One Local Organization Is Transforming How We Think About Lawns

The local chapter of Wild Ones provides the education and seeds to bring native plants into landscaping efforts.

by Annie Nickoloff | Jun. 2, 2026 | 5:00 AM

Photographed by Kevin Kopanski

Just two small trees and potted shrubbery dotted Jessica Ausnehmer’s Berea lawn, which was otherwise blanketed by an expanse of green grass in 2019.

The following year, she set out to change that, inspired by social media posts of a local native gardener and friend who posted about their lawn transformations on social media, showing the newly vibrant, buzzing communities of bees, birds and butterflies they’d benefited. Ausnehmer wanted to help nature in the same way. During the pandemic, she got to work.

Seven years later, her lawn has transformed; it now hosts close to 100 plant species and displays a “Native Garden in Progress” sign. More trees and shrubs line the gardener’s home and tree lawn, while stone-lined pockets feature established stands of black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, milkweed and asters.

“To me, it’s a little bit like painting with flowers, but also environmental Tetris — or, Pokemon, with native plants,” Ausnehmer says. “Gotta catch ’em all.”

In 2022, she learned about Wild Ones, a nonprofit volunteer organization that promotes native landscapes across the country. By the end of that year, she helped found Cleveland’s local chapter and became its president. The organization shares thousands of native seed packets every year, some through a “Free Seed Library” at Akron’s Mustill Store Museum.

The chapter hosts free events, open to the public, to educate people about native plants and to remove invasive species. It all goes toward bolstering a growing movement in Greater Cleveland to ditch old-school landscaping and embrace Ohio’s natural ecosystem.

“It can start with one, or two, or three plants,” Ausnehmer says. “It’s all about progress, not perfection.”

Annie Nickoloff

Annie Nickoloff is the senior editor of Cleveland Magazine. She has written for a variety of publications, including The Plain Dealer, Alternative Press Magazine, Belt Magazine, USA Today and Paste Magazine. She hosts a weekly indie radio show called Sunny Day on WRUW FM 91.1 Cleveland and enjoys frequenting Cleveland's music venues, hiking trails and pinball arcades.