I’m in the northeast and I thank you, sincerely, for this video. I’ve been afraid to do the right thing and get rid of my lawn in the suburbs and I expect some backlash from neighbors but this is my home and it should bring ME joy and not them. Recently, a couple moved in near me and immediately plopped a “Bird and Bee Sanctuary” sign on their front lawn and then installed a solar roof. I am now encouraged and inspired. I’ve decided to go for it in my front, back, and side yards. 🙌🏽
I’m glad you found the video useful, and even more glad about your plans! Start small and remember #9: Other Gardeners Are Your Best Resource. There is a lot of native gardening in the northeast, and lots of people who can help you. Search for local native plant groups. You WILL make mistakes! The smaller you start, the easier it will be to fix them. Please make sure the front yard is organized and BEAUTIFUL. Experiment more where it’s hidden from the public. Check out Planting in the Post Wild World. Enjoy and have FUN!
Wonderful. I took notes all through your talk/video. I actually live in Ontario, Canada, am into my 70s, have been gardening for 50 of those years. I learned a lot before, worked in 2 different nurseries over the years, one of which was almost totally organic. I've gardened for birds and butterflies and bees for decades. But there's always more to learn. They (the ubiquitous "they') know so much more now about soil and all the microbes and how much it's all interdependent on each other. I can't crawl around my gardens on my hands and knees anymore, or lug a 20 pound giant hosta out of the ground, and i have an infestation of goutweed (aegopodium, ie weed from hell) and I cannot get it out. I won't use any poisons. So, I want native plants that can shade it out, out-compete it. All this to say, I still learned a lot from your video. Thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed it.
EXCELLENT VIDEO and I just started it! I am driving 3 hours today to pick up 18 little native forbs that I can squeeze in yet this year (hopefully) and needed a bit of encouragement for that drive. So I came to youtube and searched and very happily found you. You are very nicely rounding up all the important reasons in your #1 and I am jazzed to got fetch my new adoptees. I've only last year moved to the midwest (17 acres!!!!) from L.A. where I have been entrenched in natives only since 2015. I planted hundreds of natives at my home in CA and knew them all by their (latin) names and tended them through 5-6 years. I knew Manzanitas, buckwheats, salvias (glad we have that here also), Ceanothus (lilacs - we have those too in IN I believe), Fuschias, and much more (Oaks! thankfully ubiquitous.) Now I am new to all these plants (wow, rain garden!!! Coming from L.A., where it is not supposed to rain at all but 3 months of the year) and have 17 acres to manage! But with books, RUclips lectures, the County Water Conservation District, SICIM, neighbors, and the far away or few between native plants sales, I am learning...and learning...and learning.. thank you, can't wait to see the rest of the talk!!! AFTER I got fetch those mystery forbs - I ordered a "shade wet mesic" mix....don't know what any of them are and this using of common names is off-putting to me. I want to know specifically what I have. But it gets dicey when I talk to my neighbor about my newly-planted Andropogon gerardii and can't remember the common name..it's like having to learn not one but two new names for each plant....that part I am having trouble with. : | Damn these invasives! And YES, the 30 and 40-ft NORWAY MAPLE AND CALLERY PEAR TREES ARE BEING KILLED HERE (got rid of the easy ones right away. also those damn burning bushes)..one way or another. Sometimes I fell them and use for mulch; sometimes hack & squirt and leave the dead tree; sometimes I cut itt off at 4 feet and place a birdbox; sometimes when I fell them I leave them to rot. Sometimes before leaving to rot I cut the trunks into small logs. Leaving them DEAD is helpful to animals - including bugs and all life. Thanks again for the video!
WOW!!! That was quite a dose of enthusiasm for first thing on (what had been) a lazy Sunday morning! Thank You Salvia. I hope you find the rest useful. Since I made that video I have repeatedly doubled down on the use of cool season groundcovers, and I discuss it in more detail in ruclips.net/video/Y4YXTcIID3Y/видео.html Check it out. A few suggestions: 1. Remember #9, Other gardeners are your best resource. Until you develop a deeper understanding of this new palette, it will be easy to overuse things like that wonderful A. gerardii that can be as thuggish as any invasive. Other gardeners will help you avoid such mistakes. 2. Nomenclature is only useful when it facilitates communication. Don’t let it be an impediment. 3. Check out the website for Possibility Place in Monee, Illinois. They are excellent growers who will ship plants to you. Actually, since Covid, many native nurseries have learned to ship. 4. Read Planting in a Post-Wild World and never miss a chance to see Claudia West speak. Have fun Salvia, and Happy Gardening.
