Field documentation
Proof of concepts
Proof-of-concept plots in Acton, photographed throughout each season. Click through the sliders to watch each site evolve from turf or clear-cut to a young native community.
Site 01
Marian Road
Acton, Massachusetts
A resident of Acton donated a 17′ × 20′ area of his garden to my experiment. I was warned that without turning the soil multiple times I would end up with a weedy mess. I was impatient.
On November 30, 2023, I rented a sod cutter and removed the turf. In February 2024 I seeded the plot. Spring 2024 brought a weedy mess, though three of the thousands of seeds germinated — including the Verbena hastata still standing today. I cleared weeds through summer, reseeded November 18, 2024, and spring 2025 surfaced many more seedlings alongside downy phlox and wild geranium from the year before. Hand-weeding Queen Anne’s lace, pokeweed, fleabane, and horseweed continues.
Nov 30, 2023
Rented a sod cutter and cut off a layer of sod, removed from the site.
Feb 16, 2024
Scraped off snow and seeded a mixture of all but one species.
Feb 24, 2024
Added Cirsium muticum; walked the plot for seed-to-soil contact.
Mar 22, 2024
A little green peeking up — mostly turf and winter rye.
Mar 22, 2024
…and daylilies.
Jul 6, 2024
Plenty of weeds to be cleared.
Jul 27, 2024
Few seeds sprouted. Cleared non-native weeds; left the natives.
Jul 27, 2024
Pokeweed dominates — don't let it grow or you’re digging out the root.
Oct 6, 2024
Why I do this work.
Nov 18, 2024
Cleared and reseeded the plot.
May 25, 2025
Weeding Daucus carota and the odd pokeweed — partridge pea, downy phlox, verbena, penstemon, monarda, and wild geraniums all appearing.
May 26, 2025
Common violets planted earlier; a cultivar of penstemon blooming.
May 31, 2025
Dominated by Rudbeckia hirta and Oenothera pilosella.
Jun 29, 2025
Verbena hastata getting ready to bloom alongside Rudbeckia hirta and Achillea millefolium.
Jun 29, 2025
Looking towards the house.
Jul 12, 2025
Most color is outside the plot — the sod cutter really destroyed the soil.
Jul 30, 2025
Oenothera biennis (volunteer), Rudbeckia hirta, Verbena.
Aug 9, 2025
Midsummer.
Sep 21, 2025
New England asters only around the edges — maybe the seeds blew until they hit vegetation.
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Site 02
School Street
Acton, Massachusetts
A developer bought a property down the street that had been derelict for the eight years I’d lived on River Street. He clear-cut the hillside in March 2024 and accepted my offer to manage it — more land than I had planned to take on.
I weeded mugwort through summer 2024, seeded in fall, and by May 2025 I’d seen 13 of the 21 species I seeded emerge. By fall 2025 the site looked great, with plenty of perennial seedlings setting up for a denser community in 2026.
Mar 13, 2024
The site immediately following clear-cutting from the sidewalk.
Mar 13, 2024
Clear-cut, looking back towards the road from the parking lot.
Mar 18, 2024
Close-up of the ground.
Apr 13, 2024
Spread straw and branches over the hillside.
Apr 13, 2024
Oats are coming up!
Apr 20, 2024
More straw over cardboard, held down with branches.
Apr 20, 2024
Cardboard from a bike shop spread to smother mugwort.
Apr 30, 2024
Let things go for a few days — the mugwort caught back up.
Jun 5, 2024
Oats growing nicely; mugwort slowing.
Jun 5, 2024
Progress with smothering, some mugwort still popping up in front.
Jul 5, 2024
Oats and mugwort flourish. Still pulling regularly.
Jul 5, 2024
Crabgrass and oats.
Sep 19, 2024
Transplanted asters bloom; Asclepias incarnata seedlings settling in.
Sep 19, 2024
Late summer detail.
Oct 8, 2024
The second round of oats emerge.
Oct 8, 2024
Still a construction site.
Oct 8, 2024
White and purple aster transplants bloom.
Oct 8, 2024
Individual plants of Monarda, Arctostaphylos, Packera, Antennaria, Ionactis, and Agrostis along the sidewalk.
Mar 2, 2025
The snow has almost melted.
Mar 2, 2025
Packera, Agrostis, and Arctostaphylos survived the winter.
May 13, 2025
Packera obovata in bloom; all plants survived the winter.
May 13, 2025
Antennaria neglecta — host for the American Lady butterfly.
May 29, 2025
Lots of penstemon; black-eyed Susan the most prolific seeded species.
Jun 9, 2025
Antennaria leaves becoming tents — likely American Lady larva.
Jun 26, 2025
Oenothera biennis, New England asters, swamp milkweeds setting blooms.
Jul 17, 2025
Monarda fistulosa blooming from last fall's planting; Rudbeckia hirta from seed.
Jul 26, 2025
Monardas throughout the site that will bloom next year.
Aug 1, 2025
Butterfly on Asclepias incarnata, transplanted spring 2024.
Aug 16, 2025
A lovely display of Chamaecrista fasciculata.
Aug 28, 2025
Asters starting to bloom; nice Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium volunteers.
Sep 21, 2025
Asters starting to get showy.
Sep 21, 2025
Monarch.
Sep 23, 2025
Pink-edged sulfur butterfly on a Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium volunteer.
Sep 26, 2025
Asters in full bloom.
Oct 12, 2025
The site still has plenty of visual interest.
Nov 3, 2025
I fear Monarda might dominate next year. The pink cosmos is obviously not native.
Nov 3, 2025
A nice mixture of textures and colors.
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Site 03
Pond View Drive
Acton, Massachusetts
A new proof-of-concept plot on Pond View Drive — converting another patch of lawn into a low-maintenance native wildflower community.
Site preparation and seeding are underway. Seasonal photographs and species notes will be added here as the plot develops.
Field photos
Seasonal photographs for this plot will be added as the project progresses.