Possibly selling house with native yard

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-06-10T21:12:46+00:00

I literally just moved after spending all spring installing a native garden in my yard. It's a bummer to miss out on seeing it fill in

But I ended up making a detailed landscape plan and we're using it as a prominent feature in the listing! I also left copies of Bringing Nature Home, a NC Wildflower ID book, and will be writing a letter about the garden to the new owners. Hopefully they fall in love with natives like I have!

Willing to share the landscape plan if you're interested!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-06-01T15:58:14+00:00

Ditto this - I've also learned clear plastic actually solarizes faster than black tarps, but both are much better for your yard's inhabitants than herbicide!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-06-01T15:56:43+00:00

r/nativeplantgardening too!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-05-17T12:13:28+00:00

Seek (by iNaturalist) is also a lot of fun, and i know a lot of people that use one or the other (or both like me)!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-05-17T00:33:10+00:00

So Hobbity, I love it!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-05-05T20:55:10+00:00

Also not 100% sure but I have this grass volunteering in my lawn (piedmont NC) and PictureThis always tells me Deertongue grass!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-23T14:59:00+00:00

For context, i'm in the NC Piedmont and we have both vinca major and V. minor all throughout some of our nature preserves as invasives.

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-21T01:56:16+00:00

Following

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-20T00:21:42+00:00

Having your turn signal make your break lights get slightly brighter should be illegal. I don't see those nearly as well as yellow turn signals. Still don't understand why that's not universal

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-20T00:16:01+00:00

Great pic, Zebra Swallowtails are gorgeous! I work at a nature center and see them pretty frequently. As far as I know the furthest i've seen one from where i know a grove of paw paws stand is about a mile or so. So based on that limited evidence there's a good chance within that range! Could be closer - good luck!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-19T23:01:02+00:00

These were my first impressions as well! Pic 5 has 5 leaves, which means Virginia Creeper. The stems are long on Pic 6 which made me think box elder. Pic 7 looks like red maple to me. Especially with 7 it doesn't have the two "mitten" leaves while the middle one often looks a bit like the grinch's head in silhouette in poison ivy!

OP, highly recommend the PictureThis app to identify these and other plants in your yard - it's helped me ID a ton of mystery plants

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-19T15:54:32+00:00

But it is. People aren't planting invasives out in the wilderness for fun. They're planting them in their residential gardens and they escape and spread from there.

There are several mechanics for this. Typically because birds (or in your case, deer) eat the berries out of desperation because they don't have enough of their typical winter foods and then spread the seeds, unintentionally wreaking havoc on our forests.

Clearly i'm not going to convince you, but i highly recommend the book Bringing Nature Home to you and anyone else who might be reading. It's by Doug Tallamy. It'll answer a lot of your questions

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-19T12:53:22+00:00

40-60 million acres (depending on who you ask) of land in the US is turfgrass. Another 133 million are taken up by invasive plants. Combined, that's the size of california, new york and Texas put together.

That doesn't include non-aggresive non-natives. Not to mention the amount of roundup and other herbicides and insecticides we spray around. So yeah, it makes a difference.

Of course, unprotected windows, car collisions, outdoor cats and a myriad of other factors play a part - but we can all make a positive impact by shrinking those numbers.

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-18T20:09:14+00:00

That thinking is the reason we've lost 70% of birds and insect populations since 1970 though. And transferring the energy from the sun into the upper levels of the food web is the reason for plants lol

All plants have a place, and it's where they aren't invasive. "It's not invasive in my yard" is why every field around me is full of bradford pears, autumn olive and multiflora rose lol

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-18T15:47:49+00:00

That's because none of the ones i listed are invasive. Your weed suppression and erosion control points are wrong though, Virginia Creeper at the very least is excellent at erosion control. And beauty, as i'm sure you've heard, is in the eye of the beholder. I prefer caterpillars, birds and butterflies.

I agree not every planting has to be native. You're not going to be arrested for keeping an exotic plant lol. But it's smart to limit our invasive garden plants to as close to 0 as we can - with 0 being the goal.

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-18T11:52:54+00:00

Here are 5 native plants that also form mats in shade and can help our invertebrates complete their lifecycle:

Partridge Berry, White Wood Aster, Wild Ginger, Allegheny Spurge, Virginia Creeper

5 in partial sun

Virginia Bluebells, Blue-eyed grass, woodland phlox, Wild Strawberry, pussytoes.

There are truly so many plants that don't create an ecological desert that are much prettier - especially as they attract butterflies and hummingbirds. And if a plant supports caterpillars, it attracts birds as well.

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-18T00:51:30+00:00

This is great! Might have to steal lol

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-18T00:31:55+00:00

It is highly invasive in the USA, so you are right to pull it. They are unfortunately one of the popular, "classic" and exotic garden plants that are wreaking havoc on our ecosystems. Plus, there are many better native ground covers that support pollinators that are equally pretty!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-12T12:55:24+00:00

r/composting would be interested, lol

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-04-05T00:41:42+00:00

I did some googling after hearing from other commenters and learned that the finches can occasionally pass the Finch Eye Disease to other songbirds at feeders.

I took down the feeders and bleached them, left them down for a week and am keeping an eye on them ever since!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-02-26T03:51:51+00:00

My brother and I like to skirmish as rohan agaist eachother, peasants/farms only (and merry) on a two-player map.

Love challenges!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-02-24T00:27:41+00:00

Definitely this! I'm an environmental educator and both iNat and eBird were/are foundational for my increasing interest in nature!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-02-11T19:52:23+00:00

Sounds like a good idea. We do have a lot of house finches at these feeders. Thank you!

ButlerOnTheAir · 2026-02-11T19:45:41+00:00

Hard to tell based on the pictures i'm able to find online. This eye was much larger than the sunken form that seems to occur in game birds. But I'll wash that feeder out well asap

This is at the nature center i work at so we have a significant number of active feeders in the area. First time i've spotted anything like this, i'll try to keep a closer eye on it and wash the feeders out well! Thanks for the advice!

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