The Pollinators

A green, freshly cut lawn was once the marker of an upstanding home. So much so that many Canadian cities actually mandate golf-course-style lawns to protect the curb appeal of local neighbourhoods. But a retired Ottawa couple recently challenged the merit of monoculture – and won. Hank and Vera Jones became lawbreakers, and then law reformers, when they designed their lawn to embrace the environment rather than outdated aesthetics.

“We’re rebuilding pollination habitat that people have largely destroyed over the years,” said Hank, who planted a half-hectare pollination garden this spring. …