Prairie Up

09/09/2026

Wednesday Reflection

I'm going to say this again hear because it came up elsewhere today (and it's all in the new book):

No one asked for lawn. It was thrust upon folks as class warfare, with origins in eugenics. These are easily traceable realities through the period of early 20th century beautification groups, redlining, covenants for post-WWII suburbs, and sundown towns / neighborhoods / suburbs.

This legacy is still VERY much embedded in home valuation today as well as intergenerational wealth transfer thanks in large part to the FHA in the 1950s and 1960s (and certain realty organizations up into the 1980s), as well as both HOA covenants and municipal code that either demand lawn or prefer it through management policies threatened by fines and seizure.

Lawn is a component of social engineering by the upper class, designed to both divide as well as extract wealth; just consider all of the resources that go into maintaining a monoculture lawn from equipment to water to fertilizer to herbicides and various service industries, and how temperamental a monoculture can be especially in the face of climate disruption that increases drought, floods, disease, "pests," etc that all require new treatments and services. Nature tends to abhor singularity and wants to diversify for resilience and health, but we fight against it suburb by suburb, big box by bank by dentist office by restaurant by school.

It's easy to connect this to *gestures broadly* don't you think?

Lawn is such a recent phenomenon and we accept it as having always been the standard while also being tricked into policing one another for the benefit of these totally-made-up-hierarchical systems and capitalist power plays.

So every time I go to admire a flower or talk to a bee -- there is one specific bee I talk to every day, a male Bombus pensylvanicus -- I'm thinking damn nature is cool, and also damn I've had more than enough of the status quo as we barrel through a mass extinction because of a small group of psycopaths and oh look a painted lady larvae plantifa forever.

09/09/2026

If you HAVE to have some amount of lawn, then tossing in some clover is okay-ish.

But if you're goal in broadcasting clover seed is to "help pollinators" then it's really not that effective. Our goal should always be to limit monocultures and replace them with more diverse plant communities in species and stature, which will also increase a variety of other ecosystem services that a short-clipped landscape struggles to provide.

Deeper thoughts at ye olde link:

We know all about the impact urban lawns have on the ecosystem, from pollution to habitat loss. We've heard the stories about bees and butterflies and birds

09/08/2026

3 Links for You Today

Why you shouldn't clean up the autumn garden:
https://prairieup.com/why-you-shouldnt-clean-up-the-autumn-garden/

Don't deadhead flowers:
https://prairieup.com/dont-deadhead-flowers/

Why winter gardens might seem ugly:
https://prairieup.com/why-winter-gardens-might-seem-ugly/

Sometimes we might think a garden left standing over winter isn't as pretty, even though we know the ecosystem value of leaving plants alone. There are some

09/07/2026

It never gets old opening up a new box(es) of ye olde book. It's been out almost 5 years now and still, apparently, making a difference for folks because I get to keep ordering books 2-3x a year to restock my shelves.

I set out to write something that was approachable for regular folks because, to me, it felt like there wasn't that much out there for regular folks. In approach and language I worked hard to distill and distill -- a process I learned from my many years as a poetry apprentice and teacher.

Now there's an admission for you there that feeds my imposter syndrome -- I have a PhD in creative writing and environmental lit. There's always someone who says "but he's not a botanist" or "but he doesn't have a horticulture or LA degree." Yeah, and there are times I sure wish I did have one of those. But, I also bet there are times folks with those other degrees wish they had a bit of my green grass, too. I wish I was a baller with a rabbit in a hat, you know?

What's my rambling point here tonight. Follow your interests. Your path is not laid out. Everything builds on everything else. While I don't see myself becoming anything else at this point, I am stretching myself along the path I'm on -- which can sometimes feel as scary as being a sonnet-writing, memoir-researching garden whatever this all is.

All I know is that it's fun and empowering. What are you doing that's fun and empowering? What unexpected paths have you taken and how are they built on your past experiences? Where are you headed you didn't think you would be a year ago, three years ago?

09/07/2026

It's been a rare year for these guys who are all over the place. The last generation is about to finish up eating.

09/06/2026

I know everyone's on holiday -- and you should be outside -- but I felt compelled to say something today:

While there are moments I would like to be a more highfalutin garden designer working on marquee projects, my real passion rests in helping everyday folks turn the tide out their front and back doors, in their communities where grassroots action occurs.

In some ways choosing this path has been constrictive and limiting, and I think to another degree marginalizing -- especially with my activist tendencies. We all envy what we don't have, though, the tribes or cliques we don't seem to fit into, but embracing different paths comes with a lot of risk even if it can make us feel more whole. I have felt VERY risky this year.

I love working with you guys: in social media posts, the monthly Q&A chat, webinars, online classes, all that stuff. And I'm always looking for more ways to engage you and other entities with similar goals and approaches and audiences so we can collaborate in more empowering ways.

Every garden matters. Every plant matters. Prairie up.

09/06/2026

The native thistles are in high swing hear at HQ, but on their slow decline, just as goldenrod and aster come on. This bloom succession stuff is pretty sweet, especially for adult pollinators and their predators (it's a spider and mantis bonanza out there). And also painted lady larvae bonanza.

https://reprairiesuburbia.etsy.com/listing/1625827967

09/05/2026

Happy Labor Day weekend.

09/04/2026

Times are changing -- either through grassroots movements or being forced by a changing climate. The southwest is pretty much already out of water which is terrifying, and it will be coming for everyone downwind / downstream of the rockies (my state, Nebraska, has the most river mileage of any U.S. state because we serve as a drainage plane -- most of our city water comes from a river).

We're going to have to rethink landscapes if we want them to remain green and hold soil and reduce heat island effects. And it won't be intensively-managed, resource-demanding lawn.

Sign up for the free newsletter, because when it drops next week it will be filled with practical how-to information on transitioning to a more resilient and beautiful future (and some nice perks for subscribers only to help you get rethinking pretty yet this fall).

https://prairieup.com/newsletter/