Design & Decorating: Downsize Your Lawn. Start Here. --- Turf grass is hard on the wallet and the planet. So shrink yours, says this horticulturalist, then nurture it with a free resource: fall leaves.

“It's hip to hate on lawns nowadays. Hashtags like #KillYourLawn are all over social media -- there's even a TV show with the same name. No wonder: With labor costs climbing and the harmful effects of lawn-care chemicals on people and the planet becoming ever-more obvious, the price of maintaining an emerald expanse starts to seem rather steep.

 

Yet, we fret over the alternatives. In my twenty-something years as a horticulturalist, I've encountered all sorts of anxieties. Without a lawn, won't my land succumb to chaos? What about snakes and ticks and poison ivy? And the classic: What will the neighbors think?

 

Which is why, despite my love of berries for birds and nectar for butterflies, I'm not a total turf abolitionist. Decades of working in public parks have taught me that lawns show people where they belong in a landscape. They give us a place to toss a ball or have a picnic. Aesthetically, lawns provide a visual break and help create flow through a space, connecting different areas.

 

My real-world expert advice: Rather than getting rid of our lawns, shrink them. Lawns should be area rugs, not wall-to-wall carpet.

 

Use turf grass to mark the space you'll use for throwing Frisbees and having parties, but allow the rest of your land to do something more beautiful and purposeful.

 

Happily, fall's the perfect time to begin. Shrinking your lawn doesn't mean abandoning your property to a jungle of vines and weeds. In fact, one timely technique uses a surprising gold mine almost all lawn-owners have at their fingertips: leaves.

 

Trees might look like they're throwing their leaves away in autumn, but they're actually carefully placing them over their root systems, where they can break down and build healthy soil.

 

A simple way to begin downsizing your lawn is by leaving a "skirt" of leaves unraked underneath your yard trees. Those leaves will smother the grass as they insulate the ground and hold in moisture. As they feed the soil, the same area can eventually be transitioned into low-maintenance garden beds.

 

Plant them with low shrubs and perennial plants that are forest-adapted to grow among leaves, so that you and your blower can take a break.

 

They're literally called leaves: You can leave them.

 

In my Connecticut backyard, I've been reclaiming the turf under my maples and birches by planting native ferns, geraniums and woodland asters. Not only is the result prettier than grass, the plants also support pollinators like moths and butterflies.

 

Did you know that most caterpillars are only able to digest leaves from certain families of trees? Oaks support more than 1000 species, while maples offer food to over 300, including swallowtails and mourning cloaks. If you love butterflies, you have to invite caterpillars into your garden, too.

 

Nearly every one of those caterpillars at some point drops from the tree canopy to overwinter or create a chrysalis. If you've ever glimpsed a caterpillar dangling from a branch by a silk thread, they're on their way down.

 

But if they hit turf grass instead of leaves or other foliage at the bottom, their chances of survival are slim. Leaving plants and leaves under trees creates a "soft landing" for these essential creatures, whose populations have dropped an alarming 22% in just the last 20 years.

 

Welcoming these beautiful beings onto your land will also attract songbirds, who rely on them to feed their babies. A few nibbled leaves are small prices to pay for the joy of birdsong and butterflies.

 

Of course, downsizing your lawn yields another upside: more time to enjoy them.

 

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Rebecca McMackin is lead horticulturalist for the American Horticultural Society and writes the Substack newsletter Grow Like Wild! Previously, she spent a decade as director of horticulture of New York's Brooklyn Bridge Park. Her TED Talk on gardening for wildlife has been viewed over a million times.” [1]

 

1. OFF DUTY --- Design & Decorating: Downsize Your Lawn. Start Here. --- Turf grass is hard on the wallet and the planet. So shrink yours, says this horticulturalist, then nurture it with a free resource: fall leaves. McMackin, Rebecca.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 01 Nov 2025: D7.