Native Gardening

[JBtheExplorer]

Now what?

Now it regrows.

 

[j.w]

Now it regrows.

So it kills bad stuff and grows back better?

 

[JBtheExplorer]

So it kills bad stuff and grows back better?

Yes, that's right. It can kill off some of the shallow rooted weeds and it gives the well-established native plants a bit more room to regrow, and it can help stimulate growth. In native prairies, fire is necessary. Prairies only exist because of fire, otherwise trees and shrubs would completely take over. So now many places do controlled burns to maintain the prairies and help keep them high quality. It revitalizes the prairie. Many native garden owners do the same thing with their small habitats to emulate the natural prairie cycle. Prairie burns only have to happen every 3-5 years, so I wont be doing this again for awhile.

I've always put it off just because I know there are also good things like native insects that are hiding in all the leaves and debris, and with the stems mostly burned away there are fewer nesting cavities available for bees this spring. But I felt like it was finally time to try it out and wait and see if there are any noticeable benefits. I'm curious to see if the garden grows in noticeably better this year or if it ends up being about the same as usual.

 

[j.w]

Yes, that's right. It can kill off some of the shallow rooted weeds and it gives the well-established native plants a bit more room to regrow, and it can help stimulate growth. In native prairies, fire is necessary. Prairies only exist because of fire, otherwise trees and shrubs would completely take over. So now many places do controlled burns to maintain the prairies and help keep them high quality. It revitalizes the prairie. Many native garden owners do the same thing with their small habitats to emulate the natural prairie cycle. Prairie burns only have to happen every 3-5 years, so I wont be doing this again for awhile.

I've always put it off just because I know there are also good things like native insects that are hiding in all the leaves and debris, and with the stems mostly burned away there are fewer nesting cavities available for bees this spring. But I felt like it was finally time to try it out and wait and see if there are any noticeable benefits. I'm curious to see if the garden grows in noticeably better this year or if it ends up being about the same as usual.

I love how you care for the land around you and all the creatures!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I try my best. Sometimes I fail, but it's worth the effort.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Some early season native blooms in my gardens.

Rue Anemone

Prairie Smoke

Common blue violet

 

[JBtheExplorer]

My native garden is starting to get green. I want to try to add more native grasses this year. I'm seeing a bunch of Side-oats grama and one seed packet of Canada Wild Rye. Hard to say how it'll do. The biggest issue is that non-native bermuda grass and creeping charlie like to take over, and I can imagine they'll try to crowd the natives out. It's a never-ending issue in my yard. I may eventually plant an aggressive native grass, although I know it'll likely crowd out most of my native forbs. It may become the only option at some point.

I also noticed garlic mustard today in my neighbor's yard just about 10-15 feet from my native garden. It's never been there before, but now it is. I pulled as much as I could see before it seeds and becomes an even bigger problem. Unfortunately my neighbor has a bunch of invasive species and they often try to pop up in my yard and gardens.

As a reminder, it's been just over a month since I did a burn on it.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

My woodland native garden strip along my driveway is in its 4th full year. This was once a weedy mess until I took on the task of converting it to a woodland restoration in 2020. It's been surprisingly easy to maintain. There hasn't been a ton of weeds coming back but every now and then I'll pull some

Rue Anemone

Wild Ginger has been taking off in this area. I tucked two or three little plants in the ground and they've all started to spread nicely.

Wild geranium

 

[JBtheExplorer]

So many Red Admirals lately. There's been a bunch in my yard.

Eastern redbud is blooming

 

[JBtheExplorer]

My Yellow star grass is blooming more than it ever has.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Prairie smoke, Eastern red columbine, and wild geranium are putting on a great show right now!

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Redtwig Dogwood

Prairie smoke

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Found some monarch eggs today on a milkweed that showed up on its own.

My mailbox native garden is starting to bloom. Everything you see here is hairy beardtongue but there are a few other species in here as well that will bloom in summer.

Meadow anemone in one of my birdhouse gardens.

 

[mrsclem]

I have tons of host plants for monarchs as well as black swallowtail. I've only seen a couple of butterflies and that was almost a month ago.

 

[addy1]

Very few here, if any.