I can see sustainable landscaping and gardening with native plants

Definition of native species
Why use native plants in landscaping?

To learn more about using native plants in landscaping (sustainable landscaping)

To plan native landscaping
To hire a native-friendly landscaper
To buy or trade native plants or seeds

To prepare, construct, plant and manage my site

Why use native plants in landscaping?

The advantages of wildscaping are many:

• More 🐦︎ songbirds, 🐝︎ pollinators, and desirable animals.
• Fewer pests.
• You can start very small, and if it works well, expand a bit more next year.

• May break up problem soils—see diagram above or to right—look at the difference in root depth!
• Reduced ♒︎ water use after the first year—see diagram above or to right—look at the difference in root depth.
• Less management after the first few years—prairies take a lot of work to establish.
• A way to reconnect with your local area.

In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty.  Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.

    — Doug Tallamy.

A society grows great
 when old [wo/]men plant trees
 whose shade they know
 they shall never sit in.

    — Greek Proverb.

The effects of replacing exotic landscaping with natives can be dramatic.  In our yard, we have seen an increase in the number of butterflies and 🐦︎ birds.  I expected that—my wife (with some 💪︎ muscle from me) had been slowly replacing some of our plants with natives.  Nothing radical, but if a non-native died or was doing poorly, we replaced it with a native.  Part of our lawn morphed into a small prairie.  Some plants got moved.  One day, I realized it had been three years since we had put out traps for those big green hard flying Japanese beetle  Popillia japonica.   Weird.  I looked around, and saw that we had crossed some threshold, maybe from 30% natives to 50% natives, and we no longer had any issues with this annoying green bug.  Apparently, you don't need perfection to restore some balance to your local ecosystem.

And my wife recalls that during our local Drought of 2013, our Wild Area was the only part of our yard that didn't suffer.  Extraordinary!

On a smaller scale, perhaps you have an apartment, with room only for a few containers.  Maybe include a local keystone species.  Even a single pot containing a ⚘❀ native wildflower (in my area, perhaps butterfly milkweed  Asclepias tuberosa ) could:

• refresh a tired migrator (in my area, perhaps monarch butterfly  Danaus plexippus ),
• allowing it to reach someone else's yard down the street, and then a larger project—perhaps at a park or school.

Small steps still help!

On a larger scale, our local Ranger Steve—and family—turned part of their larger property into an unofficial Ody Brook Nature Sanctuary, named after their dog.  Here are Ranger Steve's tips to restore biodiversity where you live. [1]

Also on a larger scale, there are efforts to educate land managers on the advantages of including Wild Areas in their plans and operations:  school districts, library districts, road commissions, and utilities with right-of-ways (e.g., under powerlines and over pipelines).  Can make this a win-win situation.  Good idea!

If half of American lawns were replaced with native plants, we would create the equivalent of a 20 million acre national park — nine times bigger than Yellowstone, or 100 times bigger than Shenandoah National Park.

    — Doug Tallamy, who later started the Homegrown National Park.

On a 🌎︎ global scale, combining private efforts like the above with public efforts like parks and wildlife sanctuaries, The Half Earth Project seeks to allocate half the area of 🌏︎ our planet for nature's use.  I do not yet understand the details, but the concept is intriguing!

Do what you can,
  with what you have,
  where you are.

    — Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the 🇺🇸 USA.

Tomorrow there'll be more of us.

    — historic character John Laurent in Hamilton:  An American Musical.

References

^[1]  Steve's actions are supported by the flip-side argument "Redefining Curb Appeal:  Homeowners are recognizing the value of replacing front lawns with native plants."  National Wildlife Federation.  March 30, 2015.   Accessed 2018-11-15.

To plan native landscaping

👤︎ On a personal scale:

• People with a small space may want their space to look larger.
• Others plan their landscaping to enhance ecosystem diversity and complexity.
• Others plan their landscaping to attract local 🐦︎ songbirds and charismatic megafauna, by using native plants that will feed them:
   ◦  directly (via their fruit, flowers or leaves), or
   ◦  indirectly (by feeding local insects, that will then feed your desired animals or their young).

👥︎ On a community scale, The Politics of Planting Natives:  How One Village Went Wild.

