'The way it works in nature': How to make your lawn more sustainable this year

With spring around the corner, local environmental groups are sharing sustainable practices that gardeners and lawn hobbyists can try this year - from composting at home to planting for pollinators.

There are seemingly endless ways to be more environmentally friendly in your yard, but one Kane County group has a single focus: to promote native landscaping and the native plants that go along with it.

The Greater Kane County Illinois Chapter of Wild Ones, a national organization based in Wisconsin, began an initiative three years ago to encourage homeowners to replace some of their turf grass with native plants.

The program, called Start In Your Yard, features an annual four-part virtual learning series in collaboration with the Gail Borden Public Library and the Elgin Sustainability Commission.

The environmental benefits of adding native plants to yards and gardens are abundant, primarily in their support of local birds and insects. The same can't be said for foreign plants, such as the turf grasses that cover most of our lawns, because animals don't know how to benefit from them, so they're not functional in the overall local ecosystem.

"We've gotten into the habit of designing our landscapes to please our own human eyes," Start In Your Yard coordinator Nancy Lamia said. "But we need to be designing our landscapes for preserving life and preserving abundance."

That's because there are complex, interdependent relationships between native plants and the native insects that rely on them - and "native insects are the basis of everything," chapter President Kim Haag said.

"Without them we don't have the birds, we don't have the plants, and the animals aren't nourished," Haag said. "Without insects we won't have life on this earth."

The Start In Your Yard initiative was created on the notion that we can't rely on local, state and national parks to sustain all wildlife, Haag said. Instead, each individual should start in their own yard.

Haag encouraged people to start small: Even if every yard had just 5 square feet of native plants, a combination could create a green pathway for native critters and birds.

More information on this year's next and final Start In Your Yard presentation on soil health, along with recordings of previous presentations, can be found at startinyouryard.com. The Greater Kane County Wild Ones chapter also will hold a native plant sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 13, at Gray Willows Farm in Campton Hills.

While planting more natives is one involved step you can take from a long list of sustainable practices, a simple way to start off a more environmentally friendly spring is to try holding off on mowing for as long as possible.

Gas-powered mowers tend to scare away pollinators, trigger faster grass growth and use chemicals, Jesse Davis of the Lake County Illinois Extension horticulture program said. Perhaps most importantly, mowing too early could harm insects that overwinter in our yards.

"In the fall, all of our butterflies and caterpillars and larvae of all these insects that are so important in our environment, they go in our lawn," Davis said. "They go into the hollow tubes of plants, of stems - especially native plants - and they hide in leaf litter."

Davis encourages gardeners to leave piles of leaves and plants in the fall, and come spring, to not mow until you have to.

"You don't have to cut your plants down to the ground. Leave the stems up, leave your hydrangeas up, leave all your native plants standing. Just leave it there. That's the way it works in nature," he said.

A general rule is to avoid spring cleanup until the average temperature is 50 degrees or warmer. Once it's warm enough, the larvae and insects that spent the winter under the cover of the lawn crawl out, and you can do your cleanup without hurting them.

Davis added that if, like him, you're part of a homeowners association that keeps rules on how your yard should look, you can keep the front of your property looking HOA-approved while letting your backyard go to nature.

For more information on sustainable lawn practices, Davis helps host monthly "Garden Learning" educational sessions through an Illinois Extension partnership with the Lake County Forest Preserves and the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County.

The virtual program, which is in its 10th year, includes information on more environmental practices like rain gardens, butterfly gardening and landscaping for a changing climate.

"Our whole idea is to take research-based information from the university and be able to get that to the whole state, so people can access the university's resources," Davis said. "That's kind of the main idea behind extension, and the garden learning series is to talk a little bit about sustainability landscaping."

Davis added that though the initiative is based in Lake and McHenry counties, all are welcome to the free events.

The next session, on composting basics, will be held April 12. The following session, which will be an introduction to native plants, will be May 10. Information for registering for April's session can be found at tinyurl.com/GardenLearning3.

• Jenny Whidden is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.