How To Think About Landscaping

Many people have misconceptions about natural and native plant landscaping. They often assume that to do natural or native plant landscaping you have to let your grass grow, create a brush pile behind your home, and generally let your yard become “wild”.

This is not the case. Like all landscaping, natural landscaping serves a purpose, and that purpose is home improvement. This home improvement can be both aesthetically pleasing (for example, installing windowsill flower boxes to accentuate your home’s exterior), and functional (for example, planting trees to shade your home and reduce energy bills in the summer, or to provide a food source for birds).

Here are some easy things that can be done with native plant landscaping that will make your yard more attractive, beyond what the plants themselves bring.

• Create borders and edges to your plantings. This can be done with creek rocks, old railroad ties, and even store-bought landscape edging. By doing so, you provide a look of order and organization to your landscape design.
• Find a focal point. A focal point is an area that the eye of an observer is drawn to. Walk into the living room or family room of your house and try to identify the focal point. It may be an entertainment unit, a fireplace, a piece of art, or a set of shelves. Regardless of what it is, most rooms have a focal point that decorating is designed to complement and accentuate. Landscaping your yard is a lot like decorating another room. When landscaping you can either use a pre-existing focal point (such as a unique tree stump) or create one (a bird feeding station, or a water feature). Use this focal point to help plan the layout of the rest of your landscape design.
• Provide variety. Choosing a variety of plant species and types can help create color, visual texture, and diversity throughout the year. You can create an ever-changing mosaic of color and bird visitors throughout the seasons by taking into consideration when plants will bloom, when their leaves will change color, or when they will produce fruit.
• Add some “decorations” to your landscaping. Bird baths, bird feeders, benches, sun dials, fountains, and other add-ins can go a long way to making your landscape more organized, while still functional.

Some native plants to use in your yard