The weather is finally warming up, and we're blessed with an extra hour of daylight, which means more time out in the garden amongst our beloved plants. This is the most exciting time of the year--a time to shake away those Winter blues and let them act as fertilizer for the great things to come.
Speaking of great things, here at Bountiful Gardens, we've been growing more and more passionate about native gardening with each passing year, to the point where we've started our own native-exclusive nursery, East Coast Natives! Our homegrown, locally-native plants can be found at our Hillsborough and Ewing locations.
Many times, native plantings are limited to garden beds, but did you know opting for a native meadow can save you COUNTLESS hours of mowing, fertilizing and maintenance? That's money and time saved, less chemicals on the ground and in our waterways, and more pollen, nectar and habitat for beneficial critters--it's a win all-around!
You don't need to replace all of your lawn with a native garden (you could though!)--every square foot of space you dedicate to native plants does its part to improve the health of your environment. There's no need for absolutism--find a balance you're happy with while keeping natives at the top of your list!
While a freshly mowed lawn can be a comforting sight, the repeated mowing prevents lawn plants from flowering and going to seed. This robs insects, mammals and birds of valuable nutrients and shelter they would normally find in a grassy habitat. Rather than a wall-to-wall rug of a lawn, consider bringing it down to area rug size.
A small pocket of lawn with some mowed paths through native garden beds can be a perfect compromise between lawn space and native space. The more narrow your paths, the more of immersive a garden experience you'll have when walking through and enjoying your property. Better yet, you'll be supporting your local ecosystem by providing critical habitat and nourishment to pollinators, insects and the rest of the chain of life.
Looking to design a native garden, but you're unsure where to start? That's where we come in! At Bountiful Gardens, we're excited to give in-depth recommendations on which species to plant where given the site conditions at hand. Our Landscape Design team can even put together a full design and send out our team to install it for you! Just fill out this inquiry form to get your project started!
Want to do some deep reading on native gardening? Author Kate Brandes offers free downloads of her book, Native Plants for the Small Yard: Easy, Beautiful Home Gardens that Support Local Ecology! This is a great resource for anyone branching into native gardening.
This book includes:
-A description of the connection between native plants and local ecology.
-Guidance on flower garden designed for your yard, including nine different design templates you can use and/or modify as you wish
-Advice on installing and maintaining a flower garden.
-Information on the best native plants for small spaces, as well as visual guides for common yard weeds and invasive plants
When you're ready for action, Bountiful Gardens will be ready to provide you with the healthiest locally-grown native plants and the expert guidance you'll need to get your native garden thriving! Come to either our Ewing or Hillsborough locations to get started! We can't wait to see ya!
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