Rewilding My Lawn - Part Two

Stephanie Hanlon
Apr 15
5 min read

Updated: Apr 16

Part Two: Plants I Chose

In the final installment of her rewilding series, Stephanie Hanlon shares how she transformed her Mableton lawn. Catch up on Part One here.

Not everything growing in my rewilded garden arrived on its own.

After learning to read what was already there, I began thoughtfully introducing plants chosen for beauty, ecology, usefulness, and resilience. Every plant on this list has earned its place.

As I walk through the garden now, creeping thyme releases fresh scent underfoot, I kneel to enjoy the soft texture of lamb's ear, and the pink sorrel never fails to bring me joy at its insistent blooms.

I went into this sure of only one thing: cut grass was doing nothing for me or the planet.

I came out the other side with a profound new understanding of what it means to be a human in harmony with the land.

Here are just a few of my favorite ground covers that I introduced on my historic Mableton property and which are thriving and expanding.

The benefits of rewilding your lawn extend far beyond medicinal and food self-sufficiency.

When you replace a monoculture of turfgrass with a diverse tapestry of ground covers, you begin to participate in something much larger than your own yard.

A living, layered ground plane keeps the soil cool during brutal Georgia summers — reducing the urban heat island effect one property at a time. Deep-rooted plants knit the earth together, fighting erosion on slopes and creating a natural buffer against the flooding and runoff that increasingly threaten our communities. Unlike compacted turf, a rewilded ground layer acts like a sponge — slowing stormwater, allowing it to percolate down into the water table rather than rushing across hardscape and overwhelming drainage systems.

In an era of intensifying storms and unpredictable weather, that kind of natural infrastructure isn't just beautiful — it's protective. Flowering ground covers keep native pollinators fed across the seasons, and pollinators, of course, are the quiet architects of our entire food system.

There is no getting around the truth of it: our success as people — our food, our medicine, our very air — is inseparable from the health of our natural environment.

Every patch of living, diverse ground we restore is a small act of repair in a much larger story.

If you're ready to start your own rewilding journey, the University of Georgia has put together an excellent resource on native plants suited to our region: Read more.

Lawn alternatives I successfully introduced in my Mableton yard.

🐑 Lamb's Ear Stachys byzantina

Season: Semi-evergreen to evergreen. Silvery rosettes persist year-round in mild winters, dying back only in hard freezes.

Edible / Medicinal: Young leaves edible, with a mild minty flavor — excellent as natural food wrappers. Medicinally, the soft woolly leaves act as natural bandages: mildly antiseptic and astringent for cuts, scrapes, and bee stings.

Ecological Impact: Spreads into a dense weed-suppressing mat. Tall flower spikes attract hummingbirds and bumblebees in summer.

How to Use: Press a fresh leaf onto a minor cut or sting as a natural bandage. Steep dried leaves as a mild astringent tea. Use fresh young leaves as edible wrappers. Plant in dry, sunny spots.

🌺 Creeping Phlox Phlox subulata

Season: Semi-evergreen to evergreen. Needle-like foliage persists year-round, providing green coverage even through winter.

Edible / Medicinal: No significant edible or medicinal use. Best enjoyed for its beauty and ecological value.

Ecological Impact: Covered in flowers for 3-4 weeks in early spring, providing critical nectar for early butterflies including swallowtails and emerging native bees. Excellent erosion control on slopes.

How to Use: Plant on slopes or cascading over walls. Space 18 inches apart and allow 2-3 seasons to fill in. Shear lightly after blooming to keep compact and encourage fresh growth.

🌿 Creeping Thyme Thymus serpyllum / T. praecox

Season: Semi-evergreen to evergreen. Tiny leaves persist through most winters, often looking good under light snow.

Edible / Medicinal: Fully edible with more intense flavor than common thyme. Medicinally powerful: contains thymol, a natural antiseptic used in commercial mouthwashes. Clinically studied for coughs and bronchitis; also antifungal, antibacterial, and digestive.

Ecological Impact: A single square foot in bloom can host dozens of bees at once. Naturally suppresses many soil pathogens and releases aromatic oils beneficial to surrounding soil.

How to Use: Harvest sprigs anytime for cooking. Infuse in raw honey for coughs. Steep as a respiratory tea or use as a natural gargle. Walk on it to release fragrance — one of the joys of a thyme lawn.

💙 Ajuga (Bugleweed) Ajuga reptans

Season: Evergreen to semi-evergreen. Bronze or purple-tinged foliage persists year-round, especially striking after light frost.

Edible / Medicinal: Edible in small amounts but bitter and medicinal-tasting. Strong wound-healing tradition in European folk medicine: used to stop bleeding, heal bruises, and soothe mouth sores.

Ecological Impact: Thrives in deep shade where almost nothing else will grow. Blue-purple spring flower spikes are beloved by bumblebees. Spreads quickly via stolons to fill bare areas.

How to Use: Apply crushed fresh leaves to cuts and bruises as first aid. Brew as an astringent gargle for sore throats. Plant in shade and allow it to spread into a weed-suppressing mat.

⭐ Blue Star Creeper Isotoma fluviatilis

Season: Evergreen in mild climates (zones 5-9). May die back in colder winters but returns reliably from established roots.

Edible / Medicinal: Not edible — contains alkaloid compounds that can cause nausea. No significant medicinal use. Admire rather than consume.

Ecological Impact: Produces tiny bright blue flowers continuously from spring through fall, attracting small native bees and beneficial insects across the entire growing season.

How to Use: Plant in moist, partially shaded to full sun areas. Excellent between stepping stones or as a lawn substitute in consistently moist spots. Handles light foot traffic once established. Space 6-12 inches apart.

🍓 Wild Strawberry / Strawberry Fragaria vesca / F. x ananassa

Season: Semi-evergreen. Leaves often persist through mild winters. Fruits late spring to summer; runners spread and root throughout the growing season.

Edible / Medicinal: Fruit is deliciously edible — wild strawberries are far more flavorful than commercial varieties. Leaves make a vitamin-C-rich tea with mild astringent properties for digestive complaints and sore throats. Fruit contains ellagic acid studied for anti-cancer properties.

Ecological Impact: White flowers attract native bees and beneficial insects. Fruit feeds birds, small mammals, and humans. Spreads naturally into bare areas via runners.

How to Use: Eat fruit fresh from the plant. Brew strawberry leaf tea or use as a gargle for mouth sores. Make strawberry-infused honey or vinegar. Allow runners to spread and fill bare areas naturally.

Always make a confident identification before consuming any wild plant. When in doubt, consult a local forager or botanist. Start with small amounts of any new edible plant.

*Read Part 1 about the ground covers that naturally emerged on my Mableton property once I stopped mowing.

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Revolution Garden is a column documenting my journey toward food independence and environmental stewardship — a process of relearning what our collective ancestors practiced for thousands of years: a mutually beneficial relationship with land and community.

Visit the Historic Mableton Trading Post on Mable Street near Peak Street to trade seeds, vegetables, books, and art.

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Website: www.stephaniehanlon.com