Why Plant Native Plants in Your Garden?

We’re partnering with Australian Outdoor Living to make it easier for you to choose the right native plants for your garden.

WHAT ARE THE RIGHT NATIVE PLANTS FOR YOUR GARDEN?

You can easily find out what native plant is suited to your region and your particular garden. Ask your local garden center, contact your county extension agent, or visit one of these useful online websites:

Australian Native Plants

Native North American Plants

Endemic Species of the British Isles

Native Plants of Canada

HOW TO START A NATIVE PLANTS GARDEN

1) Choose Your Site  
Are you installing a completely new native garden?
Looking for plants to fill in elsewhere in your landscape?
How big an area are you planting?

If you have a smaller space, be aware that some native plants can grow incredibly large or can take over a space – like this native fig tree. In Australia, a plant like the kangaroo paw is easy to grow and maintain, while the iconic wattle will add a vibrant touch of color and interest to your yard.

2) Figure Out How Much Sun and Water You Have
How much rainfall generally falls in your area?
Given other plants, how moist will your soil be? (NOTE: Trees can be very thirsty and rob the soil of all available moisture)
How much sun does your garden area receive? Some plants must have full sun; others will thrive in shade.

3) Analyze Your Soil 
Is your soil rich and full of organic matter?
Do you have dry or even sandy soil?
Is your “soil” more like clay?

If you’re not sure what your soil needs, send a sample to your county or regional extension service. They can analyze it tell you what amendments it needs.

4) Attract Wildlife
In addition to planting the right flowers, bushes, and trees, your native garden can be a great place for wildlife.

Native plants are often a primary source of food for local birds, insects, foxes, and other animals.

⇒ Consult with local wildlife agencies to identify what plants make the best wildlife food sources.

5) Choose Your Plants
Buy from a local nursery that specializes in native or indigenous plants.

Shop online from a nursery that can meet your needs.

Swap with other gardeners in your region. If you can, visit their gardens to observe how well their plants are doing, and their cultivation techniques.

Take a cutting from another garden and propagate it yourself, reading about its ideal growing conditions online.

Choose plants that can also provide some food, such as native blueberries, herbs, mint, and onion. Down Under, the lemon myrtle (pictured) and lilly-pilly have been a statement in many Australian landscapes for years. Or try, the native passionfruit, guangdong or finger lime.

6) Plant at the right time.
You can plan your garden any time. But you’ve got to plant at the right time if you want your plants to thrive.

Depending on how much water your plants need, you can put them in the ground during the rainy season, or during the dry spells.

Keep an eye on the plants until they become established. Then maintain your native plants garden with the same care and attention you maintain other parts of your landscape.

Do you grow native plants? Please share your tips for success!

The post How to Choose the Right Native Plants for Your Garden appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Sure you can.

Here’s how:

1) Scope out possible planting locations. Trees need room for both branches and roots to spread out, so adequate space is key. So is good soil. Is yours loose and loamy, or dense and full of clay? And what about water? Is your spot high and dry or low and prone to flooding? The place you pick determines what tree will do best in your yard.

2) Choose your tree. Consider how big the tree will get and how fast it will grow, as well as its sun, soil and water requirements. Arbor Day’s ‘right tree in the right place’ guide will help you find options that work for your “micro” climate. Consider species native to your area to help promote biodiversity.

If you live in a zone that is prone to drought, one of these trees could do well:

Silver maple
Chinese elm
Red oak
Purpleleaf plum

If your region gets a lot of moisture, one of these trees would be better:

River birch
Weeping willow
Austrian pine

3) Put your tree in the ground. How you plant a tree will depend on whether the roots are bare, wrapped in burlap, or potted in a container. Regardless, you’ll need to dig a hole that’s deeper and wider than the roots and add aged compost. After your tree is in the ground, clear grass at least three feet away from the trunk in every direction and mulch with wood chips or shredded bark to help the roots retain moisture and act as a buffer against temperature extremes. Water deeply upon planting, then regularly until the tree roots get established.

If you like to do things from scratch, you can plant a seed. Again, consider seeds that are native to your location. You might want to start the seed in a container so you can nurture it along over the couple of years it will take to grow into a seedling you can transplant. Fill a one- or -two gallon container with dirt that contains some rich organic matter, then make a hole about 1 inch deep, pop in the seed and cover with soil. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Once you plant a tree, keep it healthy so you can enjoy all the benefits it offers. It will attract birds and other wildlife, and provide shade to keep you cooler in summer. The leaves will help filter soot and dust, clearing the air, and convert carbon dioxide back into oxygen, reducing global warming and climate change. Plus research shoes that trees and the sound of their leaves tend to make people feel more relaxed. In fact, hospital patients recover more quickly when their room offers a view of trees! Having some trees to look out on from your porch or patio could have an equally calming effect on you.

RESOURCES:

If you don’t have enough space in your own yard to accommodate a tree, plant one in your community. Work with your local public works department to choose a species or location.

Or support global tree planting campaigns, like the one Avon is running through its Hello Green Tomorrow program.

Some cities, like Pittsburgh, require residents to obtain a tree planting permit. You may want to check to see if this is the case where you live.

For more information on tree planting and organizing community planting in your area visit American Forests  or  Sustainable Horticulture.

For gardening supplies, visit our store.

(Disclosure: I provide green living tips to Hello Green Tomorrow.)

(Thanks to research assistant Tracy Gaudet of Inspire Planning for research help.)

The post It’s Arbor Day. Can’t you plant just one tree? appeared first on Big Green Purse.

For just $12 a year, I get access to great gardening advice, some lovely garden tours, and a list-serv of other gardeners who are not only willing but eager to swap plants with me so we can all save some money.

I put that list-serv to good use this past weekend. After a harsh, dry winter, my yard needed a face lift. The sunny spot in front was completely overgrown with weeds. The mostly shady back yard had been overtaken by senecio daisies and creeping astilbe, let alone all manner of weeds. I wanted to restore the front with native plants that would thrive in hot afternoon sun, and add variety to the shade plants out back.

A quick trip to the nursery made me realize that my ideas would cost me some serious cash – at least $50 just for the plants in front, even without adding an accent bush or two.

I bought a few tall zinnias to add some immediate color, but headed home to see if I could “shop” for free on the club list serv. I put out a call for plants like rudbeckia, also known as black eyed Susans, and native grasses. I described my growing conditions so folks could look at what they were cultivating under similar conditions and give me some transplants. I offered to share my plants with whomever dropped by.

Bingo! Within half an hour of offering to exchange some of my astilbe, daisies, and a few other wildly growing specimens (like hellebores and native phlox), the responses came pouring in. My fellow gardeners would be delighted to swap with me!

I spent an hour digging up the plants I could trade, potting them in old planting containers I save for just this purpose. Then I puttered around in the garden and waited for the “booty” to arrive. Throughout the morning, people stopped by with a motherlode of perennials. I hauled in celandine poppies, three varieties of rudbeckia, a native columbine, goldenrod, mondo grass, echinacea (purple cone flower), and more.

At this point, I’ve saved even more than $50 by exchanging plants rather than buying them.

But as much as I love the bargain, I think I got more pleasure from the gardeners who dropped by with their own plants in tow. It was great fun to walk around, shovel and spade in hand, digging up plants I’d cultivated so my friends could enjoy them in their yard. By the same token, it was particularly satisfying to plant what my gardener pals had carefully dug up for me.

I’ll be savoring that camaraderie all summer long.

The post Don’t Buy Plants. Swap! (I did, and saved $50.) appeared first on Big Green Purse.