I have newly-acquired wild property in SC. I'm trying to clean it up but gently. This is good info for doing what I'm already on track for . So far, one of my most important tasks is to provide water for the honey bees that nest in an old abandoned house on the property and for the birds. The deer enjoy the water also. I completely stumbled onto how native plants are better for the native bugs and birds and other flying critters. Thank you for sharing this information! I also took note of books that might be useful.
Thank you for your informative video. I’m moving from a townhouse in Central Florida to a house on 1.17 acres in SC. I am fortunate that my property was grandfathered in for natural gardening. I am doing what I can to research native gardening.
Thank you for sharing your talk! I'm in Southeast Iowa where we are in dire need of permanent habitat. I love spreading the message of Bringing Nature Home. One can never stop learning and growing with native plants!
i think people tend to forget that indigenous people would do prescribed burns and that bison would graze on the prairie. so editing is that applied to the small (lawn-sized) scale
A lot of the research I've seen lately has been contradicting the "prescribed burns" theory, and suggesting that, for most of the period in question, we're actually looking at accidental grass fires started from cooking fires.
very insightful. thank you for the video. i just moved into an old house that has the steep little hill that goes up from the street, then levels out in the front yard. i am not mowing that thing so i terraced it with pavers in half moons that spill into each other (like a scalloped siding pattern) and planted mostly natives with a frog fruit ground cover. it looks pretty good right now after a brutal Texas summer. i can see that "editing" will be the key to keeping it looking good. Right now i have to trim the frog fruit and keep it off the pavers to keep it looking right.
I have turned my front yard into a pollinator haven.I have made it intentional. I used white ,purple,pink with one pop of yellow.I get compliments everyday and the birds and insects are all so happy.
Thank you very much for this awesome presentation. I am gradually restoring ecology at home, at my school and at my mom’s. I gained important information from you while enjoying your delivery.
This was great. Stumbled into native gardening a year or two ago. So I have never hear of some the suggestions (eg, “air root pruning containers”). Maybe that’s why I enjoyed his repeated suggestions to relax about it and let nature do more of the work.
I have only had a small yard space living in Chicago and used just a portion for native plants, some for veggies and fruits and some grass for the kids to play. I’ve ALWAYS ended up with extra plants and as my family, extended family, friends and neighbors can attest, it gets shared! One of the many things I love about native gardening. I’ve even started sharing through FB gardening pages. Few things feel as good as sharing and swapping natives!!!
YES!!! This is something we need to get more intentional about-developing some sort of a clearing house so plants can get from places of abundance to places of need. Perhaps FB gardening pages are a good mechanism, but I’m not on Facebook.
@@kenwilliamskenzhort5347 birding and gardening pages are the reason I stay on FB! The algorithms really work. You get more of what you look at. I’ve thought about having a seed or plant library in front of my house, but that only works if people know what they’re doing, and show up right away for the plants.
I also live in Chicago, and do native plant gardening. I use Burdock and Oak Trees as my elephant plants. I have a big back yard. I do not mind clover, dandelions, and creeping Charlie there. I stoped trying to eradicate certain species and learned to work with them. I also created a native plant front garden along the street leading to the alley. My neighbors comment on it and hummingbirds visit there.
@@sevenstarsofthedipper1047burdock is not native , but we love it and still grow it, burdock is a bee's 🐝 paradise !!!!!! We can grow from a 4 inch high plant to 5 ft in a few weeks /months insane growth, thistle is also fun birds go crazy for it in fall
What is the name of the plant with red flowers at 1:02:35..? I so enjoyed your presentation. This will be a great resource that I will be using as my property evolves to becoming a native habitat. Thank you for sharing.
Ah, that is Royal Catchfly, Silene regia. A threatened species in the wild, but easy to grow in a garden. I’m very glad you enjoy the talk! Thanks for the feedback.
