In 2007, Douglas Tallamy started a polite revolution in native planting with his book Bringing Nature Home, inspiring thousands of home and commercial gardeners to use local flora to combat the threats to wildlife diversity on this planet. Recently, Charlie Maxwell of Boulder, Colo., has delivered a less-polite and much funnier call to action, called The devastating cost of America’s favorite plant | A guide to the revolution.
The Wes Anderson-influenced 23-minute video documents the environmental impact of lawns in America, and some possible drastic measures to take in response, namely the collection and spreading of seeds from native flowering plants. Maxwell defines guerilla gardening as “the act of growing plants in spaces without the proper legal permission.” It also shows him making a handmade zine called How to Kill Your Lawn—part of his make thing with hand series, illustrating how a significant portion of our landscape is made of imported grass that uses up resources and provides little habitat for native insects and birds, crowding out threatened plant species.
This year, I ripped up my own back yard, planting native flowers, shrubs and trees and scattering seeds I’ve collected from local parks. I’ve even joined my local chapter of the Georgia Native Plant Society, learning what plants would be good for the yard and how to start plants from seeds. Maxwell takes things a step further.
Check out his video below:
Josh Jackson co-founded Paste Magazine in 2002, where he serves as editor-in-chief and president of Paste Media. Follow him on Bluesky at @joshjackson or his bird photos at atl_birds on Instagram.