What we’re testing
“What if lawns were better?” is a deceptively complex question. Its easy to wish a lawn was better, but it’s way harder to imagine all the possibilities. Our research has us approaching the topic from a variety of different angles.
Some of the big questions include:
How can we make existing lawns better?
One of the things lawns lack, ecologically speaking, is flowers to feed pollinators. The big option already out there for flowering lawns, white clover, adds flowers for bees while staying short and tolerating mowing. That’s a good start, but what if we could do that with native flowers instead?
We are testing both seeding and directly planting mature native flowers into existing Chicago Park District lawns, seeing if they can put up with mowing. Thus far, we’ve gotten a number of them to bloom short and can’t wait to share more as we learn more!
Additionally, our graduate student Libby Shafer is testing this out in parkways all over Evanston with her Bees on the Block program. To learn more, check out:
Sites: Greenhouse (2025), Burnham (2026+), McKinley (2026+), Bees on the Block (2026+)
Lead Expert: Libby Shafer, MS, PhD in progress
Before we started testing seeding natives into lawn in the wild, we first needed to confirm if it actually works! In a greenhouse experiment led by PhD student Libby Shafer, we tested seeding forty different native plants into pots of mature lawn grass. Libby found that the vast majority of the natives were able to germinate, a surprise to us all! More information will be available as she writes her dissertation.
Sites: Greenhouse (2025), Burnham (2026+), McKinley (2026+), Bees on the Block (2026+)
It’s one thing to be able to germinate in lawn. It’s a whole other thing to survive the amount of mowing that most lawns endure. We know that many of our native wildflowers can flower after an occasional mow, a periodic mow on the edges of trails, a chelsea chop, or a bison graze, but can they endure that every week for a whole growing season? At these sites, we are testing that to find out!
Sites: Greenhouse
Lead Expert: Alison Branz, MS
A popular thing being marketed right now is “ecograss” “low-grow” “no-mow” grass. Unlike the Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue commonly used in Midwestern yards, this is a mix of short fescues: chewings, fine, sheep, and red fescues. In theory, roots go deeper, plants grow slower, you need to mow and water less.
Alison Branz led the experiment to analyse how fine fescue mixes like this stand up against native grasses in the greenhouse. Her paper is currently in review, but the results were surprisingly positive for fine fescue. We’ll share more later as her work is published.
Rethinking Lawns 