What you call "fancy names", are the names by which people who do not know *local plant names* are able to know without a doubt if they are buying the right one. As those *local names* can differ widely from place to place, let alone from country to country, Where I live (the Netherlands) I know of at least 5 plants that are in different places known as "Kattenstaart" ("Cat's tail"). They are all totally different plants for totally different uses, so you only know for sure which one you want or have if you know the *official (mostly Latin) name.* In other words: the "fancy names". :)
8:00 Wait... wait.... trees store Carbon in their massive root systems, they also release root exudates which is carbon into the soil also. Tree's aren't just carbon monoliths above ground. 😂
Do you have a video about editing your garden? How to sort through the abundance, how to select plants to remove, etc. I don’t need it yet, as I’m just getting started, but I know I’ll need to know this in a couple of years.
That’s a great idea Laurel, but it is something I have a hard time putting together. My biggest impediment is that when I see an issue in my yard I just start working on it and forget to take any “before” pictures. Putting it together into a useful video will be an issue because editing is so very site specific. I pretty much find it doesn’t matter WHAT plants I remove as it matters that I remove SOMETHING! It’s about training your eye to detect clutter, and then prioritizing. There are random volunteer white asters in our landscape that get pulled all the time. But I always leave a few for their autumn display. I think that good editing is a byproduct of developing a personal relationship with the place. Spend time out there and learn what about it really appeals to you. Find ways to give edited plants to other gardeners, and start trying. You will only get better with time. Let me also say that I’m finding that the extensive use of cool season groundcovers inhibits recruitment of volunteer plants and reduces the need for editing. So double down on that. Thanks for the suggestion Laurel. I’ll see what I can come up with!
I usually leave wood sorrel alone. I pick it and use the leaves in salad to add a lemon flavor. Taste these heart shaped leaves - pure lemon! Not the stems.
Yeah, if they are the worst problem in your garden, then take a break and have a cold beverage. However, late in the season they can start climbing up over other stuff and might need a little attention. Very little.
Hi Ken, just to clarify, was your point about Canada Golden Rod is that it's good like other golden rods, but that it can take over your native plant garden very easily, so get rid of it?
I’m glad you find the video useful Benjamin. Regarding cutting back; from an ecological point of view, we would never cut anything back. The vegetation in our gardens, both dead and alive, provides different kinds of habitat throughout the year. If you check out entomologist Heather Holm you will learn that various native bees and wasps nest in dead hollow or pithy stems. Some use stems that are 2 or 3 years old. So the short answer is “it depends.” Where is the garden? In a tucked away corner of the back yard, cutting back might be irrelevant. Just leave it alone. I generally use the rule of thumb, “if you don’t like looking at it, cut it off.” Tall liatris stems tipped over at weird angles are visually distracting and I remove them. But I leave most everything over the winter and then cut things back selectively in the spring. Doug Tallamy advocates finding a place where cut off stems can be stored vertically, so insects can utilize them. Doug is usually right. So it’s a balancing act. We want to provide resources for insects, but we also don’t want the neighbors to hate our yards. In fact, we want the neighbors to be so inspired that they plant more natives. Nothing is more inspiring than jaw dropping beauty! Shoot for that.
Ken, somehow creeping bellflower has popped up in my native garden space in my small Chicago backyard. This plants isn't anywhere else that I can see - but I do take care of my parents property (2 miles away) and they have creeping bellflower - on purpose. I have lots of natives already growing here. How do I get rid of the bellflower without disturbing the other natives?
Bummer! I hope the infestation isn’t too big yet. Use some variation of the “death by a thousand cuts” method. Go there at least every week and remove all visible foliage. Some day the bastards will starve to death. Then keep going back every week for another year. Then never quit checking the spot out. Have fun every time! Happy Gardening!!!
Could you please post more like this. It would be helpful if you posted some vlogs of going into over-full native gardens and pulling stuff out, and showing the 'after'. It might help train people (specifically me!) I think this is a big problem in native gardens and something even 'experts' are confused about. I expressed concerns to a Backyard Habitat auditor about falling into the pit of messy, chaotic native landscaping and was brushed off that 'it all just needs to go wild'. Get crazy. Let it run rampant, get over-full. I want to go native, but the program needs to understand that people also would not want to lower their property value. Curb appeal is one of the few actual value-added efforts a homeowner can make before adding interior square footage/bathrooms/whatever special new room is trendy. I see picture after picture of native gardens that are overwhelming messes. I think the native world needs WAY more content on making a pleasing, harmonious, layered, even "country garden" yet very native look. People let their natives grow over and it scares people away from the ecological benefits. I'm trying to be very intentional about creating clumps of species. I'm focusing more on low ground covers clumped in groups with taller stuff at the back, medium stuff between. I imagine I'll have to pull out quite a lot over the years. I'm a little concerned the one milkweed I got will take over the yard. Please post content to help people who don't know what they're doing with the mess! It's needed.
