Ta da!
Here is a draft of what my new 550 sq ft front habitat Garden bed will look like. While the shape is settled, consider it effectively a blank slate. I encourage you to share your own thoughts about the design with me in the comments.
Primary goals?
Save the planet. Do my part to combat our biodiversity crisis.
Increase the amount of habitat on my property using Native Plants.
Reducing the least productive and least sustainable portion of my greenspace, the lawn.
Secondary goal?
Maintain the look of a curated perennial garden.
To broadly shift consumer behaviour it will become increasingly important for people to be inspired by beautiful home gardens with primarily native plants. To that end:
- I've already arranged for my home to be on a garden tour this year, so gardeners can imagine making similar changes to increase biodiversity in their own yards. Yes, even with a newly planted bed.
- I will be doing a presentation for the Prairie Naturals Gardening Group in April on integrating native plants into your home garden.
In October I took the first big step by putting in the new (lasagna) garden bed. Racing against the changing seasons, I finished just as the snow fell. There is no better incentive to plan a garden than to have the empty bed prepped and ready for next season.
All feedback is welcomed, in particular:
- Which plants can easily and effectively begin with direct sowing this spring?
- Violets? Bloodroot?
- Will the Turtlehead be moist enough?
- Will the Obedient plant get enough sun?
- Where can I buy local native orchids?
- Are there endangered plants and animals I can create specific habitat for?
