Meleah Maynard said goodbye to the grass in her Minneapolis yard and never looked back. Her neighbor Brenda Schultz also ditched most of the grass for drought-tolerant flowers, shrubs and trees that are also bird-, bee- and butterfly-friendly.

“It’s just the right thing to do for pollinators and to do away with chemicals,” Schultz said. Plus, “I just didn’t want to mow.”

The neighbors are among a growing movement of those turning to no- or less-grass lawns. While a carpet of green has long been the standard for American homes, according to the National Wildlife Federation, 12% of U.S. adults plan to convert part of their lawns to natural or native landscapes this year.

Going “lawnless” is seen as an eco-conscious alternative to the No Mow May or Less Mow May movements. Although well-intentioned, No Mow May began in the U.K., where native dandelions, henbit and chickweed benefit their native bee population. But, depending on your region, it might be more ideal to mow less in May rather than not at all.

“It is not a one-size-fits-all approach as U.S. growing zones vary significantly,” stated the Wildlife Federation study. “While reducing the amount you mow can be a great first step, high grass can unintentionally promote the growth of invasive species that may outcompete native flora.”

Instead, reducing the size of one’s lawn — and filling it with plants — is becoming a sustainable option. Benefits also include reducing water usage and the use of fertilizers and herbicides.

Cory Barton, owner and garden designer of Twin Cities-based Grateful Beds, said those wanting lawn-free yards now account for half of her business. With this type of landscape design showing no signs of slowing down, Barton said it’s an exciting time to be creative.

“Lawns are a relaxing thing for your eye and you can design your gardens so you can have that same experience [without grass],” she said.

And if these Twin Cities yards are any indication, there’s more than one way to create a lawn-less landscape.

An urban woodland

You can spot designer Cory Barton’s work in numerous front yards — good-looking no-lawn to very-little-lawn designs that look casual and carefree, stylish but not styled.

In Charlotte “Shotsie” Forsythe’s small front yard in Minneapolis, Barton used three understory trees that provide habitat for pollinators: redbud, weeping larch and Golden Shadows pagoda dogwood.

The garden designer also likes to throw in bold statement plants to add architectural interest. For Forsythe’s garden, she chose oversized foliage such as deep green rodgersia and black-green ligularia, with mysterious-looking purple undersides.

Such foliage is planted alongside more low-key pulmonaria, pachysandra, golden creeping Jenny and hostas. The result is a charming woodland vignette the Forsythes can view from their porch, Barton said.

For anyone starting out, the garden designer suggested planting foliage with varying textures and creating a consistent palette to avoid a “cacophony of color.” For example, color combinations such as chartreuse-green-blue, red-purple-blue, or yellow-red-orange work well together.

Barton also likes to use paths, water features and seating to welcome and lure visitors no matter the size of a space. “[Create a] background, foreground, height, mystery — even in a small garden,” she said. Then repeat plants “with a few showstoppers for drama.”

Manicured to the max

Brenda Schultz removed all the grass in her front yard and most of her backyard (she kept only a small square patch). When it came to landscaping, she took inspiration from European gardens with manicured hedges.

“I worked for Medtronic for a number of years and I used to travel a lot. They sent me over to Switzerland for a number of years, England, France, Germany,” Schultz said. “I really loved that four-square design and so that’s what I did.”

The master gardener uses boxwood for hedges to create structure. She then fills the center of each square with hydrangea trees and perennials such as daylilies and, a favorite, astilbe, “because the rabbits don’t eat them.”

Schultz also recommends native plants such as baptisia and Joe-Pye. They “have a deep root system that can take drought better than other types of perennials,” she said.

A tiered approach

Growing under old burr oaks, garden author Meleah Maynard and her husband Mike’s shady lawn was struggling and, between that and the master gardener’s enthusiasm for all things plants, they decided to hand-strip all of the grass from their front yard. “We didn’t want to use synthetic fertilizers and weedkillers to maintain it to the standards of the time,” Meleah said.

Mike, a 3-D artist, built paths and changed the elevation to create visual interest and convenient access around the garden. Next, they sourced plants from neighbors who were giving them away.

“We didn’t have to buy anything,” Meleah said.

Under the oak canopies, they added native pagoda dogwood and nannyberry. For structure, they planted perennials like black snakeroot and goatsbeard throughout the garden.

“They quickly grow tall and shrub-like and bloom with long-lasting beautiful white flowers that bees love to visit, and are just a mainstay of the whole garden,” she said.

Wild ginger, geranium, lady’s mantle, astilbe, hostas and periwinkle cover all the ground beneath the understory trees, eliminating the need for mulch and choking out most weeds. In the fall, they grind up the oak leaves and toss them into the beds to feed the soil.

Maynard’s yard includes a sign showing that it is a Certified Wildlife Habitat a designation given by the National Wildlife Federation for scapes that provide “basic habitat element needed for wildlife to thrive: food, water, cover and places to raise young.”

