Pollinators Are in Trouble. Here's How Transforming Your Lawn Into a Native Wildflower Habitat Can Help

Anyone can build a tiny habitat amidst the sea of green that is our lawns. Whether it’s a strip of right-of-way outside your urban apartment, your manicured suburban lawn or many mowed acres surrounding your house in the countryside, we’ve all got a little sod we could consider giving back to nature. Researchers have been learning more and more about declines in native pollinators, all while finding out the ways mowed, watered, fertilized and herbicided lawns can negatively affect the environment. That’s why University of Central Florida entomologist Barbara Sharanowski teamed up with ecologist Nash Turley to create the Lawn to Wildflowers program. They’ve developed an app to coach users on how to turn any patch of lawn into native wildflower habitat; it will also collect valuable data. Discover spoke with Sharanowski about the new project, which launched in May 2020.