Reduce Your Lawn Day

Rooted in the spirit of No Mow May, Reduce Your Lawn Day offers approachable, project-sized applications for any yard, anywhere, including and beyond the month of May. Brought to you by Kathy Jentz, the author of Groundcover Revolution, and American Meadows, our mission is straightforward: to educate, inspire, and convert underutilized spaces for a better world. We hope this an opportunity for you to learn more, find inspiration and take action.

1. Create and Reestablish Habitat

As new developments spread across the country, lawns continue to replace wild spaces that were critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems. (Traditional turfgrass is a dead zone for pollinators and hungry birds).

2. Reduce Pollution

The gasoline-powered mowers and blowers used to maintain the majority of traditional turf lawns cause damage via air pollution, ground pollution (spilled gas*) and noise pollution.

3. Remove Harmful Chemicals

The fertilizers and pesticides used in maintaining traditional turf lawns pollute waterways, and are harmful to people, pollinators, and planet alike.

4. Feel Better

Gardening for just an hour a week isn't just good for the soul, it's good for your heart health too! Working in the dirt, breathing fresh air, and moving your body are all ways that digging in will contribute to your personal well-being. Studies also show that spending time around plants reduces stress hormones.

You can improve our planet! How? Put your yard in the fight for a better world. Make a commitment to swap a small patch of turfgrass for a pollinator supporting, lawn alternative, every May.

Reducing a turfgrass lawn is one of the easiest ways to make a yard more environmentally friendly - and more beautiful! Need inspiration for an easy weekend project? Check out our top 10 ideas for places to tear up turf and what to add once it’s gone:

1. Edge your driveway, walkway or fence with a wildflower border
2. Add a flowerbed of perennials around your mailbox
3. Flip the strip! Fill the void between a sidewalk and a street with a waterwise mini-meadow
4. Carve out a pollinator pit stop as an island in an ocean of turf
5. Expand existing flower beds by pushing out their boundaries and adding more flowers
6. Combine creeping groundcovers with pavers for a pretty pathway
7. Build a raised bed and plant a seasonal kitchen garden
8. Underplant your lawn with bulbs that bloom in early spring (stintzenplanten)
9. Designate a corner of your yard of “for the birds” and plant a pre-planned garden
10. Flank your front door with flower beds

1. Join the #ReduceYourLawnDay Group on Facebook and Reddit
2. Use hashtags #ReduceYourLawn or #ReduceYourLawnDay to share your photos on Facebook and Instagram
3. Inspire others by sharing photos of your project (click here to submit images)
4. Make a yard sign
5. Tell your local government representative or Master Gardener extension about it!

 Use hashtags #ReduceYourLawn or #ReduceYourLawnDay to share your photos and to be featured in our gallery!

(Gallery Coming Soon)

American Meadows Meadowscaping Learning Center

Learn how to create a  wildflower meadow or natural garden, and shop for seeds, plants, and bulbs.

 "Groundcover Revolution" By Kathy Jentz

Choosing the right plants for your growing conditions is key. Learn more in this great guide to groundcovers.

High Country Gardens Sustainable Backyard Learning Center

Learn more about xeriscaping and sustainable lawn alternatives, and shop for waterwise plants.