Hosted by Sally Muspratt
This native plant installation provides a welcome respite for residents and guests at the Coleman House. The quiet woodland walk through the lovely, tall pines links the bright annual plantings of the parking lot and Memorial Garden with the contrasting experience of an enhanced natural woodland and provides an opportunity for safe, gentle exercise in the open air for the elderly residents.
by Julia Frederick
Shade trees are more important than ever as we face rapid development and suburban sprawl, deforestation, and desertification. These gentle giants help combat rising temperatures, habitat loss and declining air and water quality. Additionally, native canopy trees provide abundant food and shelter for insects, amphibians, birds, and mammals.
Hosted by Marie Chieppo
Avery Park, a busy commuter rail station park becomes a native plant oasis for people and pollinators alike. Follow Needham based landscape designer Marie Chieppo’s journey through a barren weed-infested plot to a popular garden gathering spot that is doing double duty during the COVID pandemic as a great place to socialize while staying six feet apart.
Reviewed by Curtis Jirsa
Wild Seed is an annual magazine published by Wild Seed Project, a Maine-based nonprofit that advocates for using more native plants in our landscapes. This year’s volume, like its predecessors, is a compelling and richly-illustrated collaboration between an impressive group of scholars, horticultural professionals, local artists, and other experts and enthusiasts.
Can you please explain to me the benefits of planting native trees over exotic trees? I thought having more exotic trees meant less risk for common diseases on native tree species; however, the process of naturalization indicates a focus on native tree planting over exotic. Is it true exotic trees are more expense to purchase than native ones?
by Missy Fabel
It’s easy to be beguiled by the fresh look and scent of newly spread mulch. Yet for the ecologically minded, the spread of native groundcovers by rhizome, stolon, or seed introduces both functionality and a particular aesthetic into the landscape as plants fill cover soil by virtue of their growth habits and reproductive strategies.
by Leslie Duthie
Long the subject of fantasy and lore, ferns were objects of desire well into the 1800s. Today, gardeners are unsure of both the ecological value of these ancient plants and how to incorporate them in the landscape. Tolerant and adaptable, ferns offer both ecological and design value.
I live in Zone 6 just outside of Boston, MA. Our tiny front yard faces north and is mostly shaded by the three-story house. To make matters worse, there is a Norway Maple on the other side of the sidewalk, so the yard is dry. The turf grass currently planted cannot cope, and there are many bare patches, even with regular overseeding. I tried Pennsylvania sedge as an experiment, and that seems to be doing well, but I don’t think I want the whole yard planted with sedge. What native plants could we use against the foundation that don’t get too high and perhaps could replace the turf? The yard is too small (21’ X 10’) for a tree or large shrubs.
by Sam Hoadley
Mt. Cuba Center’s mission is to inspire an appreciation for the beauty of native plants and a commitment to the native habitats that protect them. Over the past several years the Mt. Cuba Center Trial Garden has become an influencer to the nursery industry and to native plant enthusiasts. Learn about their trials, designed to identify the top performing species and cultivars within the genus that are best suited for the Mid-Atlantic region.
by Krissy Boys
Four years after replacement of a streambank water control structure, native grasses, sedges, and forbs planted at the site have become well established. Most species are thriving and have propagated themselves by self-sowing in the streambank gardens. Only two species out of 58 genera completely failed.
by Maureen Sundberg
A campus wildflower meadow tucked onto a slope at Greenfield Community College was designed as part of a larger outdoor learning lab that includes a botanical garden, wetland garden, permaculture garden, and raingarden. Two years after planting, the meadow has become an oasis of learning for students across the academic spectrum.
by Ethan Dropkin
Many designers and horticulturists have the unique and challenging task of greening our cities where growing conditions are less than favorable. Too often they resort to using a limited palette of largely exotic species, but by looking to native plant communities, they can develop landscapes that thrive in and contribute to the urban environment.
