​​Creating a Lush Native Landscape Around Your Home

Filling your borders with annual flowers bought from your local garden center is always a lot of fun. You can quickly add a lot of color to your yard by picking up a box of poppies and petunias that you know will work well with your exterior design and blend in with your home’s color palette.

However, buying a trunk full of non-native annuals doesn’t necessarily support your local ecosystem. You’ll need to water your non-native flowers constantly and may find that some non-natives are actually invasive and slowly take over the area surrounding your yard.

Rather than outsourcing high-maintenance plants, consider creating a lush native landscape around your home this summer. Opting for native planting will help you support the local ecosystem while reducing your water bill. You should also consider making some landscaping changes to your yard, too, as small ponds and rocky features can provide a welcome refuge for local bugs and critters.

Here are some of our best tips for creating a lush native landscape around your home

Sustainable Planting

Creating a native landscape is a great way to boost the sustainability of your home. Native plants are already well-adapted to your local conditions, and won’t require the same amount of watering that non-natives may need. Similarly, native plants will typically work well in your soil meaning you don’t need to bring in nutrient-rich, but unsustainable, peat-based compost mixes. Planting native flowers and shrubs positively contributes to pollination in your area, too.

Sustainable planting doesn’t have to detract from your plans from a big, bold border either. Instead, focus on working with plants that naturally grow well within your hardiness zone. This is crucial, as adapting to the climate and soil of your area reduces the need for heavy watering or artificial heating of greenhouses. Similarly, planting with hardiness in mind is a great way to ensure your garden looks great year-round.

If the idea of a native plant-inspired home is appealing to you, get the ball rolling with a biophilic design. Biophilic design is based on the idea that every element of your yard should support some other element of your outdoor space. For example, you may choose to dig a small pond in order to support plant life like lilies or other wetland flowers. Similarly, you may choose to create a rock feature to ensure that alpine plants have protection from wind and can grow in naturally occurring gritty, free-draining soil.

Inviting Wildlife

Planting native flowers and shrubs reduces the amount of water you’ll use on borders and raised beds. However, a truly lush native landscape isn’t just for bushes and flowers. By making some strategic changes to your garden design, you can invite native wildlife into your yard and help support the local ecosystem.

Of course, inviting wildlife into your yard doesn’t mean you have to put up with deer eating all your produce and coyotes making their den behind your shed. Rather, you can make small but powerful decisions to cultivate an animal-friendly area of your yard while using mesh and fencing to keep critters away from the food and flowers you cherish most.

Get the ball rolling by creating a bug hotel. Bug hotels are great for creepy crawlies like spiders, woodlice, and slugs. They typically contain plenty of dry wood but can be adapted to suit the needs of the native insects in your area. Creating a bug hotel creates a foundation at the bottom of your native wildlife pyramid, and means larger animals will inspect your garden in search of food. This can be a real treat if you like waking up early to watch hedgehogs, deer, or other small mammals like chipmunks.

Inviting some bugs into your home can support the wider ecosystem, too. Despite popular belief, some pests can actually be helpful. Wasps and moths are powerful pollinators that support plant growth and predators like coyotes can control the populations of rodents and small, disease-carrying mammals. Bug hotels and top-dressing your lawn can support these “pests” and help you create a lush native landscape around your home.

Native Gardening Principles

Creating a lush native landscape can help your home support the wider ecosystem and will cut down on water and energy bills. However, creating a natural landscape can be tricky if you’re used to planting English roses and delphiniums despite living in a high desert. Rather than ruing the loss of your favorite flowers, draw from the example of designer gardens from around the world when planning your space. For example:

• Floods and Wetlands: If you live in an area that regularly floods, consider drawing inspiration from this year's Chelsea Garden Flower Show. The Flood Re garden shows what is possible for folks who live near wetlands and makes full use of flowers that grow in peat-free, wet soil.

• Drought Tolerance: Flora Grubb's California garden works with the reality of droughts and low precipitation to produce a space that makes full use of climate-adapted plants. While some of these are brought in from around the world, you may be able to find flowers and shrubs in your area that follow a similar theme.

• Zen-Gardens: Despite hailing from Japan, it is possible to create a zen garden with stones and waterworks that produce a calm, tranquil feel. Just be sure to replace any demanding shrubs with native alternatives that suit your style and minimize the amount of watering you’ll need to do.

You don’t necessarily have to turn your back on non-native plants when creating a lush landscape around your home. If you do decide to incorporate elements of non-native planting, be sure to create water butts and compost piles that can naturally collect rainwater and turn your trash into fertile soil. This minimizes your carbon footprint and ensures that your garden remains eco-friendly.

Conclusion

Creating a lush native landscape in your yard is easy. Get started by learning more about the hardiness zone of your area and try to draw inspiration from your local botanical garden. You can also make some landscaping changes by installing features like bug hotels, ponds, and rock elements. This will support the local ecosystem and bring more wildlife into your yard.