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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

The Top Mistake Native Plant Gardeners Make

7/18/2019

18 Comments

 
I am frequently asked what my favorite native plant is and my new response is:  whatever replaces some lawn. The other frequent question is how can we help gardens avoid weed control. Actually, it's more like someone says they got a violation notice and the image of their landscape shows why -- lots of overgrown plants that are mismatched and misplaced, and no design cues to care that show intention (walking paths, benches, art, signs, neat edges etc).

But here's the top mistake, or at least the one I'm feeling today -- mismatched planting. Specifically using plants that get too tall.

In a traditional garden border tall plants go in the back with tiers coming forward where groundcovers eventually dominate the edge. Now, this style can still be done with native plant landscapes (although we'd prefer a more ecological approach), but too often a "native plant landscape" appears to give folks a cart blanche to just plant whatever wherever.

I think of Ratibida pinnata, grey-headed coneflower, as a prime example. Out in its natural habitat of the tallgrass prairie this pioneer species often has big bluestem and indian grass to lean on, but bring it into a garden bed and it's treated like a specimen often marooned in wood mulch around shorter plants. You bet it's going to look out of place. One strategy is to surround it with other tall forbs to support it, but then you've created a garden of 4-6' tall plants -- and if this bed is in your front yard it's going to look overgrown to a lot of people with more traditional expectations. And just wait until the tall plants start leaning for the best light. With less competition in a manicured garden, plants like R. pinnata will be in heaven -- that's why we need to consider mimicking how plants grow and compete together naturally in more difficult circumstances.

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Obviously we want to mimic wild conditions and bring in plant density and layers for all the wonderful ecological and environmental benefits, but in a smaller suburban or urban lot we do have to think about what natural plant communities might translate better. One strategy is to walk nearby prairies and observe how plants are growing and with whom they're growing. Here in eastern Nebraska you'll find little bluestem and sideoats grama going strong with Liatris punctata, Asclepias tuberosa, Pycnanthemum virginianaum, Callirhoe involucrata, and various sedge species. Not  only do their root zones work with one another, they all stay in respectable sizes even in a more pampered garden setting.

At the heart here is choosing plants that have similar growth styles (shape, robustness, spread) and that intermingle to cover the ground. If the average height of these plants is 18-24" then you can go in and add a taller Liatris aspera or Eryngium yuccifolium for a pop of architectural je ne sais quoi. And perhaps an ancillary angle to this topic is -- at least at first -- limiting plant species especially in smaller beds so as not to visually overwhelm the space, adding diversity as you go along in the years and learn how the plants grow. Every garden is different.

What do you think? What has your experience been when bringing "wild" plants into the urban / suburban garden?

18 Comments
James McGee
7/18/2019 10:05:22 pm

To keep native plantings tiered, the soil along edges needs to be altered. Immediately next to sidewalks there should be cobble, grading to golf ball sized gravel, and then into pea gravel. The stone and gravel will reduce the amount of moisture that will be stored in the soil in a given location. The result will be shorter more drought-adapted plants will colonize along the edges and taller plants will be further back in the more water retentive loamy clay soil. This will not eliminate the need to edit the garden. However, it will put ecological principals to work to minimize the effort that needs to be expended at maintaining the desired structure.

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Sarah
8/3/2020 11:13:02 pm

Very interesting idea!

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Robin Etim link
7/24/2019 03:37:02 pm

Great article! Although the plant varieties are over my head. I’m a novice at this thing called rain gardens. My garden is out of control with black eyed Susan’s taking over. I’m planning on starting over digging up everything redesigning everything. Getting new plans....bc my present rain garden isn’t any fun!!!

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Benjamin
7/25/2019 10:36:34 am

Robin -- Rudbeckia can self sow liberally, but it won't persist if it has competition since it tends to act like a biennial. And by competition I mean plant son 12" centers or closer. I use Rudbeckia from seed now in new planting to provide weed-fighting groundcover in years 1-2 while perennials get rooted in. Also other biennials and annuals. I'll let you know how that goes in 2-3 years!

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Janet Hofmann
8/3/2019 09:07:21 am

Yet another helpful article from you that I wish I'd read five years ago. I chose appropriate native plants, but did not plan their locations very well (mostly random scattering). I now have a mature 50'x50' prairie whose edges are lined with tall plants falling over. (Rattlesnake master, culver root, and of course, lots of grey coneflower) and you can't see the lobelia or catchfly because they are surrounded by Indian grass. Sigh.

