Earlier this month we were excited to roll out our Natural Yard Care Ambassador program and announce our first cohort of ambassadors.

This week we’re excited to highlight some of our early adopters to the program – Aly and Bill from the Norkirk neighborhood (Moss Bay watershed). Aly and Bill have a beautiful garden that makes the most of the water that falls on site while supporting pollinators and other wildlife.

We asked Aly and Bill to share some of their thoughts about natural yard care, why it matters to them, and what their process has been like. Read on to get some inspiration and see pictures of their landscape!

 

 

What initially made you choose to adopt natural yard care practices?

We wanted to help reduce burden on the planet, and help birds, animals and insects to thrive – not to mention, at the same time, saving household costs.

Why is it important to you to practice natural yard care?

It is one of the things that we as homeowners can do to help birds, animals and insects – by avoiding chemicals that harm them in our garden, avoiding chemicals that get into streams and drains (and our lake) and actually helping humans too, because we ultimately absorb chemicals that are put into the environment.

 

What benefits have you noticed in your yard since adopting natural yard care practices?

We’re excited to watch increased animal, insect and bird activity, and to see shrubs and flowers growing instead of the patch of lawn that used to be there. Native shrubs need less maintenance and grow more easily than ones that really suit a different climate. It’s comforting to know that we aren’t going to harm any bees that come to our yard. The leaves that fall from our trees stay on the ground and look great as a cover instead of bare dirt, and save us having to add bark every year, and it feels great to know there are beneficial insects nesting there.

We have also been removing invasive plants such as English Ivy (especially when growing up trees) in favor of native plants.

 

 

What advice would you give other Kirkland residents who are hoping to adopt natural yard care?

Just take it in stages, with maybe one or two big projects a year, depending on your time and energy.

For example, one year you might install water-collection barrels – maybe with a City of Kirkland rebate program – and/or replace sprinklers with a drip system. Another time you might consider planting a few trees – maybe with a City of Kirkland rebate program! Smaller projects can include planting butterfly and bee friendly shrubs or flowers, and adding mason bees with a bee hotel, or creating a compost heap in your yard. Those are fun as well as beneficial projects.

 

Have you helped encourage others to adopt natural yard care practices? If so, what strategies have you found helpful? Can you share a success story or a particularly rewarding moment in your efforts to promote sustainable landscaping within the community?

We’ve shared dirt and compost and plants with neighbors, exchanged fruits and vegetables when we had extra, and loaned (and borrowed) gardening tools. We’re part of a private WhatsApp group for neighbors who grow edible crops (everyone according to the size of our planting space and our available time). To encourage people who don’t already work on sustainable landscaping, I share posts on Facebook (e.g., don’t clear your leaf litter, and don’t mow flowers that grow in your lawn, if you have one). Also, I have recently signed up to join the Kirkland Community Wildlife Habitat Team, we’re hosting a pollinator class on March 2^nd. 

 

Can you tell us about the reactions and feedback you’ve received from your neighbors about your yard? How have they responded to your efforts in promoting environmentally friendly yard care?

People do stop to admire the planting of native shrubs and to comment on how green the yard looks, with natural shade provided by three layers: trees, shrubs and low-lying plants. I think it inspires them and I always mention the support (rebates) we got from the city of Kirkland for putting in our big water tank and planting new trees – and how much help we were given by city employees in planning this out and doing the paperwork.

 

Note: we promise we didn’t bribe them to say that! But our rebate programs are pretty awesome! Check out the Yard Smart Rain Rewards program, which provides rebates for projects that disconnect impervious surfaces (an area where water does not soak into the ground) from the city stormwater system, and diverts it to projects like rain gardens or native landscaping. Also, check out our Tree Rebate program, which provides rebates for planting trees in Kirkland to increase overall canopy cover and help manage stormwater runoff.

 

Anything else you’d like to share?

We are lucky to live in a place of such natural beauty and abundance, however our ecosystem is still fragile and increasingly it needs our proactive help. We both have a goal of making a bigger difference.

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Thank you, Aly and Bill, for all your work to create a healthier ecosystem in Kirkland and Lake Washington!

To learn more about how you can practice natural yard care in Kirkland, visit kirklandwa.gov/yardcare