From a small Vermont countryside community comes the story of two Long Islanders who ditched mowing their massive lawn and planted wildflowers instead—delighting the neighbors, birds, bees, and butterflies.

They've steadily grown their wildflower meadow to 2-1/2 acres, which has become so popular that it's inspired others nearby to do the same.

Jonathan Yacko and Natalie Gilliard started their makeover during the pandemic when Gilliard lost her job and Yacko's hours were cut. He still worked remotely for the same company he had when they lived on Long Island, and told the Washington Post that their 5-acre property in Chittenden used to boast a sea of grass that required a whole day to mow and trim.

Wanting to do something different, they explained their predicament of exhaustive mowing to a local whom they had befriended who just so happened to work for a company called American Meadows.

It would cost a couple hundred dollars and require a fair amount of initial work, but the friend suggested they plant a wildflower meadow that would grow on its own ever afterward.

They liked the idea and so ripped up an acre's worth of grass, tugged out all the large stones, tilled the land, threw down the contents of a 50-pound bag of wildflower seed containing 27 species, and then waited.

In the spring of 2021, they arrived.

First came ‘baby's breath' or Gypsophila elegans, then came "red and yellow poppies, pink catchfly, bright orange sulphur cosmos, red columbine, and purple foxglove," reports Vermont Public, which was the couple's first taste of national media.

"We had no idea what we'd be looking at after we first planted the meadow, but that was part of the fun," Yacko told the Post.

credit – Natalie Gilliard, released to the Post

"And what's so cool is every couple of weeks the meadows look totally different," Yacko said, this time to Vermont Public. "You don't know exactly what's gonna come up or when it's going to come up and that's part of the magic."

The beauty of the meadow was striking, and soon it began to draw attention among the local community. People offered gratitude for coloring up their morning commute, people brought baked goods, bouquets, and most importantly for newcomers who had had difficulties meeting new people on Long Island, they brought friendship.

– credit, Natalie Gilliard, released to the Post.

Neighbors Jenna Baird and her partner Jacob Powsner were so inspired by the meadow that they asked to work together with Yacko and Gilliard on seeding another acre on their property to connect with an additional half-acre plot which the couple had started after their first dazzling year of blooms.

"We started this as not wanting to mow grass, never expecting it would become what it has," Yacko said. "Now we're helping the bees, we're adding beauty to the landscape and we're making the community happy."

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