Our lawn was a complete mess when we got it and was full of dead grass when we bought it a few years ago. We are up here in Minnesota so a little colder than Chicago land but similar climate/ Here is what we have done to upgrade it to more “no lawn”. First off is mow less and remove all fertilizers which I assume you have already done. We have been putting down tons of White Dutch Clover in both the early spring and fall which has just started to bloom this year. We have also been putting down Self Heal and Creeping Thyme which we got from Flawn which we put down over the winter. Not sure what is coming up from that yet. We are going to do their English Daisy in our side lawn.

We have been more focused on our garden which we are planting both natives, edibles and medicinal perennial plants. That has been bringing in bees and other valuable plants. I would recommend Prairie Moon for natives for both research and to purchase seeds. We cut down some trees between our fence and alleyway and put down native last fall. We got some blooms this year but most won’t come until next year. The whole thing is a process since we are dealing growing things. The goal is a stable ecosystem which means things will change every year with plants coming and going as their niches get filled and created.

I’m in the PNW so we don’t have a lot of overlap in native species, however I can recommend selfheal. Selfheal is a great ground cover that’s native to much of the US (including Cook Co). If you let it grow it gets to be about a foot high, but you can also mow it and it’ll stay more grass height. It produces little purple flowers and is evergreen in my area (but probably not yours). I haven’t had any luck getting it to self propagate or germinate from seeds I’ve spread in the yard, but the plants I’ve germinated in pots (super easy) and planted in the ground have established and are still doing great years later. In other words, you can grow in amongst grass ala clover, or let it grow as a standalone plant.

But I guess that leads me to my main question, which is do you want to forego having a “lawn” entirely, or do you still want an area that can support foot traffic, but populated with lawn-substitute plants (eg native grasses and grass-companions like clover and selfheal)?

Haha my yard is also a mess although that doesn’t bother me. It’s got lots of little nooks and crannies for critters to hide, lots of leaf litter, multiple stories of vegetation. It’s hands off but I plant something back there once or twice a year. I get a fair amount of wildlife back there, including forest-obligate bird species so even though few people would call it beautiful, I think I’m doing OK with it.

Maybe we should have a no-judgement day or thread so people can post their yards without worrying how close they are to the platonic ideal of a perfect native plant garden.

Buy a shitload of native groundcover seed and till the ground and mix it all in?

I guess it depends on where you are in Chicagoland, but if possible, you could burn your lawn. Much of the Chicago area should be a burr oak savanna . It’s a fire-adapted prairie ecosystem. You could buy seed, but honestly, there’s plenty of ways to get seed from native plants living in local ditches, waysides, and parks.

Ever since i heard of this concept i was very interested. Love the idea of planting something other than grass that takes less or no water. I think thats awesome so thanks for making these communities!

As for your lawn, we all get busy man. Stuff falls through the cracks. Dishes dont get done, laundry goes unfolded and some shrubs get a bit too long but thats ok.