I’m glad you enjoy watching and listening. And indeed, the plant palette where you live is completely different. This emphasizes the importance of #9, Other Gardeners are Your Best Resource, because local gardeners can inform you on plant choices. In fact, all 10 of the principles presented here apply wherever you live, just as long as you Go Native!
Do you know of anything similar to the WPPC for Kendall county? Im new and have been looking for a way to get started. Read a lot but have no idea how to do it. Would love some guidance
Also, The Conservation Foundation in Kendall County is the home of the Conservation@Home program and is a potential source of networking opportunities. Good Luck! Plant Native!!!
It is amazing that any birds can live under those conditions! I have an acre that I am trying to re-native. It's difficult because the wildlife I have living on my property are eating plants faster than they can grow!!! All the homes around me grow nothing useful.
Thank you! Valid point and I generally avoid chemicals altogether. However, in this case, without that option that one acre of what is now prairie would still be lawn. I compare one herbicide application to remove a lawn to yearly herbicide applications to maintain a lawn, and go from there. If you know a good way to affordable kill acres of lawn at once, I’d love to hear about it.
Why don’t nurseries label plants as native or non native. Why are natives so hard to come by? I bought 2 semp ash spirea think g it was native. Now I have to take them out and buy something else
Good point Louise, thanks! For the most part, the landscape and nurseries industries are not interested in the ecological landscape movement. Ecology is not part of their business models. There are nurseries that specialize in native plants. Search them out. Look for nature conservancies, native plant societies and Wild Ones chapters that have native plant sales, and buy from them. Follow native plant groups on social media. I’m on Instagram @kenzhort and I follow some great practitioners. Many of them know good plant sources. And knock on the doors of people you see with nice native gardens. Not only will they know good native plant sources, they probably have plants to give away. Other Gardeners are your Best Resource. If you must shop at a mainstream nursery, take your smart phone and research things before you buy. Good luck and happy gardening!
Hi Louise! Some garden centers do have a native plant section. The garden centers near me have a pretty small native plant section because most of the ones they sell are ugly and don’t seem to have customers running to grab them off of the shelves. I live in zone 7 I try my best to have a pollinator garden but I haven’t found any native plants (to VA) that will look pretty in my garden. Good luck to you!
My bad. Thank You for pointing that out. I certainly never intend only a passing reference of Doug Tallamy. Without him the first section of this talk is impossible. I try to always mention that his books are where you start. The first time I read his first book I was embarrassed at how hard I’d worked figuring stuff out, when he had already spelled it out so beautifully. Besides that, he is the nicest, most helpful person on the planet. Anybody reading this who hasn’t read his books, please do.
I disagree a bit. I've read three of Doug Tallamy's books and from the get-go (incl the one on Oaks) and to me this did not feel like a Doug Tallamy lecture or book. I was greatly pleased to see Doug credited - with pictures of the most important books - early on. Anyway, I'm glad so many tremendously value and recognize Doug Tallamy's work. Feeding the ecology is the only needed reason for me to be all in for this native gardening venture.
I would make sure that the arborists were not cutting any pest infested trees. View any incoming material with extreme suspicion...because other than roadside drift, poor plant choices because they were not carefully researched, and animals, this is how you get garden pests and invasives.
This is worth considering, especially if your community is experiencing an outbreak of something nasty. However, through my career I’ve utilized many dozens of loads of wood chips. These were delivered to the park where I worked by a utility right-of-way clearing company with no regard for pests, disease or tree type. The only problem I ever had was when the crew threw their old herbicide containers in with the chips and we killed a nice crabapple tree. It was one tree out of two sets of three in a prominent spot, and was impossible to replace. The heat of decomposition cooks out most biotic pests.
