From Jennifer; “Before the makeover began, my front yard was a mess! Invasive Burning bushes lined my yard, there was an overgrown fence line, and a lawn neglected for decades. Earth Day 2022, Missouri Organic Recycling announced our home as its Northland yard makeover location. Over the next several months, I met with Stan Slaughter of MOR, advisor Dan Krull, and Caitlin Willis of Native Gardens KC. The goals were to develop the design, plan the removal of invasive shrubs, and prepare the planting location.
The design presented by Caitlin Willis was A-Mazing! The plantings were designed to create a full and layered garden, formal in design, and it was massive! Initially, including over 700 plants and 29 varieties, the formal design involved three separate planting zones with significant pollinator and carbon-sequestering impacts. First is a Driveway Prairie that runs 64 ft of the driveway and gets full sun. Also, a Sidewalk Grove with trees and shrubs to invite songbirds and host keystone species and to create a visual barrier to a busy street. And in front of the house, a full, lush Sidewalk Woodland invites visitors to the front door of our mid-century ranch home."
This is the west half of Caitlin’s design. These seedlings were planted on October 11th of 2022.
Caitlin explains her plan here.
Caitlin explains her mini prairie and the berms here
Preparing for Pollinators
We tarped the planting area in early August to kill the grass and prepare the space for planting.
Video of the tarping process
Drone video of the yard and tarps
Planting day October 11th
“In the days and weeks leading up to the installation, Joel and I sourced our native plants and measured and placed the 700+ numbered flags that designated each plant's location. We purchased nearly 90% of the plants from @mowildflowersnursery in Jefferson City, with the rest from other local native plant nurseries.
Planting day was undoubtedly successful because of the efforts of Stan Slaughter. He put together a team of go-getters and can-doers. In five hours, a dozen volunteers dug over 700 holes, and in each went a native flower, shrub, or grass. It truly was a massive undertaking."
Special thanks to Caitlin Willis of @nativegardenskcllc
Video links- Passing out plants, Maggie’s overview
These are just a few of the flowers Jennifer enjoyed over the summer of ‘23. Regular weeding and seasonal mulching will keep this garden beautiful and productive.
This row of invasive Euonymus (burning bush) was taken out to make room for a more sustainable planting. Here’s a link to the video
Here, Caitlin and Jennifer discuss the visual barrier they want to create
Berm for Water Retention
We used a rotary plow to dig the swale and throw the soil up into the berm. Water will slow spread and soak into the berm and the soil below.
This large old Crabapple is tired and needed a refresh, so Stan tried an old trick, digging holes out from the trunk of the tree and filling them with compost.
Using an 8 inch post hole auger to drill 15 inch holes, Stan then filled them with Nature Wise compost. The tree had a good bloom in the spring of ‘23 and survived the July heat without watering. Time will tell if the added nutrients will make a long-term difference, but this technique is credited with reviving entire orchards regionally.
This photo is from the spring of ‘23 after blowing 1/2 inch of compost on the entire lawn. Jennifer’s lawn had been neglected, yet still had a nice mix of clover and grass. Blowing compost in caused a nice burst of rich growth throughout the year. Doing this for several years can make the lawn lush and green for years.
Missouri Organic Recycling's one-of-a-kind Climate-Friendly Yard Makeover will make a difference. I am excited about my yard transformation and the critical message the Climate-Friendly Yard Makeover sends to the community. The Climate-Friendly Yard Makeover is an extraordinary opportunity to make a tremendous change."
“Here in late October ’23, we’re reviewing the progress and changes we’ve made to the plan. Both the vegetable garden and the street side hedge planting are on hold, because the large planting we’ve installed is taking the bulk of Jenn and Joel’s available time. Given the multiyear establishment period, weed control and watering, it’s seeming really wise not to get overextended. After all, their planting is 160 ft. by 30 ft. with 900 plants. The compost application Missouri Organic blew in last November really revitalized the front lawn and kept it green through the long hot summer. The crabapple where we dug and filled holes with compost last fall kept the old tree alive and well through the drought. The last of Jennifer’s financial support from Missouri Organic was used up with the delivery of our Premium I natural color mulch. Because the plants need to be protected, Jenn and Joel will take some time to apply the mulch by hand around each of the plants.”
Thanks Jennifer & Joel for being part of this project, executing the plan, embracing the climate friendly principles, and sharing your journey!
Thanks to Dan Krull, @snakemandan, for his vision and advising on the CFYM process, information about native plants and food forests, videos, and more!