Soon, we’ll spend more time outside, enjoying the spectacular green and exploding colors of what we may have planted in years past or early spring. Perhaps much of your landscape is a turfgrass lawn, which became popular in the United States in the 1870s and has since become the dominant idea in residential and commercial landscape design, regardless of the surrounding natural biome. From the forested Northeast to the desert Southwest, people in the United States toil to grow grass, keep it mowed to remain a few inches tall and exclude all other plant species. But all this effort cuts against sustainability. Allowing, encouraging or establishing native plants besides turfgrass provides valuable habitat for many more species, safeguarding biodiversity.

To know whether you are being a sustainable steward of habitat, these two indicators matter most: 1. How much pesticide you apply to your land and 2. How many native plant species are growing on your land.

Here are tips on how to landscape with native species well-adapted to local conditions:

• Buy or borrow (from a friend or from your local library) a guide to native plants to learn which plants are a natural part of your local ecosystem.
• Buy (or get from friends) cuttings, rhizomes, tubers, corms, bulbs or seeds of native species.
• Decide how actively you want to manage your landscape.
• Remove nonnative species.
• Plant native species.

Turfgrass lawns, the standard landscaping practice in the U.S. and Canada, intentionally diminish biodiversity, reducing the chance of humans interacting with wildlife. It is prudent to keep a small buffer area around buildings free of habitat that can harbor ticks, rodents and other undesirable species. However, biodiversity and human well-being both benefit from encouraging native plants in areas that are several meters away from structures. Plants attract and harbor animals, so by encouraging native plants, you allow an entire ecosystem to thrive.

If invasive exotic plants overrun your native planting area, you could take some time to observe before intervening (unless you’re worried about offending your neighbors) and just “let it grow.” You may find it edifying to allow nature to take its course; over time, a diverse mix of species tends to arise that is well-suited to your specific micro-climate.

You can also:

• Prune or pull up invasive plants you dislike.
• Contact your local cooperative extension service, a good resource for information on the least harmful ways to manage your landscape.
• Hire a professional landscaping service that uses sustainable practices.

If native plants are failing to thrive, try different native plants or get a soil test to help select plants suited to your conditions. To convert an area of lawn to native plants, cover it with cardboard, put new topsoil on the cardboard and put native seeds or plants in the topsoil.

With sustainable landscaping strategies, you can achieve these valuable goals:

• Demonstrate sustainable practices in your neighborhood and community.
• Decrease how much water you buy or pump.
• Decrease how much energy you expend mowing your lawn.
• Decrease how much pesticide you apply.
• Decrease how much synthetic fertilizer you apply.
• Increase biodiversity in your yard.

There are some limitations to landscaping with native plants, including:

• Some neighborhoods require lawns.
• Some families want extensive lawns for recreation.
• Unmowed areas can harbor pests like ticks and rodents.
• Tall vegetation growing close to a building can be a fire hazard.
• Unwanted invasive species can become numerous in unmanaged yards.
• Some people find natural landscapes unsightly.

But when you take a step to benefit our planet with a more sustainable landscape, you may be surprised at how even a few native plants transform your yard into a haven for pollinators, wildlife and your own enjoyment.

Peggy Siegle and Fred Horch are principals of Sustainable Practice. To receive expert action guides to help your household or organization become superbly sustainable, visit SustainablePractice.Life and subscribe for free to One Step This Week, or visit Suspra.com to purchase our new book: “Sustainable Practices: Your Handbook for Effective Action.”