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A Guide to Rewilding Your Living Space

Manicured lawns and uprooted dandelions are so last century. Here’s how you can transform your yard, balcony, or back patio into a sustainable ecosystem where plant and animal life can thrive.

Corrie Evanoff

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

Find even more environmental action inspiration in our How to Help the Planet collection, with advice on coexisting with creatures, making your wardrobe more sustainable, and more.

Image by RAphoto77/Getty Images

Give Your Yard Back to Nature

Turning your perfectly unnatural (yet impressively green) lawn into an imperfectly wild(ish) piece of land requires a little time and energy at first. And then...a lot less mowing.

How to Rewild Your Balcony, One Native Plant at a Time

So you don't have a lawn. Author Jeff VanderMeer shares his eight steps for creating a biodiverse oasis in your limited city space.

How I Learned to Love Weeds—And Why You Should, Too

I once fought against the dandelions, nettles and docks that infiltrated my garden. But now I know they are essential, I’m glad I lost the battle.

Why You Should Plant a Garden That’s Wasp Friendly

Those wasps you hate? They’re the best organic pest control around. Here’s how to keep them happy (and avoid getting stung).

It’s Time to Rip up Your Lawn and Replace It With Something You Won’t Need to Mow

A green yard without the grass.

Can We Really Rewild the Planet? | The Future With Hannah Fry Episode 6 [WATCH]

The environment is in crisis, but a revolutionary new conservation concept offers hope for the future. From the overgrown Fukushima exclusion zone, to the majestic redwood forests of California, Hannah embarks on a journey into the wilderness to discover how championing nature could help to heal the environmental wounds we have inflicted on our planet.

Native Plant Finder Tool

Search by zip code to find plants that host the highest numbers of butterflies and moths to feed birds and other wildlife where you live. Find the best native plants to help wildlife — based on the research of renowned expert in the science of plant-insect interactions, Dr. Doug Tallamy.

Growing Wildflowers Isn’t Difficult. And It’s Urgent.

In a shifting climate, with environmental diversity at risk, it’s never been more important to propagate native plants. Here’s how.

Six Cities Making Room for Nature

How do you turn a city green? Stand back and let the plants in.

BONUS READ: That Buzz on City Rooftops? Beekeeping Is Going Corporate via CityLab.

A Native Plant Designer’s Memoir Reflects on a Life in the Field

Darrel Morrison writes about creating landscapes that take their inspiration from nature.

The Real Urban Jungle: How Ancient Societies Reimagined What Cities Could Be

They may be vine-smothered ruins today, but the lost cities of the ancient tropics still have a lot to teach us about how to live alongside nature.

10 Take-Action Ways to Help the Planet

Saving the planet isn’t a one-person job. But there are ways each of us can protect and preserve Earth, from planting native gardens to supporting climate action organizations—and more.