All these groups may reach their objectives by planning their landscaping using several layers:

• Canopy trees layer, consisting of original mature trees.
  Please leave standing old dying and dead trees, to provide food and nesting space for woodpeckers and other 🐦︎ birds and 🐢︎🐇︎🐜︎🐛︎ animals.
  If you live in a desert area, consider creating the canopy layer first — your other layers will be happier!
• Small trees layer, forming the "middle story" of the woodland plant community.
  Native examples in North America.
  Kelly D. Norris recommends tupelo  genus Nyssa.
• Shrub layer of bushes.
  This author's family removed a lot of this in our backyard, to make room for the other layers.
  Kelly D. Norris recommends viburnum  genus Viburnum.
• Herbaceous layer that die back to soil-level at the end of the growing season.  These may be combinations of:
   ◦  Annuals.   Easiest to move around and play with in your garden or landscaping.
   ◦  Biennials.   Can move around.
   ◦  Perennials.   Be patient.  In North American areas to which it is native, Kelly D. Norris recommends prairie smoke  Geum triflorum.
• Ground cover layer of plants that spread horizontally.
• Rhizosphere or underground layer of plants grown for their roots and tubers.
• Vertical layer of ☙ vines and climbers.
  Kelly D. Norris recommends clematis  genus Clematis.
• 🍄︎ Fungus / mushroom  kingdom Fungi layer.  You need good soil —soil that has structure, is complex, and alive!   "Underground fungal relationships key to thriving plants." "Tree microbes could help crops draw phosphorous from fertilized soil." "How to Improve Clay Soil for Better Gardening."
• Nitrogen fixers, somewhere in the above mix.
  Kelly D. Norris recommends legumes / peas  family Fabaceae such as milkvetch  genus Astragalus native to your area.

Begin with as much biodiversity as you can fit or afford.

    — Steve Keto.

Martha's Laws of Gardening:

1. If a plant in your yard isn't doing anything for you (particularly if not providing your desired ecosystem services ), get rid of it.
   If possible, identify a replacement plant ahead of time.
2. If a plant isn't happy where it is in your yard, move it.
3. If you need a new plant, think about what you want there.  Consider a native.
4. I am now less willing to fuss.

    — Martha MacCleery.

Keep your neighbors happy, by keeping things tidy, perhaps by adding some cues to care:

• Keep driver sight-lines functional by keeping roadside plantings knee- or waist-high or so.
   ◦  If the flower- or seed-heads are thin enough, you can probably ignore that part.
   ◦  If your plants are too high, move them further from the road, or cut them low ( mow? ) before they grow tall and flower, e.g., June in the 🌐︎ Northern Hemisphere, December in the 🌐︎ Southern Hemisphere.
  
  
• Keep a nice edge, a border, maybe ½ m (👟︎👟︎ a foot or two) wide, especially along your sidewalk, road or path.  Options include:
   ◦  Mowing this strip.
   ◦  Trimming plants to the ground, finishing with nice mulch.  Perhaps local hardwood chips (they don't float away during moderate rain) or double-ground pine bark mulch.  In some areas, river rocks or lava stones.  Ask your local mulch enthusiasts!
  
  
• Install an informative sign, perhaps titled Certified Wildlife Habitat, Pollinator Habitat, Pollinator Habitat (another one), Native Plant Butterfly Garden, Certified Butterfly Garden, or Monarch Waystation.

NWF's Trees for Wildlife guide:  Planning, Planting and Caring for Trees  
Ten Steps to a Successful Wildflower Planting
Rain Garden 101.   Iowa Rain Garden Design and Installation Manual, including size and cost.  (page 8)   Rain garden (rainscaping)[?] and prairie site selection, design, 🚧 construction and management. 
What native plants you can plant over a septic drain field.

To replace part of your 🌾︎ grass turf lawn, turning it into a garden or prairie:

1. Plan how much area of turf you want replaced.
    ◦  Mark out your new garden or prairie, perhaps with an old hose, rope or flags.
    ◦  Adjust as much as you want, walking all around the area, inspecting views from many locations or paths, looking at sun hours and angles, until you are happy with it.
    ◦  If you have underground sprinklers, mark any interior sprinkler heads with a flag.  Actually, mark nearby exterior sprinkler heads with flags, too, so you can see if the spray pattern is OK.  If bad, tell your support team what will need to be moved where.
   
