About LymeX®
Our Story
Christina Kobland, President/Chief Science Officer
I founded my company Native Return® to convince landowners of the benefits of growing native plants. I gained a reputation and won awards for creating native meadows, and discovered a type of beautiful, naturally occurring grass which requires little maintenance. As part of the Philadelphia Airport’s environmental initiatives, my company received an assignment to do a model meadow to show developers a better way of managing land than constantly mowing grass.
I came to realize the way they were managing the airfields was inefficient. I explained I had a grass mix FlightTurf® that didn’t require mowing, and, because it’s not a preferred food source for wildlife, the animals stay away naturally, which is important because wildlife at airports is a safety risk.
They liked the idea, which led to years of research where I was able to successfully demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that our grass mix did not attract wildlife. Not only does it deter deer, and other animals that carry ticks that can cause Lyme disease, but it has the added benefit of being ultra-low maintenance, virtually eliminating mowing. We market FlightTurf® to airports, vineyards, solar farms and other commercial customers.
I speak at many conferences, and homeowners always ask, “can I get this for my own yard?”
I’m happy to say it’s now available for consumers as LymeX®.
Christina Kobland, President/CSO
Christina Kobland, a zoologist and lover of wildlife, founded Native Return®, a WBE certified company specializing in the use of native plants and animals to restore balance to ecosystems suffering decline. Her attention to detail, technical understanding, and ability to structure cost-effective strategies have enabled her to implement novel landscaping technology in industrial environments.
Exposure to airport landscaping needs led her to the development of FlightTurf® and LymeX®, a short, live, patented turfgrass technology which eliminates mowing, earning her a Philadelphia Green Innovator Award. It’s Christina’s dream to use the proceeds to create and set aside land preserves to permanently protect wildlife.
Jon Roddick, Technical/Sales
Jon Roddick comes from a long family line of entrepreneurial engineers and farmers both offering a nice complement to his work with FlightTurf® and LymeX®. He’s spent most of his life working and managing a service business which gives him a nice edge with customer service.
Our purpose is to provide beautiful lawns that minimize the expense and energy of the homeowner while providing an additional layer of safety for families and their yards.