Her advice for people wanting to lose their lawn is to start small, take it slow and have a rough sketch in mind. “I would make a plan for where I wanted trees and shrubs, where the paths would go, before I filled it in with other plants,” Meleah said.

Rhonda Hayes is a Twin Cities-based Extension Master Gardener, writer and author of “Pollinator Friendly Gardening.”

MINNEAPOLIS — Fans across the globe are preparing to come to Minneapolis to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Purple Rain.”

The iconic movie and soundtrack propelled native son Prince Rogers Nelson and his band the Revolution to the top of the music industry.

The music from “Purple Rain” has proven to be timeless.

True fans fondly remember where they were when they first heard one of Prince’s musical masterpieces.

“The first time I heard ‘Purple Rain’ was the movie that I have probably seen 50 times and my first dance was at First Avenue to ‘Purple Rain,’” Prince fan Danette Ashby-Loving said.

 “I must have went to the movie theater and seen it 22 times the first week that it came out,” fan Bernard Turner said.

Turner left Brooklyn, New York to move to Minneapolis to be close to Prince and his music.

He has years of memorabilia and a love for all things Prince. 

“What built the story of my life, what kept me moving was his music, his music spoke a lot to me,” Turner said.

“I wouldn’t even be who I am without Prince,” DJ William Baker said.

Baker, aka “Bake Show,” is spinning the tracks for the 40th anniversary of “Purple Rain.”

“The first movie I ever in my life seen, guess what. ‘Purple Rain.’ And it changed my life,” Baker said. “I had a love for music. I became a drummer and all these years later I grew up on live music so anything I do, it has to have that live sound.”

He plans to honor the musician he has always admired.

“Prince was authentic and I value my DJing and I look at it everything I do after what he does, Baker said.

Three young ladies, all from Minnesota make up the group L’More — Ella, Lauren and Claire.

“We feel like we have a very good blend of that Minneapolis sound with our little girl group funky twist on it,” Ella said.

Their single “Gimme All Your Lovin” is climbing the charts, and they are ready to bring that Minneapolis sound to Prince fans.

“We’ve spent a lot of time perfecting our sound. We go to other shows to listen to other local Minneapolis artists, obviously, the bigger artists too, not just the Revolution, who we are lucky to be co-headlining with,” Ella said.

They hope their live vocals will help true fans honor Prince, his music and legacy.

The big party at First Avenue takes place on Friday with an afterparty to follow.

Saturday is the big block party where fans will dance the day and night away with live performances by the Revolution, L’More and much more.

V3 Sports is at the gateway of north Minneapolis, on the corner of Plymouth and Lyndale Avenues. And its founders hope it will be a gateway to access for swimming and recreation for the community.

“North Minneapolis deserves it,” V3 Executive Director Malik Rucker told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. “To be able to invest at this level in North Minneapolis was important for us, because oftentimes our community finds itself having to go to the suburbs or communities that are not ours to get those resources.”

The center opened to north Minneapolis residents only on May 11, but will be holding their grand opening on Saturday. They plan to serve 1,000 people per day, with half of those being youth. They expect to see 10,000 visitors annually.

The grand opening is just the beginning of a two-phase plan. The first phase includes a group and individual fitness space, drop-in child care center, out-of-school activities and its crown jewel: a 25-yard teaching and training pool.

Inside the pool won’t be your standard swim lessons. Ayanna Rahku has developed a first-of-its-kind swimming program called “Swim 2 Learn.” Rahku is a board member for V3 Sports.

Her PhD dissertation at the University of Minnesota was titled “Mother May I Swim?” and looked at the reasons why many African American mothers and their children don’t swim.

Rahku found there are several barriers for African Americans including generational trauma, drownings or bad experiences in water, “so that automatically brings some fear to that aspect,” she said.

Drowning rates among African American males aged 15 to 24 are three times higher than any other racial group in this age range in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Health in 2022.

Rakhu’s new swim philosophy is focused what she calls the “swim efficacy reclamation model.” Rahku turned that model into a program called “Swim 2 Learn.”

Its tenets are the five R’s: Reflect, Reconcile, Reassess, Respond and Reform. Before swimmers even get in the water, they’re thinking about their relationship to water first, and working through any associated trauma.

“It’s really a way to help people connect and have a relationship with the water. So it’s very self-informed and about self-awareness, which I think is different than what a lot of people are offering,” Rakhu said.

On top of “Swim 2 Learn,” V3 Sports will also offer “Swim 2 Earn” which is designed for people exploring a career in aquatics. There also will be Open Pool time and Pool Play.

V3 Sports also has 5,500 square feet of fitness equipment, group fitness classes, drop-in childcare, Boys and Girls Club programming and a restaurant — the first on Plymouth Avenue in 20 years.

The current offerings are just the beginning. Phase two of V3 Sports includes plans for a 50-meter Olympic-sized competition pool that was used during the 2021 Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska.

“It got shipped here on four semis from Omaha, and then it’s in storage now, but then, once we build it back up, we’ll put it back together,” said Rucker.

Phase two is set to open in 2027.