   
2. Start planning or acquiring plants or seeds to put in that area.  Preferably native plants as defined at top, from sources listed below.
    ◦  If plants arrive too early, plant temporarily in a holding area.
    ◦  If needed, surround your holding area with a deer-exclosure cage. 
   
   
3. Choose your method to kill your turf (or invasive plants):
    ◦  Some people cover with clear plastic, but I have not.
       I hear that this is epic fail — your turf (or invasive plants) grow very well under the clear plastic, and enjoy to warmer temperatures and moisture trapped underneath.
    ◦  Some people cover with black plastic, but I have not.
       I hear that it works well, but looks unsightly while it is killing your turf.
    ◦  Some people cover with felted-plastic landscaping cloth, but I have not.
    ◦  Some people use herbicide.  I tried that once, ineffectively.  Applying more, totaling 3 times the rate specified on the label, got me to partly-effective.
       Now that I know the 📄︎🛂︎ label is the law, I will never do that again.
    ◦  Some people use a shovel.  I have done this, for 2 or 3 years, totaling maybe 150 sq m (1,500 sq ft).
       Works OK if you are young or strong.  Found I preferred a flat-bottom shovel to do the cut, pushed along by banging with the heel of my stiff-soled boots.  Can get only so much done a day, and you have to dispose of the cut turf.
    ◦  Some people use a sod-cutting machine, but I have not.
       I hear that it works well, although expensive to rent, and you have to dispose of the cut turf.
    ◦  Some people cover with cardboard.  I have seen the following method work very well …
   
   
4. Have your cardboard acquisition team start acquiring cardboard boxes to lay over that turf.
    ◦  Select boxes that are:
        ◦  No waterproof coatings:  not plastic nor wax.
        ◦  No glossy coatings:  not plastic nor clay.
        ◦  Any amount of ink OK, including solid white or black.
        ◦  Minimum holes in the interior.  For example, produce boxes usually have lots of ventilation holes.  The next box-layer is going to have to cover up all those holes.
        ◦  Pizza boxes are great!
    ◦  Get from:
        ◦  Costco first hour of day, or after they have restocked their shelves and brought empty boxes to the front.
        ◦  Don't take all of their boxes.  Leave some for customers to take home their purchases.
        ◦  Nest boxes if possible.  Try to envision how they will fit in your car.
        ◦  Put on top of cart, or walk out with two big armloads.
        ◦  On way out, pick up and move up and down, showing they are empty, without entrained merchandize.
    ◦  An even better source is our local franchise retailer Wild Birds Unlimited, who lets us drive up, ask for any knocked-down cardboard they still have in the store's backroom, take it (saves them from having to carry it out), and then check their strip mall's common cardboard-recycling dumpster.
        ◦  There are lots of signs saying 📹︎ cameras in use and no dumping, but nothing about taking excess cardboard.  Understandable, as it is completely legal here to take anyone's refuse.  Once, a police car drove by, but me being white and middle-aged, paid me no notice.
        ◦  From the dumpster, I can choose their largest pieces, with a minimum of internal voids.
    ◦  Other sources?
    ◦  When get home, break them down (cut paper tape, remove plastic tape, and tear glued joints), and store flat in garage or (if going to use later that day) on top of car.
    ◦  Plan your next trip to get more boxes.  There is no way that you got is enough.
   
   
5. When you have your perimeter planned, your plants and seeds planned or on-site, and your first batch of cardboard on-site, within your kill zone:
    ◦  lay down cardboard on grass turf,
    ◦  2-3 layers deep,
    ◦  with subsequent layers covering up any gaps or holes in the previous layer.
   
   
6. If  📅︎ schedule, ☀︎ daylight, or ☁ rainclouds force you to break here, or you fear winds will remove or raccoons will disturb your cardboard, put some stones on top of the cardboard.
    ◦  We borrowed stones from below our gutter downspout splashblocks, and from our dry creek bed/water channel through the little ridge to get rainwater away from our house.
   
   
7. On top of cardboard, put a layer of mulch from your mulch pile.  You know you have been keeping one.  Close that loop!  [TODO:  Have EP write up a couple things to make this less work.]
   
