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Paradoxical by Katy Nodolf I have a confession. I’m a paradoxical gardener, full of contradictions. I don’t like the feeling of dirt under my fingernails, but I love to put my hands in the soil. I’ll also (sheepishly) admit that I get squeamish when I happen upon the creepy crawly bugs, grubs, and wiggly worms that live underground, but I’m fascinated with their habitat and ecosystem. I’m a gardener, but I’m a lazy one and don’t aspire to spend all my free time caring for plants. Perhaps the largest and most egregious contradiction, at least for a gardener, is that I logically and wholeheartedly understand the positive reasons to have a yard full of plants—they turn our carbon dioxide into oxygen, support insects and wildlife, and contribute to making our planet a better place for all of us. But, and this is a big one, I don’t intend to turn every square inch of my yard into garden beds. We have garden areas, both perennial/ floral/ornamental and vegetable, and some are quite large. However, we also have a typical suburban lawn that, generally speaking, has very few positive impacts on the environment. However, the yard is where my daughter plays soccer with the neighbors. It’s where
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