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Often times homeowners interested in native plants feel that they cannot create a native landscape due to the perceived limitations of their property. For example, they see their property as either too small or too urban to “go native”. Rest assured, there is a potential native landscape for practically every site!
June grass and prairie phlox
Wagon wheels in the prairie garden
A Beautiful, dynamic landscape
The Prairie garden in late summer
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In many cases, the answer is to create a native “garden” that becomes a balanced and integral part of the entire landscape. Depending on the ecology of the site, this garden can focus on prairie, woodland or wetland plants. In this particular example, the homeowners wanted to create a prairie landscape in a 3,000 sq ft terraced area they constructed along the east side of their house.
The actual prairie garden installation occurred in July of 2002. A combination of custom seed mixes and nursery grown plants were used. The selection of species for this project was based both on the ecology of the site (soil types, moisture levels, light availability, native origin) and on design elements (height, color, texture, bloom times, etc.).
The end result is a low- maintenance, diverse landscape that provides an ever-changing environment of color, light, texture, sound and motion. Not inconsequently, this landscape also provides valuable habitat for songbirds and butterflies.
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