A homeowner struggling with growing grass in their yard took to Reddit to seek advice.
They posted photos of their desolate patch of grass, saying, "I am having no luck with seed or sod in this small (250 sq. ft.) but central feature of our back yard. Squirrels, birds, fungus, always something."
The Redditor posed the idea of installing artificial turf, but they were met with more eco-friendly ideas from commenters in the subreddit r/kansascity.
"Have you considered clover?" one user responded to the post, inspiring discussion on natural lawns.
Switching to a natural lawn is a great step in creating a majestic yard that has a plethora of other added benefits.
Using native grass, such as clover, can help you cut down on the costs associated with your lawn. Not only will native grass require less water, reducing your bills and time spent doing maintenance, but the surrounding ecosystem will do a lot of the other heavy lifting for you.
As another commenter added, "It's good for pollinators," highlighting the way pollinators will both take care of your native plants and grass while improving the overall food supply.
Besides all the upsides to a natural lawn, artificial turf is known for causing more harm than good. The materials and installation can be costly, and the supposedly low-maintenance surface can actually require water to be kept cool, raising your bills. Plus, synthetic grass is generally made out of plastic.
One commenter noted that "the microplastics in artificial turf harm the wildlife, soil, and ground water" -- highlighting one of the potential pollution sources from fake grass, which may also contain PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals" that are associated with health risks.
To further upgrade your yard, you can also rewild your garden -- using native growing plants to add flair and environmental support to your home.
Other commenters shared their support for a natural lawn.
One person said, "Once [clover is] established it's low maintenance and just gosh darn pretty. Never had it be an issue in low light levels either."
"We bought a house a couple years ago with multiple 'forever dead' zones in the backyard. We decided to try clover as a possible solution and have had magnificent results," another user added.