CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Last week, we explored John Blakeman’s crusade against the default 20th-century American landscape design of the three T’s of “turf, tar, and trees,” and how communities can rethink ordinances and aesthetics to make room for native plants.

Blakeman, a retired biology teacher and owner of Meadow Environments, LLC, in Huron, has spent decades working with cities, schools and homeowners across Ohio to restore native prairies.

This week, we turn from public policy to the home garden. For anyone inspired to break free from the lawn and start their own pollinator patch, Blakeman offers a couple of key lessons and a four-year roadmap.

The first lesson is patience. Prairie perennial plants take years to establish, which can be tough to endure in an era of instant gratificat

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