Front Yard Rewilding
Northwest Grand Rapids, Michigan
Living close to an urban nature center inspired these homeowners to remake their sloped lawn into an extension of the center’s native flora. Flowering, pollinator-friendly natives dominate while culinary herbs are strategically tucked in to deter the many local deer from making the yard their permanent salad bar. As avid cooks, the homeowners also put the edible plants to good use in their own kitchen.
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Lemon thyme in bloom surrounded by Shasta daisy, oregano, and pink yarrow.
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A beautiful combination of pink peony, platinum blonde lavender, and red valerian (Jupiter’s beard) with driftwood.
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A bare grass lawn was replaced with a mix of culinary herbs, Michigan native plants and some of the owners’ favorite flowering perennials.
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Flowering chives pop among golden alexander, savory, oregano, and borage.
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Peonies, irises, and red valerian join in a symphony, bringing much-needed color to the garden after a cold, gray winter.
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In the garden’s second year, the homeowners chose to add a rain garden along the lowest edge of the sloped property.
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Newly planted native perennials; butterfly weed, echinacea, golden alexander, and bee balm.
Select Plant List
Culinary herbs: oregano, thyme, lavender, chives, savory, sage, sorrel, sweet basil, anise hyssop, and tarragon.
Native species: echinacea, lupine, bee balm, black-eyed susan, milkweed, golden alexander, marsh blazing star, blue flag iris, butterfly weed, creeping phlox, round-leaved ragwort, blue vervein, showy goldenrod, and threadleaf coreopsis.
Classic perennials: peony, red valerian, shasta daisy, yarrow, daffodil, agastache (giant hyssop), ornamental allium, Japanese sedge, and bearded iris.