Mass. town ditches lawns for flowers

Alice Johnson, a 72-year-old retiree and Watertown, Mass., resident, maintains a colorful garden on Hillside Road.

“Since then, I think it’s become more common, partially because people really don’t want to invest the effort in keeping up a lawn,” Johnson said. “I mean, lawns are really a headache.”

Johnson has balloon flowers, black-eyed Susans, clethra, goldenrod, roses, a shadbush, zinnias in her front and side yards, and a vegetable garden around back. 

Another resident, Charlo Maurer, has become a leader in the local front yard garden movement, hosting a plant swap each spring and autumn where neighbors can bring cuttings or plants that have run out of room and trade them with neighbors.

In her own garden, Maurer focuses on plants native to New England, many of which grow well in shade, though a few come from further afield. Her garden is filled with plants like Arkansas blue star, beard-tongue, blue false indigo, foamflower and white snakeroot.

Read more about this growing trend and see garden photos here.