the quantity and diversity of plants in your yard and the practices you use to maintain your space and much more. It also considers where you are — the nuances of the ecoregion we are in as well as the proximity to others around you.  

We took the quiz ourselves and after years of digging in on building habitat at home our score was pretty high — dubbed a “Wildlife Wonderland.” But, even with all our efforts, the science-driven tool left us with room for improvement and some encouraging steps to get there. One of the things we learned we need to get better at is slowing down and observing, recognizing, and appreciating the many life forms that are now using the space we have built here. After all, the truest sign of a healthy yard is ultimately measured in the life it supports.  

Find out more at www.lesslawnmorelife.com

“Life in the Garden” brings eco-friendly garden tips from Cindy and Ed Moura of Prickly Ed’s Cactus Patch Native Plant Emporium, where they are passionate about helping people realize the essential role everyone can play in supporting life right outside their own doors.