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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

Resilient Native Plant Combos

2/21/2022

2 Comments

 
Lately folks have been asking for simple, DIY lists of plants for two specific site conditions. While I discuss these lists a lot in a wide variety of social media platforms and at conference presentations, it doesn't hurt to lay them down here, either. To know more about why these work and how to arrange them, you'll need to research the plants as well as natural design methodology. I will say that, in general, the communities tend to work well together and be decently balanced over time. As you gain knowledge and experience you can augment these lists with what works for the site and with the older plants.

Full Sun / Dry Clay to Clay Loam
  • Bouteloua gracilis (sideoats grama) -- matrix
  • Heuchera richardsonii (prairie alumroot) -- late spring clumper, use in drifts
  • Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower) -- early summer bloomer, use in masses / drifts
  • Amorpha canescens (leadplant) -- mid summer blooms on this woody perennial, use singly
  • Liatris punctata (dotted blazingstar) -- mid summer, mass or drift
  • Allium cernuum (nodding onion) -- mid summer, mass or drift
  • Liatris aspera (rough blazingstar) -- late summer, mass or drift
  • Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (aromatis aster) -- late autumn shrubby bloom, use singly

Full to Part Shade / Dry Clay to Loam
  • Carex albicans (white-tinged sedge) -- matrix
  • Carex sprengelii (sprengel's sedge) -- matrix or specimen massing for contrast
  • Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine) -- early to mid spring bloom, mass or drift
  • Polygonatum biflorum (solomon's seal) -- late spring bloom, mass or use singly
  • Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue) -- late spring male and female plants, mass or drift
  • Solidago flexicaulis (zigzag goldenrod) -- later summer / early fall, mass or use singly

To learn more about these plant groupings, plant pairing for other sites, and how to design / install / manage a natural garden in layers, please try our online classes. "Fundamentals of Garden Layers" and "Planning Plant Communities" are solid places to begin.
2 Comments
David T
9/7/2022 11:50:53 pm

Hi, I'm struggling to guess out which Bouteloua you meant (blue or side oats?) I want to do a low (roughly 1 ft) carex matrix in full sun medium soil, but there doesn't seem to be a great fit with native carexes. Blue grama seems to be about the best alternative. I wonder if some of the forbs in the full sun list (e.g. E pallida) would be supported if mixed with something as short as blue grama? I'd like to avoid the taller plants flopping over.

Reply
Benjamin
9/8/2022 08:38:27 am

Ah that's a typo. Always trust my Latin over common names, so blue grama (gracilis). Still, I don't know what your ecoregion is and more specifics about site, but generally in full sun with medium to dry soils warm-season bunchgrasses as the main matrix is a better bet. You can still get some part shade sedge in there amongst the shadows -- Carex blanda is one that may work, for example, maybe Carex pensylvanica if get some rains (just to add more layers).

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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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