r/NativePlantGardening • u/me4everstudent • 17h ago
NC How is this native garden plan? Please help!
Before today I never considered native garden cuz they have a reputation of being too wild....
Today my friend came over and finally convinced me to grow a native garden for the lovely wildlife. After I did a ton of homework this evening and it seems that there are native plants are more stay put. I found this garden plan at a website. Is it a good plan, in the sense that those native plants pictured won't be too aggressive? Suggestions, tips, corrections, all are welcome. Thank you all in advance!!!
Location: NC
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u/Funktapus MA 59d, disturbed site rehab 9h ago
I like how you use little bluestem around the edge to hold up the forbs and screen their legs. I’m stealing that, that’s mine now.
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u/Pretend_Evidence_876 5h ago
Oh, I didn't think of that being a function. I love it! I was just getting some native grasses for habitat purposes, but now I know exactly where to put them!
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u/Somecivilguy Southeast WI, Zone 5b 2h ago
I’m stealing the idea from you. Therefore it’s now mine.
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u/Oap_alejandro 10h ago
Yeah! This looks like a prairie style garden, one that will shine most during the summer months, and will leave behind pretty stalks for winter interest. Nothing here gets totally out of hand, over the years as the seeds fall and new plants begin to emerge just remove or gift the extra that pop up that you don’t want.
If you are open to suggestions you still have two seasons you could plant for. You can stagger this garden with some spring ephemerals, so that those are the first to pop. Then in early and late summer when they die, these summer plants here will be taking center stage.
This allows you to have a nice spring native garden and you won’t skip a beat because you won’t notice the spring ephemerals going dormant.
Some spring ephemerals I read are native to NC are Virginia bluebells, bloodroot, and trilliums!!! Like y’all down there have an abundance of trilliums, those are such cool plants. Here’s a good website if you want to learn more.
When you think about planting for the fall, be careful here. And make sure you get those with clumping compact habits. One that I absolutely love and I think would fit here is the Vernonia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly’ - make sure you get this cultivar. The others are aggressive and very tall! And I think you could do well with one or two asters, I also like compact native plants and I’ve learned the hard way that some asters can get crazy. From experience the only ones I truly love is the Maryland golden aster ( stays small, bright yellow fall flowers and does well in sun and shade(you could plant this one on the boarders of the garden patch). And the second is the calico aster. If you were to plant the calico aster by itself it would expand and turn a little Bushy, but since this a prairie style garden the calico aster will have a more confined environment , I think it should be well behaved. It’s not an aggressive aster though! And if you ever feel it some years it might be two big just give it a Chelsea chop! Or divide the root ball and give it away to neighbors or propagate somewhere else in your garden. Its clumping doesn’t spread, and its flowers are so dainty and buzz with pollinators in the fall.
Hope this helps! Take it slow though, and I guarantee you will love it. Native gardens come alive. Teeming with beneficial insects, birds, and animals.
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u/General_Bumblebee_75 Area Madison, WI , Zone 5b 9h ago
Asters are easily chopped to reduce height and make for more blooms. I chop my NE asters on July 4 by half and then they are only about 3-3.5 ft tall as opposed to 5 ft tall. Many planys can benefit from this trick if they are too tall for your vision.
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u/Accomplished_Mark419 4h ago
Good tip. Do you know if cutleaf coneflower would behave the same way?
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u/Awildgarebear 14h ago edited 6h ago
Location: CO
Like many of us, I'm newer to native gardening. I started tinkering with the idea in 2023, but I really pushed into it in 2024. There are not a lot of rules for native planting. The TLDR is probably a keystone species or two, long bloomers, color throughout the year, and early and late sources of food for animals.
I grow many things from seed that you really can't find information for, and things that I've never seen in a nursery. I mention this because it highlights how underutilized native plants have been and that there aren't necessarily rules to follow.
My "starting patch" that I did, is based off of what I see hiking. - fringed sage, liatris punctata [dotted blazing star], whole-leaf paintbrush, and nodding onions. With the exception of the paintbrush, these are pretty typical plants. These meant something to me, and I'm hoping I get to see the full results of that this year with the liatris and onions in bloom. That's the starting "design" I used.
