By Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Native plants are gaining in popularity, especially with so many gardeners interested in supporting pollinators and other native insects and wildlife. So how can you landscape with native plants? You first have to plan your yard, and we’ll show you how.
Know your land
Before you can decide which native plants you want in your Kentucky native plant garden, you have to know your growing conditions. Is the area in full sun or shade? Does the soil stay wet or is it dry? Is the soil alkaline or acidic?
A good first step is to take a soil test. (You can contact your county extension agent for more information.) This determines the pH of the soil and identifies the minerals and nutrients it has or is missing. The results have recommendations on how to correct any problems. Info like the pH (acid or alkaline soil) also guides your plant selection.
Learn which USDA Zone your plot of land is in. Most of Kentucky is in Zones 6a and 6b. Small sections of the southwest are in USDA Zone 7. These zones tell you which plants are hardy enough to survive our Kentucky winters.
Pay attention to the sun. As the sun moves through the season, the amount of light that hits the ground changes. What starts out sunny in spring could be dense shade by summer as trees leaf out.
Look at the competition other plants may present for your Kentucky native plant garden. Will tree roots be a problem? They win when it comes to sucking up nutrients like water. Plus, digging through them can damage or kill a tree. Some conifers tend to be messy, dropping needles, which can make plants underneath unsightly.
Put pencil to paper or use a landscape app
Make a rough sketch of the shape of the garden you want. Note where sidewalks and structures are and where trees and shrubs are. Is there a water source nearby?
Look at how the light moves through the space – is part of a section in full sun while a portion stays in shade? That garden bed may need a mix of shade- and sun-loving plants.
Start small
Designing and planting a new garden bed can be a lot of work. The biggest job will be the soil preparation. You can always extend a bed every year or two until it’s the size and look you want. Besides saving energy, starting small also conserves cash.
Select your native plants
Some native plants are more garden-worthy than others. Although they may have all the benefits gardeners want in native plants, such as attractive leaves and colorful fruit, they may be aggressive and spread beyond their space. Others may be prone to disease, adding to the maintenance and worries about the plants.
The Kentucky Native Plant Project has a comprehensive listing and descriptions of plants, from spring ephemerals to trees. The Kentucky Native Plant Society has a list of plant suppliers and service providers.
Select perennials that provide a sequence of flowers through the seasons. Start with spring-blooming perennials such as columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), followed by summer-blooming garden phlox (P. paniculata), followed by asters (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) in fall.
Many native shrubs, such as Viburnum, will have spring flowers, attractive summer foliage, fall color, and fruit that persists into winter. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) has round balls for flowers, colorful fall fruit, and leaves. Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata), a deciduous holly, has red fruit that stands out in the winter landscape.
For trees, look at the Kentucky coffee bean (Gymnocladus dioicus), river birch (Betula nigra), honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), red maple (Acer rubrum), and white oak (Quercus alba) as good shade tree selections. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), and downy serviceberry (Amelanchier arbora) are excellent native ornamental trees.
Design tips for a native plant garden
Once you have plants selected, follow a few basic design tips.
- Avoid planting perennials as singles. Rather, plant them in groups of three or five for the best show.
- Put tall plants in the back of the bed, with medium-height plants in the middle and short plants in the front.
- The plant placement can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Maybe a stand of garden phlox at one end will be balanced at the other with a stand of ornamental grass, such as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).
- Texture and form are also important. Flowers last only for a short time compared to leaves and the form of a plant.
- Make sure plants will fit in the garden space once they’ve reached their mature size. It’s hard to cram a 6-foot-wide shrub in a 4-foot-deep bed. Planting for the mature size reduces long-term maintenance.
Other considerations
A lot of people think native plants will survive with little or no care, but that’s not true. Plants are living things and need a little TLC to thrive, bloom, flower, fruit, and shade as you want.
Water newly planted specimens at least once a week. New plants need roughly 1 inch of water every week to 10 days. Most native perennials do not need a lot of fertilizer. Too much fertilizer or soil that is too rich will cause perennials to flop. During exceptionally dry periods, water trees, shrubs, and perennials.
Soil prep is probably the hardest part of planning a garden, especially if you’re a beginner. You’ll need to remove any grass and weeds and add compost, chopped leaves, or other natural amendments to the soil.
Digging the soil for a new bed may unearth decades-old weed seeds, which will grow once exposed to light and water. Consider bringing in a planter’s mix from a local landscape supply company.
A lot of gardening is trial and error. Sometimes plants work out and sometimes they don’t. Don’t be afraid to pull out what you don’t like and plant something new. The more experience you have the better able you’ll be to select plants that work in your beautiful landscape design of native plants.
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp is an award-winning Indianapolis-based garden writer, editor, and speaker. Known as a “hortiholic,” she frequently says her eyes are too big for her yard. She blogs at hoosiergardener.com.
