Woman defends native plants in her yard; city says clean it up
Design Issues With Well-Intentioned Monarch Butterfly Garden
In the news lately has been Alice Hezel’s front yard in Maplewood:
She and the City of Maplewood are in opposite corners on the issue of her garden. I see both sides. Yes, the Monarch butterfly is critical — we need them pollenating. Like most things, there’s a right way and a wrong way. First, the results from the non-scientific Sunday Poll:
Q: Finish this statement: Monarch Butterfly Gardens in residential neighborhoods…
- …are ok if it’s not allowed to grow wild 9 [24.32%]
- TIE 8 [21.62%]
- …are more important than local “weed” laws
- …are a wonderful change from boring lawns
- TIE 5 [13.51%]
- …are great if the yard is large enough to have shorter natives around tall milkweed
- Other:
- Fine if they are kept out of the PROW
- Are maintained and in the backyard.
- should be encouraged, and perhaps rewarded.
- shorter natives plus annual flowers like zinnias, which monarchs love
- Irrelevant and belong in rural areas
- …are a nuisance 2 [5.41%]
Like many of you, I’m bored with manicured lawns — I much prefer a front-yard garden that produces fruits &/or vegetables or provides habitat for birds, butterflies, etc. Ferguson
However, as I’ve experienced with previous yards, getting the non-lawn garden to look like a planned & cared-for outcome is very tough.
![The controversial butterfly garden on Cambridge Ave on August 13th](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/3624cambridge01.jpg)
Though I’d admire Hezel for her effort to create an environment for the Monarch butterfly, she’s ignored some basic rules of good garden design.
![There's no physical barrier between the neighbors lawn and her garden. This makes it impossible to keep the grass out.](http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/3624cambridge02.jpg)
The tall plant is milkweed — a must for the Monarch butterfly. There are numerous varieties of milkweed, some aren’t as tall as the common variety. I don’t know the variety she has but my guess is it’s the tallest, not the shortest. There are tall ornamental grasses that look great when contrasted with shorter plants — but you wouldn’t fill your entire yard with pampas grass, for example.
The massing of the plants just doesn’t work. I tried to find examples of good butterfly gardens with milkweed but I had no luck. They must exist, but the people I contacted were unable to point me to any. There are great gardens with natives, but not specific Monarch butterfly gardens.
I think Hezel needs to start over, creating a barrier to the North to keep grass our of her garden. Donate the tall milkweed, and get shorter varieties.
Further reading on Monarch butterfly gardens:
— Steve Patterson