   
8. On top of that, put on any top-dressings, such as double-grind pine bark mulch.
    ◦  If that gets washed or blown away, cover instead with:
       (A) pine bark nuggets , or
       (B) hardwood chips -- they don't float.
    ◦  Even now, putting some stones on top will help keep everything in place.  After a couple rains or waterings, the cardboard gets kinda gooey and the mulch kinda sticks together;  you can move the stones onto your next section or put them back where they belong.
   
   
9. Let it rain on this area, and/or water it periodically as you would the rest of your lawn.
   
   
10. Wait 3 months for the turf to die and decompose.  Or if you don't have that much time, rely on the cardboard and dirt to kill most of the turf, while your new plantings poke through.
    
    
11. When ready to plant, put plants (still in their pots or whatever) on top of everything else, all over your area, roughly where you think they will go.
    
    
12. Move your plants around as much as you want, until you are happy with their locations:
     ◦  distance from each other,
     ◦  distance from the edge,
     ◦  access to sunlight,
     ◦  cool groupings,
     ◦  et al.
    
    
13. Plant your garden!
    FOR each plant:
     ◦  Put the tip of your hori-hori soil knife, trowel, or planting shovel where your plant will go, and move aside your plant a convenient distance.
     ◦  Dig a hole at your target location, right through the top-dress, mulch and cardboard.
         ◦  If you want to be really neat about it, bring a stray scrap of cardboard or plywood to lay out your nice top-dress, mulch and stuff, while you dig your hole and plant your plant.  This way, after your plant is in the ground, you have a chance of having enough mulch and top-dress to make it look pretty, without having to get more.
         ◦  With any luck, your cardboard has been rained on or watered enough, and been there long enough, that it will be gooey.
     ◦  Plant your plant, as you would have if your garden soil had been totally prepared.
     ◦  If your plant or soil needs it, add a bit of fertilizer to the soil in your hole, or water your newly-planted plant with water containing fertilizer.
     ◦  Regardless of the above, water it well!
    End FOR.  Go on to your next plant.
    
    
14. Keep your new plants well-watered and -protected for next two weeks, and the remainder of their first growing season.
    
    
15. Put a nice edge on it.
    
    
16. Enjoy your new garden!

    — Martha MacCleery.

If you have erosion along a streambank, lakeshore, bluff, or road slope (or you have a floodplain or stormwater detention pond), look into a process called live-staking,  using species native to your area, such as ◼︎ gray dogwood  Cornus racemosa, ◼︎ red osier or red twig dogwood  Cornus sericea, balsam poplar  Populus balsamifera, ◼︎ black cottonwood  Populus trichocarpa, ◼︎ black willow  Salix nigra, ◼︎ American black elderberry / 🇨🇦 Canadian elderberry / common elderberry  Sambucus canadensis, and ➳ southern arrowwood viburnum  Viburnum dentatum.

🌐︎ Global, and in the 🇺🇸 USA, ▭ 🔍︎ mapping tools.

In North America, NWF's Host Plants for Butterfly and Moth Caterpillars by Eco Region.
In North America, more planning …

In the 🇺🇸 USA, NWF's Native Plant Finder:  native plants that attract butterflies and moths, and support 🐦︎ birds and other fauna > Find Native Plants > yourZipCode.
In the 🇺🇸 USA, Audubon's Native Plant Finder:  native plants that support 🐦︎ birds > yourZipCode (no email needed) > button Search.

In Western New York, Policy on Usage of Indigenous Plant Species in Landscaping (Seneca Nation of Indians).  (pages 57-65)

To hire a native-friendly landscaper

In Minnesota, please see native plant suppliers and landscapers in Minnesota.

In West Michigan near Grand Rapids, please see a designer in the Native Plant Guild NPG.

In 🇺🇸 USA:

• Contact your local chapter of Wild Ones (native plant enthusiasts Healing the earth, one yard at a time) (Facebook).
• See the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's National Suppliers Directory > yourZipCode > button go.

