Common Sense Native Plant Gardening Advice That Works!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- 👉👉👉👉 Link to A Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants book that was talked about in the video: www.backyardec... 👈👈👈👈
🌾🌾🌾🌾 Learn about a group of grass allies that also works great in the native garden, the sedges in this video: • The Surprising BENEFIT... 🌾🌾🌾🌾
This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.
Native plant gardening is a easy or complicated as you want to make it. For most of us simple is better, and there are several tricks that can be used in native plant gardening to make it a whole lot easier. Listen in as Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, authors of the native plant gardening must read book A Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants, as they discuss some common sense and simple steps to a native plant garden that is easy to take care of - and looks great too!
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👉👉👉👉 Link to A Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants book that was talked about in the video: www.backyardecology.net/recommendations/#ggpp 👈👈👈👈
🌾🌾🌾🌾 Learn about a group of grass allies that also works great in the native garden, the sedges in this video: th-cam.com/video/NKAGf2SDvpw/w-d-xo.html 🌾🌾🌾🌾
This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.
Very good information in this video. That tip about planting grasses near tap-rooted perennials so their vast root system can reduce weeds was a gem. So helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
I was on the fence about getting this book and saw one for sale at a local Wild Ones meeting. As soon as I realized it included photos of all stages of growth for each species I lost all doubt that I needed “yet another” native plant reference. Knowing what my intentionally planted seedlings look like has saved me so much aggravation! 😅
It is worth it just for the seedling pics!
The sun on that Cedar looks AMAZING 😍
At your recommendation, I bought A Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants in May, 2024. It IS a great book with numerous pictures of different species, most at different stages of growth. Somewhere between a scholarly treatise and a coffee table gardening book. Thank you for that suggestion - and for all of your recommendations.
This is an informative video as are all your channel's. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you found the book useful! The pictures are super helpful when trying to ID plants in the garden.
I love this advice! I'm hoping to implement this soon.
Awesome!
Thanks for another great video!
Glad you liked it!
As I was removing a butterfly bush and some Rose of Sharon, I noticed that the bermuda grass in the yard had not invaded that area, due to the shade I assume. I am going to put in a double row of little bluestem along the edge of my native space to delineate the area and hopefully slow down the bermuda until the taller perennials get established. Time will tell. I also have an order coming from Prairie Moon and while there will be a bit of planning, i am also going to drop in some plants randomly to see which plants make it. This native area is going to have to be on it's own after a 2 year babysitting period. Thanks for your videos and the book recommendation.
Bermuda is a very aggressive grass and can outcompete many native species. Little bluestem may not grow quick enough to get ahead of the Bermuda. Keep an eye on it and try to remove any Bermuda that gets into the area as quickly as possible. Once the natives have gotten large enough to shade the ground you should be in the clear.
@@BackyardEcology thank you. i'm thinking careful application of herbicide (with a q tip or tiny sponge) may be needed. Those rhizomes can go deep and trying to pull them up may be damaging to the other plants. Fingers crossed. P.S. I ordered the Gardener's guide to Prairie Plants. One really can't have too many cool books.😉
@@snsnplpl You will love the book! Herbicide is about the only way to set back Bermuda grass to any extent. The rhizomes are vigorous and any small pieces left after pulling sprout right back. It is one of the toughest turf grasses to deal with.
Is there a version of that book, or something like it, for the mountain west?
Not that I am aware of. If anyone knows of one please post it.
They mentioned the echinacea moving to the shade. Shade in relation to soil type and moisture is something I've been learning is really important in gardening in general and isn't talked about as much as it should. I usually do some site prep and throw down some seeds and let chance take over, but whenever I have a specific plant that won't take when it is supposedly full sun I find I can get them to thrive in partial shade.
It makes it me wonder if there is a standard for moisture retention and rain levels because it seems kind of subjective. I know what full sun is in hours, but what the heck is moderate watering? Someone has to have that figured out somewhere and I would love to know what those standards are with some numbers and units. Terms like well draining aren't all that helpful.
