In a bid to make lawn care more sustainable at her countryside home in the Cotswolds, Ellen DeGeneres tried swapping out the lawnmower for a flock of sheep.
The idea was simple – let the animals graze the grass, naturally maintaining the lawn without fuel, noise, or effort. “Turns out my lawn mowing skills are not great,” Ellen joked in a social media post. “So… sheep.”
Unfortunately, her plan didn’t go quite as expected, sparking a spiralling series of events she’s now referring to as “Sheepocalypse 2025.”
For those considering more reliable (and less chaotic) green solutions, Ellen’s experience is a reminder that lawn ideas come in many forms, and not all of them involve livestock.
The great indoors
Instead of the sheep quietly grazing as hoped, they seemed more interested in testing the boundaries – literally. Despite being kept behind an electric fence, they made a break for it. Not once, but twice.
“They did it again,” Ellen shared, after the sheep staged a second great escape.
She added: “Sheep are supposed to eat the grass so you don’t have to mow. Our sheep didn’t get the memo.”
While amusing, the episode is a good argument for sticking to tried-and-tested methods. If you’ve let your garden get out of hand, it might be worth exploring how to cut long grass properly – without needing to chase sheep.
Fence? what fence?
Once outside wasn’t enough, Ellen’s flock developed a new fascination: the inside of the house.
“Our sheep keep coming inside,” she said. “To be fair, we do have a piece of furniture that looks like a sheep, but that one doesn’t try to eat our rugs.”
It’s one thing to encourage biodiversity in your garden, but quite another to find it curled up on your carpet.
For homeowners inspired by the idea of more natural outdoor spaces, keeping things manageable is key. Whether it’s grazing animals or just your own mower, a balanced lawn care routine goes a long way to keeping your garden healthy – and your interiors free of hoofprints.
Feed frenzy in the chicken coop
The chaos didn’t end at the living room door. DeGeneres revealed that her woolly helpers also broke into the chicken coop – helping themselves to feed that was very much not meant for them.
“Sheepocalypse 2025 continues,” she wrote, summing up the situation with resigned humour.
While the experiment may have taken an unexpected turn, it’s a reminder that even well-intentioned green living can go sideways without a plan.
Summer can be especially tough on lawns, even without livestock interference, and knowing what not to do is half the battle.
Avoiding common summer lawn care mistakes can make all the difference between a thriving garden and a trampled mess.
