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Jun 07, 2025

Giving up grass: Native landscapes help beat the heat

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Tired of mowing the lawn or trying to get grass to grow? The solution is native landscaping. Some love caring for their grass lawns, and that’s fine. Lawns are great for kids

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Tired of mowing the lawn or trying to get grass to grow? The solution is native landscaping.

Some love caring for their grass lawns, and that’s fine. Lawns are great for kids and look beautiful when maintained.

However, many don’t want to push a mower around in the summer heat, but still want a pretty yard.

That’s where native plants come to the rescue.

“Those plants are much more likely to survive and thrive than lawn grasses,” said Stephen Living, the Habitat Education Coordinator at the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

“Lawn grasses need a lot of care and tending, watering, weeding, and fertilizers. It’s expensive and time-consuming. And they still sometimes have trouble here in our Mid-Atlantic climate,” he said.

If your grass doesn’t grow, blame the weather. Our cold winters and hot summers put Virginia in a “Transition Zone.” Neither warm-season nor cool-season grasses are adapted to thrive here, requiring more effort and natural resources to look good.

To make your life a little easier, try a native ground cover like Wild Ginger, Green and Gold Aster, Virginia Heartleaf, or Maidenhair Fern.

“These native plants are really well adapted to the climate and growing conditions here in Virginia,” said Living.

Generally, native plants require little maintenance. They’re used to our temperature rollercoaster, droughts and flooding rains.

Living started in his yard by removing invasive plants like English Ivy and the hated Bradford Pear.

“Either pulling them up, sometimes, using herbicides carefully according to the label instructions, and replacing them with native plants,” he said.

Now, he has less lawn to mow.

“Slowly and successively, removing my lawn and expanding my planting beds,” said Living. “I have some areas that are planted in a more formal landscape, with mulch and plants and other areas where I’ve planted a small meadow. I’ve got native shrubs, and I’m seeing songbirds nest in those shrubs. I’m seeing butterflies nectar on them. It’s great.”

Sustaining a healthy ecosystem, native plants prevent the extinction of wildlife.

“Insects like caterpillars consumed 25 times more leaves from a native black cherry than from a non-native Bradford pear,” Living said. “86% of land east of the Mississippi River is privately owned. So if we’re going to conserve wildlife, everyone has a role to play, and it can be small in your yard.”

To start the process, check out the free Native Plants for Virginia’s Capital Region guide published by Plant RVA Natives Campaign.

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