The clean-cut, green suburban lawn became a symbol of the American Dream in the 20th century. But that concept is becoming obsolete as homeowners convert their conventional lawns to native plant meadows that are more beneficial for the environment.

Urbanization has led to severe loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity across the globe. Insects pollinate the food people eat and are at the foundation of the food web, yet 40% of them are threatened with extinction, researchers reported in Biological Conservation journal in 2019. The bird population in North America has declined by more than 25% since 1970, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Science.

Green grass lawns are ecological deserts that lack food sources for native insects and birds. Common practices like removing leaves, growing nonnative plants and using artificial mulches has made the suburbs and cities less habitable for them, landscaper Christopher Sohnly said.

“It’s a very sterile landscape that has kind of become the norm, and we’re trying to turn that around,” said Sohnly, founder of the Mt. Airy-based landscape design company Spruce Hollow.

Homeowners are tackling the biodiversity crisis from their own yards by planting native trees, shrubs and flowers that attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Sohnly noticed this shift starting 15-20 years ago, when it became apparent that the monarch butterfly population was declining.

Chestnut Hill resident Sharan Nirmul hired Refugia Design, an ecological landscape design firm, after a funnel cloud took out three large trees in July 2023.

“We were left with a blank slate of lawn and we had long desired doing something different than having a green carpet lawn, and the lawn care, pesticides, watering and mowing it entailed,” Nirmul said in an email. He wanted to replace it with something friendlier to the environment and the fauna and more “aesthetically pleasing,”

Since Refugia installed the new garden, Nirmul has seen an “enormous change in the bees, butterflies, birds that found respite in the garden.”

“Truly amazing actually. The plants are thriving and it’s a thrill to see their transformation through the seasons. Every season sees different blooms and surprises and we really love the changes,” Nirmul said.

Refugia Design, launched in 2015 by Narberth residents Jeff Lorenz and Kayla Fell, installs native, sustainable landscapes for its clients. Their work aims to restore functional landscapes. Each species serves a purpose in the ecosystem, whether it’s restoring wildlife habitat or managing storm water.

“It helps cut down on human intervention in the landscape, but it also allows the ground to start properly functioning again,” Lorenz said.

Healthy, native gardens tend to require less maintenance than traditional gardens, Fell said. They have fewer weeds and the plants are more drought resistant. This helps homeowners cut down on maintenance costs and water usage. There’s no need to spray chemicals either, as the garden attracts birds and insects that eat common garden pests, she said.

These practices are more climate friendly as well. Americans use eight billion gallons of water a day for outdoor recreational use, most of that for landscape irrigation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2020, lawn and garden equipment powered by fossil fuels emitted 30 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than the greenhouse gas emissions from the city of Los Angeles, environmental groups wrote in a report using EPA data.

Every client is added to Refugia’s Ecological Greenway Network, which depicts the growing habitat connectivity in neighborhoods. There are more than 300 gardens in the network, including in Chestnut Hill, Wyndmoor and West Mt. Airy.

Lorenz said residential landscaping impacts the biodiversity in public spaces. Invasive shrubs are spreading in Wissahickon Valley Park. Some, like bamboo, are spreading from neighborhood yards.

“It helps people to think of plants in relationship to restoring natural systems ... such an important part of that whole area of the city is the Wissahickon,” Lorenz said.

Although native gardens are a growing trend, some aren’t used to the densely planted and wild aesthetic. In 2024, a Mt. Airy couple was fined by the city for having high “weeds, bushes” in their native plant garden. The city later rescinded the fine after learning the yard was a certified wildlife habitat.

“We talk about a new paradigm. Nature isn’t tidy. Embrace it,” Fell said.

Tips on starting a native garden

Paige Menton, the founder of Journeywork, said the biggest obstacle for people often is knowing where to start. So she advocates starting small.

Her North Wales organization prepares 4-by-12 native gardens in homeowners’ yards. She charges an hourly fee to create the garden design and to source all native plants. Volunteers then install the garden with the homeowner.

“Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for people, she said.

When choosing where to plant a native garden, Lorenz suggests looking for low places in the yard that fill up with water or erode easily. Another starting point could be replacing older trees with native species. People can also consider planting native alternatives to exotic plants that grow well in the yard.

“If you see that rhododendrons and other things are doing well, it means you probably have a good habitat for maybe native rhododendrons or other plants that might grow in that plant community. That can be an easy stepping off point for seeing what is already working or what might already be thriving,” he said.

The National Wildlife Native Plant Finder site lists native species suitable for each zip code. Goldenrod, sunflowers, joe-pye weed and violets are a few common species in this area. Popular native trees include oak and chokecherry.

Sohnly said the best place to start when planning for spring planting is to consider enlarging existing garden beds, create grass-free circles around trees and eliminate small patches of lawn. He recommends shifting from dyed and artificial mulches to non-dyed hardwood mulch or arborist wood chips, available at Fairmount Park Recycling Center.

“Maybe you want to eliminate areas where the lawn is not great,” he said. “That’s a great place to add native plants, add shrubs and maybe a tree and some perennials.”

Abby Weiss is an environmental reporter for the Local and a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at abby@chestnuthilllocal.com.