You should lie out here and take a nap

I like to mix mowed and unmowed parts of my garden.

It keeps the biodiversity but does not look abandoned.

Something like that :

And yet, somehow, someone in your HOA will find a way to say "it looks abandoned" despite the clearly well-cared-for pathways.
- You're forgiven. When I was young, I genuinely thought "fiscally conservative" was a logical position until all the would-be fascists starting going mask-off.
- Given the image was uploaded to a .fr domain it might not be super accurate to assume they’re in the USA. Fun fact: there are almost 200 countries that aren’t the USA!
They do it at a local park now. There weren't even any signs explaining why, I just saw it and knew. Felt great.
To take it one step further, one can plant (native) wildflower seeds that further promotes biodiversity and attracts pollinators. Plus meadows are beautiful.
Did you take this picture in my backyard?
- If this is your backyard you have a very nice backyard !
This is what I do. Edges under 'edges don't get mown, and I do sweeping corners (because who stands in the corner of the lawn?).

The best bit is, the wild sections are no more than 1m deep, so I can still lean in to remove non-native plants.

If we could engineer and exterminate all ticks and mosquitos we'd all be so happy.

My republican friend would suggest that you should have trans folk read to them and then they’ll turn gay. No way to reproduce then.
- Why would you be friends with such an individual
And dead cuz the food chain would collapse.
- Had to ask ChatGPT what relies on ticks and mosquitoes to survive
  
  Species that Rely on Ticks:
  
  Borrelia burgdorferi: The bacterium that causes Lyme disease, which relies on Ixodes ticks (deer ticks) for transmission.
  
  Rickettsia rickettsii: The causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, transmitted by various tick species.
  
  Babesia: Various species of Babesia rely on ticks for transmission to vertebrate hosts, causing babesiosis.
  
  Species that Rely on Mosquitoes:
  
  Dengue virus: Relies on Aedes mosquitoes (especially Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) for transmission.
  
  Zika virus: Also transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.
  
  West Nile virus: Transmitted by several species of Culex mosquitoes.
  
  Malaria parasite(Plasmodium spp.): The Plasmodium parasites, such as Plasmodium falciparum, rely on Anopheles mosquitoes for part of their life cycle.
  
  Wuchereria bancrofti: The causative agent of lymphatic filariasis, transmitted by Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes mosquitoes.
  
  Brugia malayi: Another filarial nematode causing lymphatic filariasis, primarily transmitted by Mansonia and Anopheles mosquitoes.
- Ah yes, of all the species we've eradicated, the one that makes up the least biomass would surely be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back.
Mosquitos are pollinators.
- Not every species are beneficial. There are only a handful that bite us and don't really contribute to the ecosystem. Those are the ones we need to get rid of.
- Not all mosquitoes bite humans. If you exterminated the biting ones, the non-biting ones would just fill that same ecological niche.
- Not cosmopolitan mosquitoes
If the earth is beyond saving and we're all going to die from heat anyway, I'm all for exterinating all the mosquitos so we can enjoy them being dead for a little bit.

If only it would grow like that. My lawn's natural state is crabgrass and violence

A lot of the US is trying to grow grass that isn't suited for it's climate. It's why it takes so much maintenance. Florida has that problem a lot. Maryland lawns don't even need watering and the grass is great with little encroachment or weed problems. It's a bit more varied with dandelions and wild aliums but mostly grass.
- It's a bit more varied with dandelions and wild aliums but mostly grass.
  
  Oh, you mean the biodiversity that nature and birds and turtles and squirrels need? Wish more places didn't consider a boring green landscape the norm...
- Mine always fils up with plantains and fennel plus the dandelions of course
- Bermuda grass: it looks pretty but man is it thirsty.

If you cut your lawn to ultra short levels and put fuckloads of pesticides on it, then chances are you arent actually USING your lawn anyways. If you actually use your lawn you know its way nicer to have a little wild growth with flowers and shit going on.

