A native plant grower in Mission is finding new ways to take care of her lawn.

Back in November, the city of Mission mowed down the native plants in Betty Perez's yard, claiming it violated city code.

This led her and other gardeners to work with the city on creating an ordinance to protect those plants.

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"I lean towards natives because they attract native insects and then native birds and on and on," Perez said.

She has always had a love for plants native to the Rio Grande Valley, and she's spending more time doing a little more landscaping than before.

Perez is looking for ways to improve her native plant garden. It's a compromise between her and the city of Mission.

"To someone who doesn't see the world like I do, or like plant enthusiasts do, it looks like a weedy lot," Perez said.

Now she wants to protect the ones that grew back and change that code.

Perez is part of a group pushing for Mission to adopt a new ordinance that would allow native plants on front lawns. 

The group met with the city on Friday, July 19 to discuss a new ordinance that is being written with the help of Mackenzie Feldman.

Feldman says they proposed a volunteer group of native plant experts who could help the city determine when to cite someone and when to let the plants grow.

"We know what the city wants, they don't want lawns that look weedy and neglected," Feldman said. "The taskforce can be called and maybe even go to the house and say this is a weedy lot or say this is intentional."

For Perez and plant enthusiasts around the Valley, the region's rapid growth comes at a cost to native life. 

As new developers are brought in, there is also a need to keep some space for what has always been there.