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I’m in the northeast and I thank you, sincerely, for this video. I’ve been afraid to do the right thing and get rid of my lawn in the suburbs and I expect some backlash from neighbors but this is my home and it should bring ME joy and not them. Recently, a couple moved in near me and immediately plopped a “Bird and Bee Sanctuary” sign on their front lawn and then installed a solar roof. I am now encouraged and inspired. I’ve decided to go for it in my front, back, and side yards. 🙌🏽
I’m glad you found the video useful, and even more glad about your plans! Start small and remember #9: Other Gardeners Are Your Best Resource. There is a lot of native gardening in the northeast, and lots of people who can help you. Search for local native plant groups.
You WILL make mistakes! The smaller you start, the easier it will be to fix them. Please make sure the front yard is organized and BEAUTIFUL. Experiment more where it’s hidden from the public. Check out Planting in the Post Wild World. Enjoy and have FUN!
Wonderful. I took notes all through your talk/video. I actually live in Ontario, Canada, am into my 70s, have been gardening for 50 of those years. I learned a lot before, worked in 2 different nurseries over the years, one of which was almost totally organic. I've gardened for birds and butterflies and bees for decades. But there's always more to learn. They (the ubiquitous "they') know so much more now about soil and all the microbes and how much it's all interdependent on each other. I can't crawl around my gardens on my hands and knees anymore, or lug a 20 pound giant hosta out of the ground, and i have an infestation of goutweed (aegopodium, ie weed from hell) and I cannot get it out. I won't use any poisons. So, I want native plants that can shade it out, out-compete it. All this to say, I still learned a lot from your video. Thank you so much for sharing. I really enjoyed it.
I just began native gardening a year ago. I’m constantly researching and it has brought me so much enjoyment
Thanks for the free education
My pleasure! Thanks for wanting to learn. Spread the word!
Thank you. It is my dream to start a native garden. This is very helpful.
Just start killing lawn!
EXCELLENT VIDEO and I just started it! I am driving 3 hours today to pick up 18 little native forbs that I can squeeze in yet this year (hopefully) and needed a bit of encouragement for that drive. So I came to youtube and searched and very happily found you. You are very nicely rounding up all the important reasons in your #1 and I am jazzed to got fetch my new adoptees. I've only last year moved to the midwest (17 acres!!!!) from L.A. where I have been entrenched in natives only since 2015. I planted hundreds of natives at my home in CA and knew them all by their (latin) names and tended them through 5-6 years. I knew Manzanitas, buckwheats, salvias (glad we have that here also), Ceanothus (lilacs - we have those too in IN I believe), Fuschias, and much more (Oaks! thankfully ubiquitous.) Now I am new to all these plants (wow, rain garden!!! Coming from L.A., where it is not supposed to rain at all but 3 months of the year) and have 17 acres to manage! But with books, RUclips lectures, the County Water Conservation District, SICIM, neighbors, and the far away or few between native plants sales, I am learning...and learning...and learning.. thank you, can't wait to see the rest of the talk!!! AFTER I got fetch those mystery forbs - I ordered a "shade wet mesic" mix....don't know what any of them are and this using of common names is off-putting to me. I want to know specifically what I have. But it gets dicey when I talk to my neighbor about my newly-planted Andropogon gerardii and can't remember the common name..it's like having to learn not one but two new names for each plant....that part I am having trouble with. : | Damn these invasives! And YES, the 30 and 40-ft NORWAY MAPLE AND CALLERY PEAR TREES ARE BEING KILLED HERE (got rid of the easy ones right away. also those damn burning bushes)..one way or another. Sometimes I fell them and use for mulch; sometimes hack & squirt and leave the dead tree; sometimes I cut itt off at 4 feet and place a birdbox; sometimes when I fell them I leave them to rot. Sometimes before leaving to rot I cut the trunks into small logs. Leaving them DEAD is helpful to animals - including bugs and all life. Thanks again for the video!
WOW!!! That was quite a dose of enthusiasm for first thing on (what had been) a lazy Sunday morning! Thank You Salvia. I hope you find the rest useful. Since I made that video I have repeatedly doubled down on the use of cool season groundcovers, and I discuss it in more detail in ruclips.net/video/Y4YXTcIID3Y/видео.html Check it out. A few suggestions:
1. Remember #9, Other gardeners are your best resource. Until you develop a deeper understanding of this new palette, it will be easy to overuse things like that wonderful A. gerardii that can be as thuggish as any invasive. Other gardeners will help you avoid such mistakes.
