The move to natural lawns

Increasingly homeowners and apartment and commercial developers are embracing landscapes that consist less of carpets of mowed sod grass and more on native grasses and wildflowers.

While many cities have changed their ordinances to allow more flexibility for residents to plant tall grasses and flowers, a new state law will make things easier for citizens across Minnesota who want to trade in some or all of their lawns for more natural landscapes.

The law, which started Aug. 1, says cities can no longer ban pollinator-friendly native landscaping. The new language requires cities to allow homeowners to install and maintain a "managed natural landscape," which it defines as "a planned, intentional, and maintained planting of native or nonnative grasses, wildflowers, forbs, ferns, shrubs, or trees."

But the law does not mean people can simply stop mowing their traditional grass and let it grow long or be filled with noxious weeds.

The law explicitly states that "turf-grass lawns left unattended" are excluded from the definition of a "managed natural landscape."

Recent surveys show a majority of homeowners don't want only large expanses of turf that needs to be frequently mowed and watered and requires chemicals to keep weed free. Instead, they want to plant natural landscapes that once established are relatively easy to care for and that benefit pollinators who find less and less natural areas on the landscapes.

And while there remains some peer pressure to have a "perfect lawn," more and more people welcome their neighbors putting in a planned natural landscape.

In North Mankato a homeowner in 2021 successfully sued the city after it declared his natural yard a "public nuisance" and said it contained "rank growth of vegetation." After much debate and opposition from some residents, the city approved an ordinance, with limitations, allowing natural landscapes on a portion of properties.

Other Minnesota cities have passed ordinances banning all front-yard vegetable or natural gardens. The state law, part of a national trend, means cities will need to review their current ordinances and make amendments as needed.

With the declining populations of bees and other pollinators, it's important that state and local governments allow the planting of natural gardens and pollinators without adding too many burdensome rules.