To buy or trade native plants or seeds in Michigan

Local (many of these plant sales are also listed in Statewide section below ) (these dates change frequently—please ☑ 📅︎ verify dates with applicable organization!):

• In West Michigan near Allegan County:
   ◦  April fourth-Friday/Saturday  Allegan Conservation District tree seedling sale pick up orders.
   ◦  May second-Friday/Saturday Allegan Conservation District native plant sale pick up orders.
• In West Michigan near Kalamazoo County:
   ◦  anytime                     list from Wild Ones Kalamazoo Area Chapter and Native Connections.
   ◦  May third-Friday/Sat Wild Ones Kalamazoo Area Chapter native plant sale pick up orders.
   ◦  June first-Sunday     Wild Ones Kalamazoo Area Chapter spring plant exchange.
   ◦  August last-Sunday Wild Ones Kalamazoo Area Chapter autumn plant exchange.
• In West Michigan near Kent County and Grand Rapids.
• In West Michigan near Lake County:
   ◦  March second-Friday           Mason-Lake Conservation District spring tree sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April fourth-Friday/Saturday Mason-Lake Conservation District spring tree sale pick up orders.
• In West Michigan near Mason County:
   ◦  March second-Friday           Mason-Lake Conservation District spring tree sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April fourth-Friday/Saturday Mason-Lake Conservation District spring tree sale pick up orders.
• In West Michigan near Montcalm County:
   ◦  May last-Saturday/Sunday Montcalm Area Master Gardener Association's plant sale.
• In West Michigan near Muskegon County:
   ◦  March third-Friday   MuskegonCD spring tree seedling sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April third-Saturday MuskegonCD spring tree seedling sale pick up orders, or browse 'n buy.
• In West Michigan near Newaygo County:
   ◦  June third-Saturday perhaps, details in April NewaygoCD native plant sale.
• In West Michigan near Oceana County:
   ◦  March third-Friday   OceanaCD tree sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April third-Saturday OceanaCD tree sale pick up orders.
   ◦  May last-Friday        OceanaCD native plant sale.
• In West Michigan near Ottawa County:
   ◦  April first-Wednesday OttawaCD tree seedling sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April third-Friday         OttawaCD tree seedling sale pick up orders.
   ◦  April fourth-Monday    OttawaCD native plant sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  May third-Saturday     OttawaCD native plant sale pick up orders.
  
  
• In Mid-Michigan near Lansing:
   ◦  various times Wild Ones Red Cedar Chapter native Michigan plant sale, and lists of mid-Michigan native plant sales and native plant nurseries.
  
  
• In Central-Lower-Michigan:
   ◦  April first-Thursday Midland Conservation District reforestation tree sale 📝︎ order by.
   ◦  April third-week      Midland Conservation District reforestation tree sale pick up orders.
  
  
• In Southeast Michigan near Oakland County:
   ◦  June first-Saturday North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy NOHLC native plant sale.

Statewide:

• Michigan native plant vendors.
• Wildflower Association of Michigan.
• Michigan Native Plant Producers Association MNPPA.
• MIgardener (sells non-natives, but their fruit, vegetable and herb seeds may be of interest to Michigan 🌱︎🚶︎  gardeners).
• Bloom dates for native herbaceous perennial beneficial-insect-attracting plants.  (page 58)

To prepare, construct, plant and manage my site

Mowing my 🌾︎ grass turf lawn.   "How to Improve Clay Soil for Better Gardening." "Hazards to Outdoor Workers" by 🇺🇸 USA CDC NIOSH.

Ten Steps to a Successful Wildflower Planting.

NWF's Trees for Wildlife guide:  Planning, Planting and Caring for Trees   (page 13)

In West Michigan near Grand Rapids, please see a landscaper/restorer in the Native Plant Guild NPG.

Rain Garden 101.
Iowa Rain Garden Design and Installation Manual, including size and cost.  (page 8)
Rain garden (rainscaping)[?] and prairie site selection, design, 🚧 construction and management. 
For full effect, select the video image above or to left, then icons ⛶ fullscreen, ㏄ captions , ▶︎ Play, and ⏯︎ ☒ Skip Ads.

Martha's Laws of Gardening:

1. If a plant in your yard isn't doing anything for you (particularly if not providing your desired ecosystem services ), get rid of it.
   If possible, identify a replacement plant ahead of time.
2. If a plant isn't happy where it is in your yard, move it.
3. If you need a new plant, think about what you want there.  Consider a native.
4. I am now less willing to fuss.

    — Martha MacCleery.

