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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

Making Natural Garden Design Simpler Through Wild Plant Communities

6/19/2022

12 Comments

 
One of the hardest aspects of nature-inspired gardening is the fact that we need to know the plants -- which I suppose is true for most gardening. Still, this can be a significant hurdle, especially in regards a natural garden's need to reproduce and fill in and move about; we don't like to give up control, or let plants teach us.

So how can we select plants that work on site and with one another? Instead of taking the traditional gardening approach -- going to the nursery, reading plant tags, hoping -- it's time to look to wild plant communities, in person and in good books and websites. Research the plants. Put that time in, as it's like digging a good hole.

What grows together in the wild? How? If you want to make things a bit easier, use plants that grow side by side in the prairie or forest or desert. Or at the very least, grow in the same sort of environment (soil, light, drainage, competition, ecoregion) while matching their growth and reproductive habits. And of course, think about the niches plants will grow in and how to let them do their thing. Don't force it. Don't re-invent the wheel, especially at first.

Yesterday we planted a small front yard with these principles in mind. Of course, I'm a designer and I know a lot of plants at least moderately well, so I brought more things to the table -- plant and bloom succession, plant behavior, senescence and winter structure, controlling height so sight lines near driveways are clear, et cetera. But ultimately, I was selecting plants to work in various ways with one another, short term and long term. This is what I try to show you in my forthcoming book, and what I'll briefly highlight below plant by plant.

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The 500' garden was planted into spray-killed lawn with a thin 1" layer of non-dyed hardwood mulch for initial and partial weed control. It's in full sun on a busy road with moderate pedestrian activity.

Bouteloua curtipendula (blue grama grass) -- Serves as the matrix. Gets only about 18-24" tall (that's mostly late summer seed heads).
Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine) -- Short-lived perennial that will sow around in gaps and finger through the grasses.
Heuchera richardsonii (prairie alumroot) -- Large leaves shade the ground and remain through winter. Works well in drifts. Clumper.
Monarda bradburiana (bradbury's monarda) -- An ecoregion cheat because of it's shoulder-season blooms, shorter habit, and ability to fill in gaps.
Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower) -- Airy stalks reach 3' tall. Basal foliage stays low. Deep tap root goes below roots of other plants. Superb winter seed heads.
Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyes susan) -- Biennial provides early color and coverage, gently self sows, eventually fades away as perennials take over.
Asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed) -- Slow-to-develop perennial that prefers to grow singly dotting the landscape. Deep taproot.
Callirhoe involucrata (poppy malow) -- Creeping groundcover with long bloom time, helps fill in low gaps and shade out weeds.
Coreopsis palmata (prairie coreopsis) -- Light runner will move between gaps, prefers less competition.
Liatris ligulistylis (meadow blazingstar) -- Tall but open stalks that push up through lower plants. Corms won't compete with fibrous roots of grasses or taprooted perennials.
Liatris punctata (dotted blazingstar) -- Shoulder-season bloomer with shorter stalks than LL, so works well with a short bunchgrass.
Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower) -- A little patch by the downspout will bring early fall blooms to the space. Slowly spreads.
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (aromatic aster) -- Dense, short, shrub-like perennial that provides late season pollen and nectar. Slowly spreads.

There are several things to notice from this list (which does not include the shade plants nearer the house):

1) There's decent bloom succession from April to October.
2) There are multiple plant species that share similar roles -- creepers, architectural, etc.
3) Root structure was considered to create the same sort of layers below ground as above ground.
4) There's a general uniformity of height at about 2 feet tall, which will help show intention and control.
5) While you can't see it in the image, plants were initially placed in masses and drifts IF the species grow this way in the wild. This also will help show intention. Over time, the plants will find their own way, and can be left to this exploration or lightly edited to help maintain some of the original layout.
6) There's an idea of plant succession. For example, Rudbeckia gives us early color and coverage (nice basal foliage in year one of new plants shades out weed seeds from germinating). Aquilegia will probably give way in time as other plants shade the ground (its seeds need light to germinate). And the Coreopsis might not last more than a few years as it doesn't like competition, but if it can find the gaps it will keep popping up in new spots, much like the Callirhoe and Monarda, and keep plugging holes for us.

