Native Plant Design
People often think of unmanaged, unmown weedy spaces when they hear the phrase “native plants.” Hopefully you know that isn’t necessarily true, but there are many tips and tricks you can employ to improve the appearance of your native plant garden and make it as aesthetically pleasing to the neighbors as it is to wildlife.
A 1995 study of what people liked to see in the garden produced a list of “Cues to Care.” These “cues” can be used in designing with native plants to help show that a design is intentional, and generally improve the overall attractiveness to others. I’ve broken down a few of those cues below.
Maintaining a mown strip along driveways, pathways, or sidewalks to help indicate the yard is cared for. This can also help to prevent flopping plants from ending up on a neighbor’s property or in a walkway.
Note the mown edge along the front of this garden design. Though the overall garden is a bit wild and English cottage style, the structure of the mown lawn, linear walkway, low overall height, and fence help keep it from looking too overgrown and unwieldy.
Keeping mostly low-growing plants (<2-3’) appears tidier than large plants that could appear overgrown. I often use shorter, tidier native cultivars (ex. 2’ tall Solidago sempervirens ‘Golden Baby’ rather than the 8’ S. sempervirens species) in areas along the front of a property to help with this.
Low overall height in the front bed, with a mown area adjacent, keeps a tidier appearance. The addition of the understory tree and sculpture, along with lots of flowering multi-season interest help communicate intent.
Using flowering plants and trees. Smaller flowers can sometimes be misconstrued as weeds, particularly when they aren’t massed together. Larger, brighter flowers are better for design legibility. People also prefer the aesthetic of trees over shrubs and grasses.
Planting in rows, or maintaining linear plantings can help relay intent and a neater overall look. The below design could easily seem messy but is kept orderly by the straight lines of the walkway, and upright grasses planted in lines.
Linear rows of grasses and squared-off beds with geometric linear walkways allow for a bit more “wild” and “whimsy” within the plantings.
Implementing architectural details like fences, lawn ornaments or sculptures, stone, and fresh paint all indicate that a property is cared for.
Using foundation plantings that cover the foundation, but don’t get in the way of windows or doors is also crucial. Using shrubs and plants of an appropriate size to stay below windows keeps things inviting.
Linear walkways, lower plantings with understory trees along the front, and appropriately sized foundation plantings help keep this flowering design in check.
Using items that directly show wildlife function and usage also helps to show others the “why” of your native garden and helps to bring them in on its secrets. This can be done by simply adding a bird bath or other source of fresh water for wildlife, a wildlife habitat sign (Many can be purchased from different nonprofits or government agencies), a mason bee box, birdhouse, bat box, bird nesting globes, anything you can place in your garden that is clearly put there for use by wildlife (and ideally aesthetically pleasing as well).
Find more design tips in my blog post here! What tricks help you keep your native landscape looking good? Share in the comments below!
Resources- Nassauer, J., (1995). Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames. Landscape Journal, 14:2, pp 161-170.