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Yvonne Martin
8/3/2019 07:00:03 pm

I have some tall rudbeckia that was starting to tower over the shorter plants in my garden. Snip, snip, I cut them back at an appropriate height and they look just fine. These rudbeckia seem to have come from nowhere, so it surprised me when they shot up a foot above the cone flowers. But I am happy that all looks good now.

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Benjamin
8/7/2019 08:26:28 am

That's a solid point. I often cut back by 50% some taller plants here at HQ to get them more bushy and compact -- often doing that haircut twice for late summer and fall blooming plants. Thinking about ironweeds, new england aster, etc.

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Barbara
11/11/2020 03:59:48 pm

Great article. I want to incorporate natives but not quite to the level of prairie. Some nonnative perennials must be pinched back to keep them from flopping later, usually done before flowers begin to set. Is there a similar rule for natives, cutting or pinching within a specific time frame to create compact robust, form without sacrificing ecosystem benefits? I saw you said cutting back some 2x per season. Any other guides?

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benjamin
11/12/2020 09:31:53 am

I'd be remiss if I didn't say the underlying issues here is choosing the wrong plants if you have to cut them back so they fit the space better; and what this also means, as I'll show in my forthcoming book, is that when we bring native plants into a garden they tend to sigh out of relief. Suddenly they are in a pampered (and garden is pampered compared to a prairie, for example) and they often overgrow, esp if the plant community is not tight, layered, and robust. All that being said, you cut back fall-blooming perennials by July 4 to make them shorter or more compact. That's a general rule across plant origin.

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Jennifer
5/1/2021 07:38:14 am

So I’m a complete newbie to planting native in my garden. So I’m not sure what plants do well together and where to place things. Any good resources that might help me with that? Also, I’m trying desperately to root out a bed filled with day lilies for years. I dug up as much as I can but they keep coming back. Not sure how to keep them from crowding out native wildflower seeds I’ve planted

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Benjamin
5/1/2021 10:42:51 am

Look local. University extension, native plant designers, state and regional ecology / environment / plant guidebooks. Then start reading books by Rainer/West and Diblik. In 2022 my new book will help you immensely, as well.

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Deb H link
5/1/2021 07:52:45 am

I have a small ranch in Pittsburgh, zone 6. I took out multiple old yews, to start again with the front bed. The bed is 30' long and approx 10'wide. I decided to plant native perennials only, in swaths across the bed. Left to right I planted Symphytotrichum novae-angliae, then monarda fistulosa, allium cernum, followed by a 3' sidewalk, then resuming on the next side with allium cernum, echinacea purpurea, liatris spicata, liatris pycnostachya. I used plugs. Everything grew to full size except the allium and liatris. I knew the planting would be tall, What I did not consider was that it entirely obscured my porch fence and porch, which are lovely. Sooo, I pulled everything up in the fall and moved it to the backyard where it can grow as tall as it likes. This spring I decided to go with some native shrubs, interspersed with lower growing perennials. Juniperus, spirea, lantus. I havent planted the perennials yet, that will be in the fall, but there aren't that may lower growing ones. It's still not to late for me to change these plans. Am I doing the right thing? thx

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Benjamin
5/1/2021 10:45:23 am

There are tons of low-growing native herbaceous perennials. You have a plethora of resources for your area in native plant nurseries, designers, and regional plant guidebooks. Shrubs are going to get tall, too.

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Deb H
5/1/2021 08:46:58 am

I'd like to add that the site faces west, and starts to get sun about noon. Soil is clay like, but has been worked over the years. thx

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Becky
5/4/2021 09:25:23 am

I have a small garden in the back yard in which I planted cone flowers and black-eyed Susans a few years ago, back when I knew nothing about native gardening. It's my favorite part of the yard, but the plants do seem to lean over, and there is a lot of space between the clumps of plants. I suppose they need some support. Should I add sedges?

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Benjamin
5/4/2021 10:11:38 am

Probably. Or grasses. Depends on soil and how much light is reaching down near the soil surface. Research the sedge / grass species well.

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Andrea
11/28/2021 02:36:39 pm

I'd like to know if you had to look up how to spell "je ne sais quoi" lol Excellent points to keep in mind!

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Benjamin
11/28/2021 02:39:45 pm

I studied French for 10 years. J'ai etudie francais depuis dix ans.

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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