No Lawns

I, personally, haven't had much luck direct-sowing natives. I always get extremely low germination rates, then pests or weather kill the ones that do survive. Perhaps I'm buying old seeds or not buying/sowing enough. The only things I get good results from direct-sowing are annual vegetables.

What I've been doing for the past couple years is picking up truckloads of mulch or getting ChipDrops (I've waited months for ChipDrops, and when a request expires, I raise my donation amount), then sheet-mulching an area (cardboard or paper paint drop-cloth), and covering with 4"+ of chips or mulch. I then go to a local nursury, ask what plants may do well in a particular area (full dry shade, part shade, deer resistant, etc), and pick up a variety of plants. I only pick up 1 or 2 plants of a species/variety, because plants are expensive, and I want to see if they survive before investing in more. I then dig a hole in the mulch, stab holes in the sheet mulch, dump purchased soil into the holes, then plant the plants into them.

I've just started collecting seeds from some of my plants, and I should be able to divide some of my plants or try to root cuttings soon. Hoping I can avoid spending shitloads of money by just propagating what I have to fill all the mulched areas out.