A Better Yard
We bring together Upper Midwest gardening enthusiasts who are transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle to explore eco-friendly landscape and gardening practices, so that we can reduce our chemical use, water use, and create a thriving ecosystem.
A Better Yard
Latest Episodes
Stop Overthinking And Start Planting Native Plants (Part Three of Three)
Lawns teach us to chase control, but a rebel garden is about building a living system that gets better every season. We walk through a practical, homeowner-friendly roadmap for turning turf into a native plant garden that supports pollinators, ...
How to Reject the Status Quo with A Rebel Garden (Part Two of Three)
The hardest part of changing your yard isn’t the shovel work, it’s the moment you decide the “perfect lawn” game isn’t worth playing anymore. I’m continuing our three-part series on growing a rebel garden with the second phase: Reject. If you’v...
How To Start A Rebel Garden Without Overwhelm (Part One of Three)
Your yard doesn’t have to be a weekly chore chart disguised as “curb appeal.” If you’re tired of mowing, watering, fighting weeds, and feeling boxed in by neighbor expectations, I’m sharing a different path: the rebel garden, a small section of...
Your Yard Can Feed Birds And Pollinators
Your yard can look “perfect” and still be a dead zone. I’m Brad Tabke, founder of A Better Yard, and I’m sharing what I keep seeing every spring: one property buzzing with birds and insects, the next one silent under a modern lawn system built ...
Your Yard Already Knows How To Compost, Dummy
Your neighborhood calls it “yard waste.” I call it a pile of free fertilizer waiting for a truck. As summer hits Minnesota, I’m watching curb lines fill with bags of leaves, grass clippings, and garden debris, and it’s a perfect snapshot of how...