I once took this naive notion to stop mowing a portion of my backyard and let it become a “natural” meadow. Just a small, experimental 5-by-10-foot sliver. Let nature take its course and surely, I thought, my little patch of grass would grow tall and flowery, a healthy new home for insects, pollinators and birds. (Heck, maybe there’d be leaping salmon and Sasquatch peeping out of the forest!)