There's not really an aggressive self sower in the bunch for these site conditions -- you likely wouldn't want that in a smaller area. And there are only a very species that might get aggressive with us on this dry, sunny spot: Coreopsis, Monarda, Callirhoe; if they get a bit too exuberant they ear easily edited. Most species here are clumpers, and the density of the site -- everything on about 12" centers -- will keep plants more honest and more in tune with how they may grow in the wild where competition is an asset (which is why a matrix of grass is so useful, plus it gives us a nice uniform base layer people love to see, hence lawns).

So there you go, a deeper dive into one of our many installs this spring season. I hope it's helped you think about gardening in some new ways. If you want to keep the ball rolling with more instruction and nuance, try the suite of 15 online classes.

12 Comments
Dawn
6/19/2022 01:39:05 pm

I am curious what percentage of the overall planting id the blue grama? Delightful plant selection. I am sure this will be lovely.

Reply
Benjamin
6/19/2022 01:45:11 pm

Solid question. About 50% of the plugs are the Bouteloua. By eventual plant mass above ground, that percentage will tilt more heavily toward the forbs.

Reply
James McGee
6/20/2022 05:31:32 pm

It would be nice to have a time-lapse video of one of the installations you are doing from planting until a few years later.

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Amanda Nugent
6/22/2022 11:07:05 am

Thanks for sharing the list. I am surprised to see Blue Must Flower on this list as I find it to spread extremely aggressively. I installed three plants about 4 or 5 years ago. I now have 5 extremely dense patches throughout my garden and I’m constantly digging it out to try to keep it from spreading everywhere. But I do love it!

Reply
Benjamin
6/22/2022 12:29:27 pm

Keep in mind Conoclinium behaves differently based on site conditions, plant community, and ecoregion. If it's in a traditional planting with loamy soil with plenty of moisture and plants spaced apart, yeah it'll have a party. I've found that in sunny clay soil with good plant competition its easily kept manageable, filling in gaps you want filled without taking over. Time and again I see how plant act differently based on a gamut of variables -- which is why plant tags are silly.

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Dianne Harper
7/9/2022 07:25:18 am

Is there someone, you?, who can help me accomplish this in North florida?

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Sherie Bleiler link
7/10/2022 06:27:12 pm

You could contact the Native Plant Society in your area and those at Floridawildflowers.com, who are working to replace lawns with native meadow and wildflowers.

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Dianne Harper
7/10/2022 06:51:20 pm

Thank you. I am in touch with several native folks but this seems different. I did ask one of them if they know this work. I will check out the wildflower folks.

Maria Weyler
7/9/2022 08:00:17 am

Wow, such great intention with your plant selection. This is going to evolve into a beautiful space for flora and fauna. In such a prominent spot, I hope it inspires many others!

Reply
Amy Chamberlin
7/9/2022 09:27:26 am

I live in southern Wisconsin near the Wisconsin River and among the last of the driftless sand prairies in our region. I have the same exact space in my front yard that I’m looking to convert and many of these plants are familiar to me in our region as well. I see you included butterfly weed, but would it be acceptable to add a few more varieties of milkweed to this mix?

Reply
Robin Madel
1/16/2023 07:05:32 pm

Is this the expectation in all native gardens? Do they all eventually move and out compete and change so much over time? It’s a totally new way to think of planting and maintaining. I’m basically setting the stage and making sure the lighting and set design is right but the plants will do what they will, which may or may not include following the script. The metaphor is silly but I feel like I’m going to have to give up control as the director of the space once it gets going.

Reply
Benjamin Vogt
1/17/2023 10:15:40 am

Yes, the plants will self organize -- we're just the instigator. That doesn't mean we stop managing, tweaking, or gardening -- not at all! I add plants, thin plants, replace plants, etc, and it's up to you how active you want to be. But it should be less fussing than a traditional garden, which to me is liberating and allows me to enjoy other things in the garden more.

Reply



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    Benjamin Vogt's thoughts on prairie gardening in Nebraska. With a healthy dose of landscape ethics, ecophilosophy, climate change,  and social justice.

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