In 1977, 9 gardeners in Milwaukee took a natural-landscaping workshop and started what's now a nationwide grassroots movement: Wild Ones now has local chapters in 204 of the nearly 500 U.S. cities.
That's the throughline in our new ranking of Where Eco-Friendly Lawn Care is Taking Root in 2026 — not top-down policy, but a slow build of community interest, native-plant access, and water-conscious landscaping choices.
Across nearly 500 of the largest U.S. cities, we looked at access to native plant suppliers, local policies like incentives for upgrading to electric lawn care equipment, and community interest via organizations like Wild Ones, among 18 total metrics. Austin, Texas comes out on top, with the best access to local native plant suppliers.
A few numbers that might be useful for a story:
194 of nearly 500 of the largest U.S. cities (~39%) now offer rebates or incentives for electric lawn care equipment.
81 cities (16%) have an urban heat island mitigation program on the books.
204 cities (41%) have a local Wild Ones chapter.
Making your landscape more sustainable doesn’t have to cost a fortune. “It can be simpler and less costly to do it gradually,” says Dan Delventhal, founder of Mow Green in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “Often, removing invasive non native plants leads to native plants showing up. Or, choosing 1 or 2 native replacements here and there creates progress.”
Full ranking, city-by-city breakdowns, and an expert Q&A can be found here: https://lawnlove.com/blog/
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