Sherry Smith earns Rowlett’s Smart Yard Award for environmentally-friendly garden

Sherry Smith earns Rowlett’s Smart Yard Award for environmentally-friendly garden

ROWLETT, TX (Jan. 10, 2024) The City of Rowlett recently recognized Sherry Smith and family for outstanding efforts in building a pollinator environmentally friendly garden, naming them the winner of Rowlett’s Smart Yard Award.

The City of Rowlett honored Sherry, sharing that her goal is to raise raise butterflies and has chosen host plants such as pipevine, rue, passionflower vine, fennel, and milkweed. Knowing that adult butterflies and bees need nectar, she has also added cosmos, sunflowers, mistflowers, and zinnias. By planting species that are natural to our region, she does not need to water her garden as often. She amends her soil with peat water and compost. Sherry’s garden is an ecosystem, and most of the pests stay in check with very little interference. If something needs to be treated she typically uses water with a few drops of Dawn dish soap.

Courtesy Facebook photo | Sherry Smith
“In April 2022 we moved to our new home in Rowlett. There were no gardens except where bushes had died leaving roots behind. I immediately started digging,” Sherry wrote on her Facebook page. “When the Rowlett Smart Yard Committee came last month to look at my yard, one of the comments was on how much progress I’ve made in a small amount of time. Lots of folks have seen the post and asked, “where are the flowers?” Well, it’s winter, but we let our grass grow tall so we don’t have to water as often. Most of my work has been in the backyard, but that’s shifting a little this spring.”
Courtesy Facebook photo | Sherry Smith

Sherry has created an environmentally-friendly landscape filled with designated drought-tolerant plants that encourage butterflies and pollinator populations to thrive, in addition to assisting with water conservation.

Courtesy Facebook photo | Sherry Smith

The City of Rowlett recognizes Sherry for her tremendous efforts that help preserve our pollinators and beautiful ecosystem for future generations.