10 really easy ways to start using native plants in your yard

Dear Avant Gardener, I moved into a new home and am eager to turn the lawn-and-boring-foreign-foundation-shrubs into an integrated landscape utilizing native plants. I want to peel off the superficial “curb appeal” and create a healthy, outdoor extension of our home. I have been doing my homework — hello, Doug Tallamy and Benjamin Vogt, even a master gardener program. As a single mom who works full time, I am overwhelmed just thinking about the lawn that slopes down to the sidewalk or how to replace these Japanese maples and other ornamentals that offer limited benefit to local wildlife. I don’t want a super quick turnover by teams of professionals, I want to be hands-on involved in the planning and the labor (I love digging!). How do I get myself out of the decision paralysis muck and get started? — Rachel, Providence, RI

What a charming home! “Curb appeal,” indeed! I can see why you’re scared to mess it up with planting experiments. Who wants to make their yard look worse than it does now?

I apologize if my passion for planning has contributed to your paralysis. I do tend to harp on it here. Personally, I enjoy planning more than planting, so measuring and pacing and drawing is all fun. I am also impatient for results and love to experiment, so I plan quickly and jump into transforming total yards.

What will the neighbors say?

Fear of neighbors’ disapproval is one of the biggest roadblocks to transforming a yard — especially with landscaped lots in established neighborhoods, like yours. Even I feel embarrassed in the “puppy ugly” transition phase, but that just makes me take on more to speed the transformation.

A more measured approach that doesn’t make a mess of things in the process is not only less embarrassing, but more cost effective. It spreads the expense of new plants over several years and takes advantage of self-seeding and active propagation efforts. And feeling your way into it, step-by-step, is a valid and practical way to design a yard you will love.

Start with what’s available

Finding a great native plant nursery is an important first step. Such nurseries are, sadly, few and far between. In Rhode Island, I like Prickly Ed’s, where the owners are happy to share their extensive expertise. Be prepared to tell them such goals as mature size and seasons of interest (e.g., evergreen) and conditions like moisture and hours of sunlight. [Readers elsewhere, see Related Resources below for tips on how to find a native plant nursery.] Conversely, stay clear of traditional garden centers, even ones that sell some natives; they’ll likely confuse you with outdated, unscientific advice.

Once you've found your native nursery partner, pick any of these 10 ways to start using available native plants in your yard without making it look worse than it does now:

1. Substitute a shrub 1-for-1.

As you know from entomologist Doug Tallamy, native trees and shrubs host dozens to hundreds of moth and butterfly caterpillars — generally far more than flowers or grasses. And they look neater, too. So you might start by substituting one native shrub for an existing exotic shrub. Ask at the nursery for a recommendation.

2. Plant a small tree.

Really, planting a small tree is much easier than it sounds — and delivers immediate visual and ecological impact. Pick a location where it can be viewed from inside, such as centered 25 feet in front of a window or somewhere along the back lot line. (See The #1 Design Solution for an Urban Backyard.) To test the location, ask a friend to stand outside the window and make like a tree. A six to eight-foot tree in a 10 to 15 gallon pot is substantial and costs less than three hundred dollars.

3. Stage in a replacement tree.

If you want to replace an exotic like your Japanese maple but are uncomfortable waiting three-plus years for the native to achieve a substantial size, then site the native nearby and remove the exotic after a few years. This works well because exotic “specimen trees” are often planted up against the house for curb appeal, rather than to be viewed from inside. Removing the exotic eventually will let light into the house and rescue your foundation, while the new native will soften the view of the street.

4. Plant an evergreen privacy hedge.

A hedge of evergreen natives offers year-round interest and privacy — and shields your activities and future planting experiments from the prying eyes of neighbors. Plant a repeating mix of four to six-foot shrubs directly into the lawn in a slight zig-zag pattern roughly three feet from the sidewalk; later, when they are too big to mow between, you can underplant them with groundcovers for shade — aka “green mulch.” For ideas, see my list of mounding and privacy-hedge dwarf evergreens for every region.

5. Plant a strip of flowering perennials.

If you’re reading Ben Vogt, then you love meadow plants — as do the vast majority of my subscribers, whose Yardenalities are Blooming Romantic or On the Wild Side. But these looks require roughly one plant per square foot, so you may be stymied by the cost of established perennials (roughly $15 each) or the scruffy year or two it takes for less expensive plugs or seeds to fill in. A solution is to plant a strip of as many full-sized perennials as you can afford each year, filling your entire yard over time. For example, you could start by planting a three-by-10-foot bed along the sidewalk or in place of or in front of your foundation shrubs. If you have enough, pile fallen leaves eight inches deep this fall to kill the grass, then plant in spring. Alternatively, solarize the section under plasstic for five weeks in spring. Shorter, long-flowering meadow plants like black-eyed Susans and echinacea work well in urban and suburban front yards. Planted late spring/early summer, your bed will look great within a month or so — and even better the next year.

6. Make room for volunteers.

In the backyard, you only have to care about your tolerance for mess, not your neighbors’. You can take any of the above steps. But if you’re not ready, you might start experimenting simply by removing a plant you don’t like. If you don’t replace it, a seed already in the soil or buried by a squirrel or dropped by a bird will grow into something. Depending on what’s growing in your neighborhood, the “volunteer” may be native, exotic, or invasive (i.e., an aggressive exotic). But you will have shaken the inertia inherent in former owners’ plantings. Hooray!

7. Grow something from seed.

Another way to tip your toe into growing native plants — and especially fun for parents like you with young kids — is to grow flowering perennials from seed. Many native plants require a period of cold to germinate and the easiest way to “cold stratify” is to plant seeds outside in the late fall or early winter. You can direct sow into a bare patch of earth, perhaps created by removing something else. Or create our own small nursery, following the instructions in How to Save Money with Winter Sowing.

