We bought our house on a half-acre on a pond in Falmouth Center about 13 years ago. At the time, there was lots of lawn, some yew foundation plantings, and a big area of English ivy which was overgrowing some hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and an old crabapple tree – your basic suburban yard. Other than some beautiful tupelo trees by the pond, the one nod to anything ecological was a straight row of inkberry along the pond edge the sellers had been required to plant as mitigation for a deck within the 100’ wetland buffer zone.
They also left us with an outstanding Order of Conditions that required us to plant a bunch more native shrubs near the pond. Though avid vegetable and perennial gardeners, we knew little about the subject of native plantings at the time. But a local nursery helped us select plants, design, and plant the area. It was a mix of various viburnums, low- and high-bush blueberries, beach plums, clethra, and winterberry, and a red maple tree. They have all thrived, and we now wish they had planted them with twice as much space in between!
Always on the lookout for ways to avoid mowing (we have never understood the obsession with the perfect lawn, and love moss, clover, and dandelions. We also hate the constant sound of lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other carbon-spewing machines needed to maintain them). Around this time, APCC started putting out a lot of information about converting lawn to native plantings to enhance habitat. I read Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home, then heard his talk arranged by APCC, and I became a “Tallamy groupie” and never looked back.
That year we killed a bunch of lawn (cardboard – not great success with this method), expanding the beds down by the pond. We got a huge load of compost to prepare them. Between APCC’s native plant sale, Native Plant Trust’s sale and some great online sources of plugs Doug Tallamy talked about, we quickly filled the space. We’ve added more shrubs (spicebush, shadblow, fothergilla, and others) and pollinator-friendly perennials.
We now enjoy lots of native bees, birds, butterflies and other wildlife, blueberries and beach plums, and a beautiful yard to look at. We don’t rake the leaves in the back yard, and the ones we take from the front yard we use as mulch under and around all the shrubs and perennials. We leave the stems to overwinter for native bees to shelter in. We’ve also learned more about the harm typical lawn care can cause in our kettle ponds by adding excess nutrients that cause algae overgrowth, killing beneficial insects and fish. Since we love to swim in our pond, and now have a dog who also loves to swim, concern about cyanobacteria blooms is high on our list (we contract with APCC to test for it).
It’s been a lot of work. We both enjoy gardening but did hire a teenager to do some digging and shoveling at various points. It’s doable, whether you go all-in at once, or chip away at it over the years as we have. Once you start looking at typical suburban landscapes as the sterile wasteland they are, it’s pretty motivating to do something different. The nice thing is that anyone with any yard can make a difference. Think like a bee. Start somewhere. The rewards are many.
Story and image from Alison Leschen
Pond Stories are a collection of writings and other media from Cape Codders and visitors who love the almost 1,000 local ponds that dot the Cape. We hope this collection of stories awakens your inner environmentalist to think deeper about our human impacts to these unique bodies of water.
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