How one American couple ditched their lawn and created a wildlife haven – and you could too

Crystal Fritz and James Reed McGuire at home in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois. Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian

When James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz first decided to replace their lawn with native plants, they did not really know what they were doing. As former city-dwellers who had moved from Chicago out to the suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, they had never done much gardening together beyond growing some planters of herbs and flowers on their balcony.

But for McGuire, an avid birder who did not want to live with a sea of turf that does “absolutely nothing for the environment”, figuring out an alternative to the suburban status quo was imperative.