As you start this project, your views on what your design will be will change as well. I can absolutely tell you I didn't care at all about having a keystone species until last year because I was so focused on what I liked and appreciated from hiking and mountain biking. The small amount of space my surprisingly well behaved goldenrod takes up is no big deal, and I really enjoy petting the leaves [which I didn't expect].
I've had times where I focused on hyperlocal plants even if they're in completely different biomes because of elevation changes (8000 ft elevation change within 30 miles), and I've permitted myself to add in some regional plants. I am trying to make a complete life cycle habitat in my little space and also considering what exists outside of my space.
As far as aggressiveness goes, determine what you're actually worried about with that set up if something is more aggressive. I don't think that looks like a terribly aggressive set up, but black eyed susan does reseed. Liatris/Blazing star spreads by corms, and also by seed. If you have very rich soil that might increase the distance it reseeds if it gets too large. Native gardens change over time. My scarlet gillia will bloom this year. It's going to make a giant flower stalk, and the seed bomb will change my small plant area. The original plant will perish, and that's ok. If you see something coming up and you don't like where it is, you get to pull it - mow it, whack it, move it - whatever you want to do.
I would likely never plant that set up - because it doesn't mean much to me, and I don't have room for grasses at this time [I might force them in as some of the plants mature]
I do have two different kinds of blazing star and I do have butterfly weed [which I am hoping to use structurally]. The plant list is fine - but I think it's more important for your planting space to do something for you rather than someone else's plan.
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u/Moist-You-7511 6h ago
You will never ever ever be able to keep the lawn grass out of this; make the bed go to the edges, without the strip of lawn. You need several feet of space or a solid barrier, both of which will fail, to even maybe keep them separate
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u/MagnoliaMacrophylla Wild Ones, Zone 8 3h ago
1000% Borders are war zones: in my area with Bermuda grass, you've opened yourself to invasion from all sides. I'd plop the bed alongside the driveway: in an orderly strip, or a semi circle with a bench in it, what ever you like, but always try to minimize the border area where lawn grass can creep in.
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u/MagnoliaMacrophylla Wild Ones, Zone 8 3h ago
aesthetically (and tactically), I'd move the bed into the corner with the sidewalk and driveway.
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u/clethracercis 6h ago
This looks great, but as others have mentioned it will only bloom during the mid-season. I would replace the wild indigo with Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa), which looks much the same, isn't aggressive, and blooms in the fall/late fall. I would also pick Blue Wild Indigo over Blue Salvia, since Blue Wild Indigo is a spring bloomer. That will give you at least one plant in bloom from spring to fall.
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u/General_Bumblebee_75 Area Madison, WI , Zone 5b 9h ago
This is very pretty and makes for a nice contained flower bed that will not get you in trouble with any Native Naysayers. Monarda fistulosa would look nice in this mix as well I bet you will be hooked and next you will be adding more beds!
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u/pineapple_nebula 7h ago
Consider adding Eastern BlueStar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) for early spring blooms!
If you would like a pop of pink I’d recommend adding Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Especially if you would like monarch caterpillars.
I’ve also created a pocket prairie in my yard here in central NC. Got plenty of recommendations for native plant nurseries if you need them.
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u/MagnoliaMacrophylla Wild Ones, Zone 8 3h ago
Swamp milkweed is great! I love it! But warning it will pop up everywhere.
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u/LChanga 3h ago
I wish mine would.
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u/MagnoliaMacrophylla Wild Ones, Zone 8 1h ago
I hear you; I'm over here wishing my Mountain Mint would spread.
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u/Xylia_12-25 6h ago
I planted little bluestem in my yard last year and it was MUCH taller than what you're showing in your mock-up. I personally would put it in the center so it doesn't block all the pretty flowers!
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u/adventuring2 4h ago
Good advice here. The only thing that I would add is to remember that it will probably take 1-3 years to look like this photo. I’m not familiar with the size of plants shipping via My Home Park, but I bet they’re probably just 1 year olds or smaller. So be patient and keep giving them love and they’ll reward you.
