Picked a native plant over a fancy rose bush for my front yard and it actually worked out better.

Last spring I had to choose between a drought-tolerant local aster and a big showy rose bush, and I went with the aster. It survived the dry summer without me watering it once, and the bees won't leave it alone. Anyone else ditch the high-maintenance stuff for something local?

4 comments

4 Comments

johnson.eva17h agoMost Upvoted

It's wild how that mindset applies everywhere once you start looking. Like how people go crazy with expensive lawn fertilizers and pest control when clover and dandelions do the job for free. Or how some folks spend hours styling their hair with heat tools when a simple air dry cut works perfect. The whole "more effort = better results" thing gets pushed so hard that people forget nature already figured this out. Your aster proves that sometimes the laziest choice is actually the smartest long term move.

cora8131d ago

Yeah, makes sense. Less work usually wins in the end.

wadejenkins18h ago

Hard disagree on this one... sometimes the extra work is what makes the difference between something decent and something that actually works long term. Like, sure, you can slap a quick coat of paint on a fence and call it done, but it'll peel in six months. Taking the time to sand, prime, and do two coats saves you having to redo the whole thing next spring. Same with anything involving code or fixing a car, cutting corners usually means you're just kicking the problem down the road.

blair99017h ago

You ever notice how the fanciest stuff always needs the most babysitting? I swapped out a row of high-maintenance boxwoods for some local sedum and it just sits there looking happy through whatever weather we get. My neighbors probably think I'm being lazy but really I'm just tired of fighting nature every season.