Goodbye, bermudagrass

Hello, new beds and more buffalograss! Our plan has always been to gradually decrease the mowing area of the yard. Ideally before our third-hand ancient lawn mower dies. Which we successfully sold in late 2024. This post covers from 2024 to 2025, our first year without the lawn mower.

In conjunction with putting in the first of four new raised beds, we also determined we will move the Salvia greggii in front of the new raised beds so we stop having to trim them mid-summer to be able to access the vegetables in the existing raised beds. You’ve seen them in the new place in recent posts.

We also replaced all the grass and non native forbs between the Salvias and the curb with buffalograss. Since the salvias get a good 3 ft wide, this will leave a path about 4-5 ft wild at the curb for us to roll the garden cart along and people to get out at the curb if needed.

The triangles between the existing edging and the new raised beds have become beds with Antennaria (pussytoes), sensitive briar (Mimosa), Baptisia bracteata, and gramagrass.

We will probably keep irises by the mailbox. Since essentially no pollinators visit them, it makes the mailbox extra safe for any postal people who might have bee allergies or fears thereof. however, we’ve since dug them out and replant them to ensure it doesn’t become a refugia for Bermudagrass to attempt to re-colonize the yard.

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05/04/2024 great restraint

We went up to Native Plant Nursery of Oklahoma City today to help the Chef’s mom add some drought tolerant native plants to her garden. We got her six plants but we stuck to our personal list and thus got only one! We feel positively responsible.

The people staffing the nursery were helpful and knowledgeable and willing to brainstorm ideas with us. (Especially helpful since the Chef’s mom lives a bit away where some different species can grow.)

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