KC Clark - Zone 2012-6a OH that is a shame the plants were removed. I've seen it happen in both my parents' previous homes - plants removed & area 'tidied up'. I sometimes wonder what will happen to my garden when I move, I am adding native plants etc. I just hope 'pollinator gardening' will have become mainstream by then & the plants will be appreciated as a valuable resource by the next person.

That is what I fear:. People tearing it up and/or spraying the chemicals. I assume people are slowly waking up to the problem---elementary school children in Virginia are expected to know that they can help the environment by planting natives! However, not enough emphasis can be placed on the word "slowly."

We just bought our house and the PO has a beautiful hummingbird and butterfly garden (a couple really) but had let it overgrow. We love birds and beneficial bugs but not the overgrowth so started pulling some of the million milk weeds, well about 1/4 of the way through I googled it and realized monarchs need the milkweed so I halted father in laws progress. I could easily see someone else having ripped everything out though since it all appeared just "overgrown". We are going to cycle though a year to find out what is what at this point.

That sounds like a good plan! Maybe a butterfly-friendly, pollinator-friendly garden will never look totally manicured, but on the other hand I think we're right to want our gardens to look cared-for and presentable. It's good to take the time to learn and observe before making major changes.

That sounds like an interesting opportunity to observe and research! People have commented that my garden is unorthodox.....but I already knew that.

The grass area to the right is the area that had way too many milkweed. I am okay with non-manicured as it requires less care lol. We are leaving all the milk weed by the pond. This grass area has some shorter plants and some bushes that I would like to isolate in the grass

front area under window also needs something, rock maybe?

Pond area

What is that tall grass growing in the front yard? Is it just standard grass that has grown tall (which may have very limited ecological purpose), or is it something else? Carex/sedges are native grass look-alikes.

Front of house

Well that is the question, it is very uniform in texture and height as opposed to the actual grass.... It is inside the planting bed as outlined by pavers..