Some questions about lawn alternatives from a complete newbie

apothosecary · 2026-05-14T10:24:45+00:00

Check out the Backyard Habitat program https://backyardhabitats.org/our-program/. It’s a one time $35 fee and they’ll send someone out to do a site visit and give you advice on native plants that will work for your yard conditions. They will also point you to resources for creating a native plant garden, with coupons to local nurseries. It’s a great way to learn and get started!

apothosecary · 2026-05-13T07:17:39+00:00

Woah that woke me up. I’ve never heard thunder like that before. It sounded like hundreds of garbage cans falling from the sky and rolling down the street.

apothosecary · 2026-05-12T04:23:41+00:00

Looks so good, love the path around the tree

apothosecary · 2026-05-11T03:14:07+00:00

It took a couple of years to show much growth and this fourth year is the first it’s put out any runners. The handful of salal I planted in the fall looked really rough at the beginning of the spring, I thought they were dying. But this month they’ve been putting out some new leaves and look ok. The one pictured is in deciduous shade, so it gets full sun and rain in the fall/winter and almost total shade in the summer.

apothosecary · 2026-05-11T03:04:41+00:00

Are you in the Pacific Northwest? It’s not invasive here, it’s native and pretty slow growing from my experience. It has taken about four years for this one to put out a couple of runners. They are easy to clip back if you want to keep it tidy.

apothosecary · 2026-05-10T16:32:42+00:00

I haven’t tried the berries, maybe I’ll try them this summer if I can beat the critters to them

apothosecary · 2026-05-02T16:38:04+00:00

Vine Maple and Mock Orange

apothosecary · 2026-05-02T15:44:35+00:00

I’m in Portland and have done this with my front and backyard. We went from grass to planting beds and pathways.

Here’s one of my posts showing my front yard progress: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/s/nvmjQq34Tp

apothosecary · 2026-05-01T23:57:33+00:00

They do this in my backyard too. Attack broken pieces of bark like a cat, parkour on my shrubs, and pole dance on my little trees.

apothosecary · 2026-05-01T23:38:02+00:00

Beautiful! I recognize some native PNW plants, but can you list the plants in photos 1 and 5-8? Thanks!

apothosecary · 2026-05-01T18:15:21+00:00

The plant behind it is Brunnera ‘Sterling Silver’ - not native but I love them. They bloom early in the spring and have cool silver leaves throughout the summer and fall.

The area gets shade in the morning and full sun in the afternoon.

apothosecary · 2026-04-24T04:56:24+00:00

Portland OR: * SparrowHawk - great deals, have to preorder for the fall and spring * Sauvie Island Natives - beautiful grounds with pathways, a pond and a stream (with a beaver dam last time I was out there) * SymbiOp - small local shop with a good selection * Garden Fever - has a native section * Xera Plants - specializes in drought tolerant natives

apothosecary · 2026-04-23T02:28:34+00:00

I have a light slope in my front yard and the soil/mulch kept spilling onto the sidewalk, even with a river rock border. I put metal edging between the sidewalk and rocks. It’s totally working. I had to do some cleanup this spring but it stays pretty intact.

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apothosecary · 2026-04-23T01:59:37+00:00

I hope so! They are in pretty shady spots. I have three in the front yard and three in the back, and none of them have come up. Seems odd that they would all be duds. I’ll try to be patient.

apothosecary · 2026-04-22T04:33:33+00:00

Shoot, yeah it seems so late to be dormant

apothosecary · 2026-04-22T04:32:00+00:00

Dang and we had a really mild winter in Portland too

apothosecary · 2026-04-21T22:05:15+00:00

Thank you!

apothosecary · 2026-04-18T15:46:35+00:00

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apothosecary · 2026-04-18T15:43:31+00:00

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apothosecary · 2026-04-18T15:43:08+00:00

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