Keep your neighbors happy, by keeping things tidy, perhaps by adding some cues to care:

• Keep driver sight-lines functional by keeping roadside plantings knee- or waist-high or so.
   ◦  If the flower- or seed-heads are thin enough, you can probably ignore that part.
   ◦  If your plants are too high, move them further from the road, or cut them low ( mow? ) before they grow tall and flower, e.g., June in the 🌐︎ Northern Hemisphere, December in the 🌐︎ Southern Hemisphere.
  
  
• Keep a nice edge, a border, maybe ½ m (👟︎👟︎ a foot or two) wide, especially along your sidewalk, road or path.  Options include:
   ◦  Mowing this strip.
   ◦  Trimming plants to the ground, finishing with nice mulch.  Perhaps local hardwood chips (they don't float away during moderate rain) or double-ground pine bark mulch.  In some areas, river rocks or lava stones.  Ask your local mulch enthusiasts!
  
  
• Install an informative sign, perhaps titled Certified Wildlife Habitat, Pollinator Habitat, Pollinator Habitat (another one), Native Plant Butterfly Garden, Certified Butterfly Garden, or Monarch Waystation.

In 🍂︎ autumn, leave your dried stalks up—with their seedheads!

In ❄ winter, they will add visual interest.  Especially with snow on them!  And will bring a smile to your face every time you return home!

In deepest winter (for us, mid-February), with these seedheads beautifully sticking up through the snow, birds will eat some of the seeds.  Including birds that until now, have shown no interest in them!  I infer that most birds don't like to eat these seeds, but with winter is at its toughest, they are OK!  (Don't worry, the birds always drop or leave half, so there is plenty to seed next year's prairie, and for me to collect and give away!)

In ⚘ spring, before you do lots of traipsing around in your garden, cutting down the stalks, or burning it as below, wait until:
 ◦  [precise] the soil temperature gets to 7-10°C (45-50°F) (use and electronic kitchen thermometer or something),
 ◦  [easier] something else in your yard flowers (like your early ankle-high flowers, or forsythia  genus Forsythia ),
 ◦  [practical] the last weekend for which you can get a burn permit.
❄🐝︎ Overwintering bees will love you!

The 🔥︎💦︎🌱︎☀︎🌾︎🐛︎🐦︎ prescribed fire/controlled burn plan for my own area is 🚧 under construction.

Until published, please see This Tree LOVES FIRE (longleaf pine  Pinus palustris), and 🔥︎💦︎🌱︎☀︎🌾︎🐛︎🐦︎ prescribed burn videos.   If you are still serious, contact your local agencies, and study applicable parts of NWCG training courses S-130 🚒︎ Firefighter Training and S-190 🔥︎ Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior and S-212 🔥︎ Wildland Fire Chain Saws student handbook. 

"How Indigenous Burning Practices Could Prevent Massive Wildfires."  NPR radio show Science Friday.  September 25, 2020. or its 🔊︎ audio

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🏠︎ 🏠︎ home page invasive plants

Japanese barberry  Berberis thunbergii Oriental bittersweet  Celastrus orbiculatus 🌰︎ American chestnut  Castanea dentata northern bush honeysuckle  Diervilla lonicera autumn olive  Elaeagnus umbellata 🇪🇺 European beech  Fagus sylvatica ◼︎ copper or ◼︎ purple 🇪🇺 European beech  Fagus sylvatica purpurea lesser celandine or fig buttercup  Ficaria verna American witch-hazel  Hamamelis virginiana dame's rocket  Hesperis matronalis 🇪🇺 European privet  Ligustrum vulgare
Bell's honeysuckle  Lonicera ×bella Japanese honeysuckle  Lonicera japonica Amur honeysuckle  Lonicera maackii Morrow's honeysuckle  Lonicera morrowii Tatarian honeysuckle  Lonicera tatarica ◼︎ purple loosestrife  Lythrum salicaria
phlox  genus Phlox 🍐︎ common pear  Pyrus communis
wild rice  Zizania aquatica northern wild rice  Zizania palustris

🏠︎ Eric Piehl comments on … 🌲︎ green (environmental) topics … mowing your 🌾︎ grass turf lawn … installing, using and managing rain barrels … West Michigan, in and around Kent County and Grand Rapids