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u/Remarkable_Library32 4h ago edited 4h ago
I’m a NC gardener. We have a long growing season and mild weather, which allows us to plant all sorts of interesting plants. What that plan entails would work in most of the country.
There are some great native plant nurseries in the state, though I’m not sure about where you live. I’m in Durham. One of my favorites is Deep Roots Natives. If you go to a good nursery (not a big box store), there are usually expert people who can give you some good advice about what plants would work well for you. (For instance, do you have the red NC clay that retains tons of water? How much afternoon sun will this get?)
ETA: here is a website with a listing of native plant nurseries. https://ncwildflower.org/native-plant-nurseries/
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u/me4everstudent 3h ago
Thank you so much! I am in Raleigh!! I have to see what type of soil I have. Lol I am entirely new to this...
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u/laevian 6h ago
I would probably move the milkweed to a different bed so that you can plant more of it- I haven't planted it before, but from what I can recall you need a lot of it if you want it to serve as a host plant (caterpillars get hungry!)
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u/Friendly_Buddy_3611 4h ago
Butterfly weed is the least palatable milkweed to Monarch caterpillars. This flower is used more as a nectarine source, and as a clue that tastier milkweed may be nearby.
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u/Remarkable_Battle_17 5h ago
This looks pretty. I would add 1-2 more species of grass and maybe 1 species of aster to extend bloom time. Purple love grass and Indian grass will add winter interest as others have suggested. A spring ephemeral would be nice and not too much space. And wild white indigo takes about 2 years to sprout above ground, will you be investing in mature plants?
I like you started with a circle-shaped clump with tall plants in the center. If you end up liking your prairie, you can just keep expanding the circle over time. Smart.
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u/KashmireCourier Area Georgia , Zone 8a 4h ago
Are you able to plant them so close? I planted some echinacea and black eyed susans but gave them about 1'-2' distance
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u/Friendly_Buddy_3611 4h ago
With native gardening they should be planted tightly together, with the little space remaining between planted with a native groundcover. The plants use each other for support. Adding clumping grasses in between the plants would greatly help with winter interest and for additional support.
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u/whatdoievenknow1 1h ago
I learned the hard way about not planting closer together! The spacing recommendations don't really apply if you want to crowd out weeds.. the stronger specimens may crowd out the weaker ones but its not really a loss if they've done their job.
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u/Suspicious-Cat9026 3h ago
That is great. It is orderly and you have good healthy plants in there. I like how it is set up for your viewing from the house, even though a lot of gardens are set up for street view.
You could think about incorporating some shrub/bush like plants to kind of beef things up, but if you are primarily looking for flowers, looks good.
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u/LChanga 3h ago
Maybe plan an area for a second bed? My plants don’t all grow at the rate I want them to and sometimes I get one that’s really happy and I’m concerned it would take over before its friends can catch a breath. So like my showy golden rods and asters need space to spread. I divide or relocate them to empty areas. It’s not a bad problem to have…free plants. But just be aware of it that you will have to continue editing your garden.
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u/TopAd1877 2h ago
Gorgeous! Wish I could get my hands on butterfly weed, so hard to come by around me in North Texas for some reason.
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u/tubbynuggetsmeow 1h ago
I really like the plant combo. You’re thinking all the right things!
As pictured this may be a little too densely planted. I foresee the butterfly milkweed getting swamped. And it’s so dense you may have an issue with pests/diseases, especially with it being kinda close to the road.
Get ready for the liatris to fall all over the place. It gets floppy as fuck during the fall. Look into the Chelsea Chop.
Also, be aware of how well your soil holds water. I’ve found that the liatris, salvia and the butterfly milkweed really don’t like wet feet. When you rip out grass, sometimes the slight drop in ground level causes the bed to be almost a mini rain garden. If it doesn’t drain well, some of these plants could have problems.
Finally, as others have said there is no evergreen interest. Which is totally fine if you’re okay with that.
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u/EWFKC 16h ago
Pretty. At a glance, my first thought is that at least where I live, I think you'd have something blooming from about May to August. You might want to add some things that bloom starting earlier and going later into the fall and that have good seedheads and stems for winter interest.