8. Seed a meadow.

Seeding a meadow is the cheapest, easiest way to transform lawn into a natural landscape. If you’re not worried about neighbors, you could start transforming your front yard into a meadow right now by following my advice in 3 Steps to Make a Meadow. But it will be the very definition of scruffy for a few years, so seeding a meadow is often more appropriate for backyards or rural properties. Taking time to kill the grass and weeds first by smothering them in cardboard and wood chips or solarizing with plastic (as I’m doing right now) can improve the results somewhat, but it’s still a long process.

9. Add a pair of containers of evergreens.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Consider a pair of planters with matching dwarf evergreen native shrubs on either side of your front porch or walkway. Choose containers at least 18 inches deep — preferably 24 — in a style that complements your house. Then pick from my recommendations of dwarf globe evergreens or from your native nursery’s stock. The formality of this pair will signal intention and buy you some goodwill — from yourself and your neighbors — to start some messier planting projects.

10. Hire a natural landscape designer.

Finally, if you continue to feel overwhelmed, you can hire a landscaping firm that specializes in dense plantings of natives. Professional design will cost from low to mid-thousands, depending on the scope of the project. Professional planting costs roughly twice the cost of DIY, from $5,000 to tens of thousands. Your native plant nursery may provide these services or recommend local garden designers. Ask contractors about their process, planting philosophy, native plant experience, and costs — and push for a specific estimate for not just design, but plants and installation, as well. And don’t worry, maintaining your new plantings will still provide plenty of opportunity to dig in the dirt.

Now get planting!

— The Avant Gardener

Dear Avant Gardener, I have about 100 square feet of earth adjacent to an existing pollinator bed in my backyard. I have been preparing this space since last fall by covering it with leaf litter and discarded turf. I am ready to plant a small collection of native plants as well as heavily seeding with natives. My issue is poison ivy and oriental bittersweet. I will hand pull the bittersweet, but I would like to stay away from touching the poison ivy. I sprayed the young leaves with glyphosate and there is dieback happening. Can I leave the dying poison ivy in place and hope the new plants will outcompete them? I understand it has its place in the biosystem and eradication is not my goal, there's plenty elsewhere on my land. — Elaine, Rhode Island

Woohoo! A glorious garden! I love how you’re applying method number six above — establishing a small bed and then expanding, as well as using lawn waste as mulch, installing both plants and seeds to achieve that dense look cost-effectively, and leaving beneficial poison ivy where it’s not a danger to you or your family. Bravo. 

As for your poison ivy, I think it will stay dead if you applied sufficient glyphosate; however, the urushiol oils will last up to five years in all parts of the dead plants, so you risk getting a rash if you brush up against them while you’re planting. You’ll either have to take extreme precaution while planting or bite the bullet and pull out the dead vines beforehand. Either way, wear dedicated gloves, work fully protected, and afterward wash yourself with Tecnu and your clothes in detergent with plenty of hot water. 

In the future, I recommend cutting the vines at ground level and eschewing glyphosate. Learn how in the Journal of Pesticide Reform’s article on Poison Oak and Ivy Management.

Keep up the good work!

— The Avant Gardener

Why, How, Wow!

Why?

Forget bird seed. Birds need caterpillars to survive — hundreds of caterpillars per day for each nest. If you want to maximize the number of such caterpillar species you host on your property, plant the top native plant genera for your zip in the National Wildlife Foundation’s Native Plant Finder. Show the list of genera at your nursery and ask which species they recommend for your conditions and how you’d like them to function in your landscape.

How

Many of us passionate about biodiversity are not long-term gardeners. That’s OK, because recent research demonstrates many traditional horticultural practices to be counterproductive, if not harmful to the environment (think irrigation, over-fertilizing, and pesticide use). So, here is how to install a perennial or shrub purchased at a nursery. You may have to adjust the process somewhat for a large tree, but the steps are the same.

1. Dig a hole roughly the size of the pot and fill it with water.

2. With the stem between the fingers of one hand, turn the pot over and squeeze it until it comes free. Still holding it upside down, use your free hand to loosen the roots. Pull out any large roots that circle around the root ball or grow back into it.

3. Place the root ball into the hole by inverting the hand holding its stem. If the top of the soil from the pot is below ground level, pull it back out and add back soil to bring it level. Holding the root ball against one side of the hole, fill in any space around it with some of the dirt you removed. There should be no air between the new plant’s roots and the soil around them.

4. Cover any bare soil around the new plant with a one-inch layer of dead leaves as mulch. Give the base of the plant an inch or so of water. For the rest of the growing season, water the soil around the base one inch weekly if it has not received an inch of rain in that period.

Wow!

Subscriber Elaine writes that her pollinator garden includes: “native monarda (fistulosa and didyma), coreopsis, rudbeckia, echinacea, lobelia (cardinalis and siphilitica), zizia, penstemon, asclepia incarnata, and Joe pye weed, plus assorted exotic annuals such as cosmos, tithonia and zinnia.” Beautiful!

Related Resources

• Ready to visit a native plant nursery? Official lists often miss what I know to be the best in an area. I recommend you start by searching Google Maps for “native plant nursery” within an hour of your home, looking for “native” in the name. Check the websites of any you find, looking for mission-driven language and evidence of scale (e.g., extensive plant lists). Be prepared to make a day trip with a stop for lunch afterward. And have fun!

• Are you a parent interested in developing an attitude of experimentation in your children — and yourself? Read Kids Will Love Nature if You Do These 10 Things.

• Do you, like me, prefer to have a plan before starting? Read 3 Steps to a Master Plan for Your Property and, for an actual case study, Do You Use Your Yard?