How one American couple ditched their lawn and created a wildlife haven – and you could too

Novice gardeners James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz wanted to try something new when they moved out to the suburbs. Little did they know they were joining a nationwide movement When James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz first decided to replace their lawn with native plants, they did not really know what they were doing. As former city-dwellers who had moved from Chicago out to the suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, they had never done much gardening together beyond growing some planters of herbs and flowers on their balcony. But for McGuire, an avid birder who did not want to live with a sea of turf that does “absolutely nothing for the environment”, figuring out an alternative to the suburban status quo was imperative. Crystal Fritz and James Reed McGuire’s Highland Park front garden before they transformed it with native plants The couple’s early attempts to rewild their lawn were full of what they now deem missteps. They bought mixed wildflower seed packets and sprinkled them about aimlessly, rather than identifying specific species native to their area and planning where they should go. They tried digging up the turf by hand with a shovel, labour so difficult that McG