I'm very pro natural lawn. But this makes no sense

Tons of families use their textbook lawns for sports, playtime, etc
- Maybe thats regional but in my experience living in a couple german cities, "textbook lawn" equals "unused lawn" that purely exist as wealth symbol. Not saying it cant be well kept but there are variying degrees of that.
Short grass is important for a lot of yard games and more comfortable to lounge on. Wild growth seems nicer to look at and better for the environment but not better if you're actually using your lawn.

or maybe just don’t have stupid grass and plant some natural shit….

Both are important, tall grass is how you find pokemon.
- It's also where you find ticks though. Fee fi fo ficks, I hate ticks!
grass is unnatural?
- Many grasses are invasive species in North America, including most popular lawn grasses, so I guess it is in a way? Not sure that that's what the OP was going for.
- most of the time
In Soviet Russia babushkas plant OGOROD!

Get your vaccines, check for ticks after enjoying nature, and immediately visit a doctor if you still get sick.

What vaccines can you get for tick diseases?
- None right now, but a new vaccine for Lyme disease is looking promising.
- TBE vaccine (TicoVac) is the only one I'm aware of, but I guess the necessity would depend on whether or not ticks in your area are known to carry TBE.
There are unlucky people who are asymptomatic but still get chronic Lyme 😑
- Well, what can you do. You win some, you lose some. /j
Is there a vaccine for the one that makes you allergic to meat?
- No, because that's not an infectious disease like a virus or bacteria. It's an allergy your body develops to a specific carbohydrate (alpha gal) found in pretty much all mamallian meat except apes/humans. A specific chemical in the lone star tick saliva triggers it, so you just need to get bit. There's no virus or bacteria to vaccinate against.
  
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_syndrome
  
  There is a canine vaccine for lyme disease (different tick species). Human vaccine used to exist but was pulled from market, might be a new one soon though. There are unfortunately other diseases besides lyme disease though that ticks can carry, including rocket mountain spotted fever and anaplasmosis. And while lone star ticks (the meat allergy ones), don't tend to transmit lyme disease, they can transmit other diseases, unrelated to the meat allergy issues.
- Why would you want to vaccinate alpha gal allergy? Alpha gal allergy is awesome!
- There are worse diseases to catch from ticks

From my stint working in a rural health department... there's a lot of motherfuckers with backyards like this.

Only thing missing is a firepit with metal and plastic debris in it.

The car seat in the grass just brings it together.

Guy brought a whole car seat but didn't bring a door? He can't roll the window down when he gets hot...

He'll just have to use the AC.
- But he can't roll the window up

Just pre-treat your clothes with permethrin, and spray some lemon-eucalyptus oil on exposed skin, and you'll be fine. Or you can use picaridin. Really. (A single treatment of permethrin will last about 6 washes. Treat outerwear and socks only, not gloves, hats, underwear, or balaclavas. But DO NOT expose cats to wet permethrin; it is highly toxic to them. They should be fine with treated clothing though.)

I'm up to 5 ticks already this year

Last time i got one was like 7 or 8 years ago
- Same here, but I'm cheating. I moved to where ticks don't live.

I had a friend with a backyard like this. You could see the fleas jumping around.

fleas don’t live in grass

That is either a miniature keyboard or a massive bug

Neither, it's a tick

So glad I live in a place without many ticks and with no chiggers or other pests in the grass.

Lyme juice is getting more popular i hear

This just makes me itchy.

Buddy has to bolt his chair back in to drive home too.

We have some fescue mixed with invasive Bermuda grass. You can't stop the Bermuda grass. It gets into everything. I fought it for years but finally just gave up.

You graze cattle on your yard? Give the insects a break and do a No Mow May.

Is No Mow May actually a thing in the US?
- Yes, it's been slowly taking off, but it's still very niche. People who participate seem to mostly be home gardeners.
- Followed shorty by "angry letter from the health department June"
- I had a No Mow Spring in my backyard. The yard was cut down less than a week ago because I could not go out there for 10 minutes without my eyes starting to hurt. It was worse if I tried to kill the invasives. My area has had a terrible allergy season.
  
  Cat pic in the yard - https://lemm.ee/post/33672371
  
  It is mostly non-native grass mixed in with invasives. There is ONE native plant I put in. Baby steps. I will add a few more natives during planting season.

Summer is soon. Soon I will be on dacha that has ogorod. Yummy.