A garden inspired by nature doesn’t have to look weedy or messy.
Maybe you’re thinking aboutreplacing your lawn with something more sustainable.
Perhaps you have a shady spot where nothing grows.
Credit: Carson Downing
Or you may be looking tocreate more habitat for wildlifesuch as birds and butterflies.
Here are five design tips that will help you create a space that appeals to both people and wildlife.
Choose compatible native plants.
This means they dont self sow or shoot out runners aggressively.
This means they dont self sow or shoot out runners aggressively.
Repetition is your friend.
Our eyes have evolved to seek out patterns in nature to make sense of the seeming chaos.
Walk through a meadow and try it.
Youll soon notice how youre viewing repeated flower masses across the space.
The repetition helps our eyes “read” the landscape and see purpose.
So plant everything 12 inches apart to cover open ground.
This will help shade out weeds andcreate habitat for birds, frogs, and other wildlife.
Don’t overdo flowers.
Aim to have no more than threetypes of flowering perennialsin bloom at one time.
It helps not overwhelm the space with color.
But isn’t that what we wanttons of blooms and color?
Yes, except that too much will appear messy and unorganized.
Don’t worry, youll still have plenty of flowers throughout the growing season with this rule of three.
This strategy goes forfoundation bedsas well asentire front yards.
The same principle applies to busy street corners where cars need to see oncoming traffic and kids on bikes.
Keep it low and go with the flow.
Plant for bloom succession, fall color, winter seed heads.
And if you have 15-20 species in your landscape, youll almost by default have bloom succession.
Anatural gardenmay be born from wilder roots but it’s still a garden that requires planning and thought.
