Why Plant Natives?

•Why plant natives? Native, or indigenous, plants are the plants that have always been here in our area: the way God intended. These plants have symbiotic relationships with our native ecosystem, the birds, butterflies (like monarchs need milkweed), soil, and other wildlife. Many ornamental plants brought from other places, and even some plants that are still sold in the nursery industry, are not only oftentimes useless to our ecosystem, they can be downright harmful (think kudzu). Natives also typically require less maintenance, water, fertilizer or pesticides, and usually have deep roots which may sequester more carbon and prevent erosion.

•For this installation, we solarized the existing grass using black fabric, utilizing the natural heat it produces to kill it. This is a method that allows a landscaper to forgo the use of herbicides, or allows us to forgo digging out the area. This also means less installation cost for the client. We also installed a flagstone pad for trash, using a permeable “polymeric sand” for the joints. This material hardens, but water still permeates down into the ground.

•Why do gardeners call the neutral strip, between the sidewalk and street, a “hell strip?” Because this garden can be put through intense conditions: street traffic, heat from concrete, flooding, chemical runoff, and even dogs doing their “business.” Using tough, native plants, especially here, is a fantastic choice.