The cost of doing nothing
An open backyard heats up, sheds water, and offers nothing to the local ecosystem. Every square metre of bare turf is a square metre working against you — more mowing, more runoff, less life.
Insights, News
June 2026
The case against the empty backyard
An empty backyard is rarely a blank canvas — more often it is a missed opportunity. Bare lawn and paving may look tidy, but they give little back to the people who live around them or the wildlife that once called the place home.
This piece makes the case for filling that space with intention: layered planting, shade, and habitat that turn an unused rectangle into somewhere you actually want to be.
Groundcovers soften the hard edges of the original paving.
A once-empty lawn, reimagined as a layered native garden.
Dense planting draws birds and pollinators back into the yard.
Even a narrow border adds year-round structure.
What a planted yard gives back
Fill the space and the returns compound: cooler ground, cleaner air, privacy, and a steady rhythm of flowering through the seasons. The backyard stops being a chore and starts being a room.
The empty backyard
- Little to maintain, but little to enjoy
- Heat, glare, and stormwater runoff
- No habitat for birds or pollinators
The planted backyard
- Shade, privacy, and seasonal colour
- A cooler microclimate and better drainage
- A living habitat that improves each year
