Lisa Picker & Don Knobbe

  • LOCATION: Webster Groves
  • 7500 square foot lot with a variety of small spaces from full shade to full sun
  • Small water feature
  • Native areas reclaimed from invasive wintercreeper and burning bush
  • Owners are Missouri Master Naturalists and passionate about all things nature
  • Yard certified GOLD in St. Louis Audubon Bring Conservation Home program

Lisa and Don inherited a landscape of turf, burning bush, and wintercreeper. Over the last 22 years, they have removed most of the turf and planted almost 100 different native species. With a goal of providing a small oasis for wildlife, they embrace natural cycles: some caterpillars will become bird food, not butterflies, some goldfish will feed Barred Owls, and plants don’t always stay where you planted them.

Visit their yard to see a hillside of native plants, a woodland garden, a sunny pollinator garden, a small pond with native plants, and a variety of native shrubs. In progress is a bed covered with cardboard and mulched to replace turf with more species to be added in the fall. A porch is under construction, but there are clear sidewalks to reach the gardens. The whole property is a steady incline, with some stairs to reach certain areas.