Progress Not Perfection - Easy Ways to Be Green

April 8, 2026

by Donna Hemann

Happy Spring Neighbors!

Last month's public policy blog covered strategies for being 'Green' and focused on recycling plus the City's Yard Ethic Program. At our March UHNA Board meeting, Loring Bullard of the James River Basin partnership reiterated some of the strategies I wrote about and shared an idea about environmentally-conscious yard care that got me thinking. Bullard encouraged homeowners to make backyards the focal point of their eco-preservation efforts, aiming for progress, not perfection. The reasoning behind this is sound; some people feel pressured to maintain a front yard reminiscent of Andy Griffith's Mayberry, with flowers placed perfectly, bushes impeccably trimmed and overall pristine tidiness. Not everyone feels that way of course, but it is a common type of pressure experienced in suburbia, where houses are very close to each other. By concentrating on the back yard, we can get a bit more wild, literally, in our eco efforts. Here's some suggestions I dug up (lol), from research and personal experience:

1. Create Habitat Areas - Leave some dead leaves, branches and other debris in designated areas to shelter insects and small animals.

2. Provide a Circulating Water Source - Man made sources can be a breeding space for mosquitoes, viruses, mold and bacteria if not cleaned regularly and managed just right, so strive for features with circulating water. Features like this have a wide price range (some can be expensive) but the joy they bring to homeowners and the benefits they provide to wildlife are priceless.

3. Focus on Prevention vs. Eradication of Unwanted 'Pests,' Both Flora and Fauna.

Deter Ants With Home Repairs and Diatomaceous Earth - Sweet eating ants may be the 'pest' people spend more time and money eradicating than any other. Instead, eliminate access into the house. Tuckpoint, caulk, weather strip, etc. all areas where ants can get in. If you have ants living in the walls after eliminating access and you can't wait for them to die off naturally, use a thin line of food grade, diatomaceous earth indoors behind outlets and along the caulk line of counters and windowsills. NEVER use anything besides FOOD grade; pool grade and other types of diatomaceous earth can cause illness and injury. Food grade diatomaceous earth works better than any pesticide and is completely safe as long as you don't inhale the dust when applying. My goal is to not use it all, but I will have to tuckpoint this spring.

Use Animal Safe Chimney Caps (caps that don't allow birds, bats , squirrels and racoons in).

Keep Recycling Bins and Dumpsters Clean - Hose out at least quarterly.

Eliminate Rodenticides - If you use a company for "pest prevention," request that they do not use bait stations for mice. We have many free roaming cats, fox and hawks in our neighborhood. The poison is cumulative and can be deadly (despite sales people's claims to the contrary). Our neighborhood cats actually do an amazing job of keeping the mouse population in check, but we must do our part to protect them and deter unwanted rodent access into our homes.

Use Native Plants to Minimize Weeds - A weed to one person is a flower to another. Having said that, here's some plants that inhibit weed spread:

Golden Ragwort - An evergreen groundcover for sun or shade. Blooms April-June.

Crested Iris - A low growing, early blooming ground cover that creates dense mat in shady to partly sunny areas. Blooms April and May.

Wild Strawberry - A sun loving ground cover that spreads fast. Food for fox, squirrels, eastern box turtles, rabbit and deer. Flowers in April and May; fruits June and July.

Purple Poppy Mallow - 2019 Native of the Year, this long blooming, low growing ground cover can take over, choking out weeds.

University Heights boasts some of the prettiest gardens I've seen among Springfield neighborhoods. I am excited to do further research on native weed-deterring plants and to be growing (wink wink) the backyard idea. Hope you'll explore or expand on this idea too. It can be easy being Green!