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I miss the night
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this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2026
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Nature and Gardening
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Don't despair there are small and real things you can do to get insects back in your own yard. Last year I had fireflies in my urban yard. We haven't sprayed any herbicides, fertilizer or pesticides in a few years. We have planted a few natives and put clover in our lawn. The insects were quick to come to us. So much so our neighbors commented and planted some wildflowers in their hell strip. We got a grant to plant more this year (198 2" seedlings). So you can do something.
There's more lawn than national parks by surface area in the USA and they have the largest resource use. Be the change
No clover. Too shady, but I did look into it. Had to go with a shade/drought tolerant grass. I planted shade wildflowers and they just germinated. If the deer don't eat them, I might just plant them these here two bags of cereal rye in return.
Actually, our house stands apart on our street for the very reasons you describe. We're those weirdos too. Lotta stone. Lotta stumps. Lotta plant life. Lotta natural. No pesticides. Nice to meet you. Grats on your grant. That would be pretty cool.
This native plant finder can help you find native plants that will attract the insects and other life you're hoping to entice. The associations listed are the research results of Doug Tallamy and other researchers. And as Tallamy says, plant for specialist insects and you'll attract generalists as well.
Off the top of my head, plants like canadian ginger, serviceberries, purple flowering raspberries (R. odoratus), and members of the worts can do a lot of restoration work in moderate to deep shade. Having a patch of grass that doesn't get mowed is a huge boon to many insects, as is leaving any mowed grass clippings around other plants as mulch. Lightning bugs in particular require grass debris or patches where it got so long it fell over to complete their life cycle.
Thanks for the plant finder. There were clearly a few things missing from the list, but it was correct in the results that showed as I was familiar with most. Over half are growing up there right now, though not so well. It's just a rough patch of property.
I went with a lawn grass that is drought and shade resistant. I pick up our 150lb mulch mower and carry it up the hill manually. It's awful and brutal, but the back can endure it so far. The first patch got mowed last Saturday at it's 30 day mark, and looks fan-fuggin-tastic. Have to see how it holds when the dry season hits. We got skimped on our rain last week, and everything started drying out. I had to lug 45 gallons of water up the hill manually to water the new patch with a watering can.