India, Oct. 25 -- Imagine a front yard that is thin and patchy, always asking for more water and attention. Now imagine fixing it with old cardboard. According to The Cool Down, that's what one Florida homeowner did. The front-yard transformation was shared on YouTube by the person behind Food Forest Florida, who showed how a normal lawn had been transformed into what he called a Florida-friendly native pollinator garden.

The first step was sheet mulching, also known as lasagna gardening. The homeowner soaked the cardboard, layered it with organic material, and covered it with a deep layer of mulch. A border around the yard prevented that organic matter from washing into the street. The Cool Down reports the idea was to suppress weeds, h...