Echinacea purpurea is actually more of a woodland plant. It gets planted in full sun and can handle it, but when I find it growing wild around here it is in part shade woodlands and savannas.
Soil water retention has a ton of variables that go into it. A huge part of it is how much water actually infiltrates the soil. If all the water that hits it runs off, then it is doing little good. Most of it comes down to observation as every chunk of ground is different - even front yard to back yard can be quite different.
What's a good compliment to Little Bluestem I have assisting with erosion control beside my driveway?
How wet is the area? Just wet when it rains or does it have some constant moisture?
@@BackyardEcology Sand, garbage soil. The grass is doing well in it, but it only gets watered when I feel like it, or if it rains. SE Michigan.
For the Northeast I recommend the following:
Weeds of the Northeast, 2nd Edition Revised and Expanded to Include the Mid-Atlantic States. Joseph C Neal, Richard H Uva, Joseph M DiTomaso, Antonio DiTommaso*. 2023
This one is technically meant for those thinking of the plants detailed in it as weeds in an agricultural setting, but that really only shows on the title, since it’s all just IDing, at which it absolutely excels. It’s great for identifying plants that grow in the Northeast, and they tend to be the ones you see a lot. Most are native, some aren’t, but if you want to identify a plant in your yard, a suprise newcomer in your garden, or just a plant you found while out and about, this book is actually great for IDing. It shows the seeds, the seedling, and adult plant, fruit, and the flowers. It also tells you about / shows the different growth habits if the species has multiple. It tells you all the similar plants and how to tell them apart. It also tells you the distribution and environment they grow in (macro and micro), and characteristics like their persistence after frosts, their propogation methods, and their seasonality. Yunno, the things you need to know for growing them (the native ones). Actually a banger native plant book despite not being written as one.
*Yes, their last names are different. Idk
Native Plants of the Northeast, A Guide to Gardening & Conservation. Donald L Leopold. 2005. This book has sections based on the plant types (general categories like ferns, grasses (and relatives), wildflowers, vines, shrubs, and trees) with an appendix that categorizes them into categories like bird attractiveness, mammal attractiveness, pollinator attractiveness, soil wetness tolerances, shade / sun tolerances. This gives info on the names, hardiness zones, soil requirements, light requirements, detailed descriptions, propagation, range, and notes for various things, like plant specific stuff, or what insects it attracts / acts as a host for, or whatever they decide for the given plant. I do wish some of the categories in the notes section were more universal, but they didn’t do a bad job at applying them either. Tons of pictures too, but usually just bloom, fruit, and zoomed out plant. Seed and seedling pics are rare. I use this book with the first.
Planting for Climate Resilience in Northeast Landscapes. 2024
This one is just 80 pages, but it’s great, and makes use of them fully. Starts with detailed information on soil types, as well as tests like the ribbon test to gauge soil texture. Plenty of information on light level and the environments in nature it’s found in, the benefits of native gardening, how to prepare a site for a native garden (including things to think about like road salt, soil compaction, existing plants, etc.), and whatnot. There’s then a section about native plant communities, to give an idea about how plants form ecosystem in nature. Take for example the exemplified Dry Oak-Hickory Woodland, with how it functions and a list of the plants growing there. The majority of the book is about specific plants as expected, with detailed information focusing on their roles as plants to be pollinated by native pollinators, and hosts of native species. It gives plenty of sowing information, as well as data on the photoperiodism of the plants. It also talks about which species are declining and where. As for gardening info, in addition to the aforementioned sowing information, it talks about sun and soil requirements, soil type, resiliences like drought, flooding, salt, compaction, and erosion control, the plant’s height and spread, and more. The entire focus is planting a native garden (and sowing native seeds elsewhere) for climate resilience.
Great recommendations! Many of the weed ID books are great references as they will often have descriptions of seedlings since they are meant as references for agriculture.
Another great video, thanks!
Glad you liked it!