‘This isn’t just weeds’: Native gardens are repairing local ecosystems

It’s a hot summer afternoon in St. Louis, and Dawn Weber’s yard is teeming with life. A gray catbird meows over the low hum of bees, as dragonflies skip across the still water of the garden’s pond. At just over a quarter of an acre, the carpet of wild violet and native plants around Ms. Weber’s house is home to about 38 species of butterflies and 99 species of birds.

“I really enjoy seeing the life,” she says. “There are about 300 species of plants between the front and the back [yards].”

Ms. Weber is among the growing number of homeowners who have