Tired of mowing their sprawling 5-acre yard, a couple opted for a stunning solution: turning lawn into meadow.
A couple from Long Island – 36-year-old Jonathan Yacko, 36, and his 34-year-old wife Natalie Gilliard’s only experience in landscaping was tending to some house plants and a small patch of grass in their apartment, reported by the New York Post.
They had no idea when they moved to Chittenden, Vermont, in 2019 about the mammoth task of mowing and trimming that awaited them, when they had to look after their 5.5-acre property.
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Yacko told the Washington Post, that it took them an entire day to mow and trim their huge lawn and they weren’t too happy spending so much time only on maintaining their yard.
A new neighbor – Hadley Mueller, who works with a seed company from Vermont called American Meadows, advised them to grow a stunning wildflower meadow to save them from the hassle of mowing.
The couple jumped to the idea and started digging up their lawn, removing rocks, and planting seeds across the entire area.
Of course, in the back of their mind, they were still unsure if the flowers would ever blossom.
Then after some effort and a lot of patience, in the Spring of 2021, out came a crop of beautiful white flowers, which soon changed into flowers of various hues, like red and yellow poppies, orange cosmos, purple foxglove, etc.
The couple then expanded their meadow last year by adding more varieties of flowers like yellow coreopsis and blue forget-me-nots to include a total of 27 types of flowers.
The best thing is that the meadow’s colors change every few weeks as different flowers bloom at different times.
Yacko, an engineer, told WBUR that they find it wonderful and magical since they don’t know what colors would show next. Their lawn has inspired their neighbors to create their meadows and shun mowers.
People love stopping by or driving past their wildflower meadow and personally tell Yacko what a pleasant sight their meadow was. Especially during the pandemic, it brought joy to everyone.
Additionally, the newfound appreciation from their neighbors and passersby helps in forming new friendships and bonds, making them an integral part of the community.
Ditching the mower has truly been remarkable for Yacko and Gilliard, and they inspire others to do the same now.