2. Nomenclature is only useful when it facilitates communication. Don’t let it be an impediment.
3. Check out the website for Possibility Place in Monee, Illinois. They are excellent growers who will ship plants to you. Actually, since Covid, many native nurseries have learned to ship.
4. Read Planting in a Post-Wild World and never miss a chance to see Claudia West speak.
Have fun Salvia, and Happy Gardening.
Great video on native groupings for landscapes.. thank you❤
Great video, learnt a lot as a rookie native plant gardener. Thank you
I have newly-acquired wild property in SC. I'm trying to clean it up but gently. This is good info for doing what I'm already on track for . So far, one of my most important tasks is to provide water for the honey bees that nest in an old abandoned house on the property and for the birds. The deer enjoy the water also. I completely stumbled onto how native plants are better for the native bugs and birds and other flying critters. Thank you for sharing this information! I also took note of books that might be useful.
Thank you for your informative video. I’m moving from a townhouse in Central Florida to a house on 1.17 acres in SC. I am fortunate that my property was grandfathered in for natural gardening. I am doing what I can to research native gardening.
Thank you for sharing your talk! I'm in Southeast Iowa where we are in dire need of permanent habitat. I love spreading the message of Bringing Nature Home. One can never stop learning and growing with native plants!
i think people tend to forget that indigenous people would do prescribed burns and that bison would graze on the prairie. so editing is that applied to the small (lawn-sized) scale
A lot of the research I've seen lately has been contradicting the "prescribed burns" theory, and suggesting that, for most of the period in question, we're actually looking at accidental grass fires started from cooking fires.
very insightful. thank you for the video. i just moved into an old house that has the steep little hill that goes up from the street, then levels out in the front yard. i am not mowing that thing so i terraced it with pavers in half moons that spill into each other (like a scalloped siding pattern) and planted mostly natives with a frog fruit ground cover. it looks pretty good right now after a brutal Texas summer. i can see that "editing" will be the key to keeping it looking good. Right now i have to trim the frog fruit and keep it off the pavers to keep it looking right.
I have turned my front yard into a pollinator haven.I have made it intentional. I used white ,purple,pink
with one pop of yellow.I get compliments everyday and the birds and insects are all so happy.
Thank You
What zone are you in?
@@louisethomas8074 5B
@@louisethomas8074 I am in 7a
Thank you so much for the information and resources, Ken!
What an education! Thank you!
You are Welcome. Glad you liked it!!!
Goldenrod is a very good medicinal plant!.. keep it growing in a manageable place.
I’m a newbie and I appreciate this video! Looking forward to gardening 👩🏻🌾
Invaluable information. Thank you for a fantastic presentation. 🎉❤
Thank you very much for this awesome presentation. I am gradually restoring ecology at home, at my school and at my mom’s. I gained important information from you while enjoying your delivery.
I really enjoyed this and shared with many people. Thank you for putting this together, very lovely! Just warms my heart. Super informational as well
These were wonderful tips, thank you so much! This helped me plan and plant my very first native garden this past weekend❤
This was great. Stumbled into native gardening a year or two ago. So I have never hear of some the suggestions (eg, “air root pruning containers”). Maybe that’s why I enjoyed his repeated suggestions to relax about it and let nature do more of the work.
I have only had a small yard space living in Chicago and used just a portion for native plants, some for veggies and fruits and some grass for the kids to play. I’ve ALWAYS ended up with extra plants and as my family, extended family, friends and neighbors can attest, it gets shared! One of the many things I love about native gardening. I’ve even started sharing through FB gardening pages. Few things feel as good as sharing and swapping natives!!!
YES!!! This is something we need to get more intentional about-developing some sort of a clearing house so plants can get from places of abundance to places of need. Perhaps FB gardening pages are a good mechanism, but I’m not on Facebook.
@@kenwilliamskenzhort5347 birding and gardening pages are the reason I stay on FB! The algorithms really work. You get more of what you look at. I’ve thought about having a seed or plant library in front of my house, but that only works if people know what they’re doing, and show up right away for the plants.
I also live in Chicago, and do native plant gardening. I use Burdock and Oak Trees as my elephant plants. I have a big back yard. I do not mind clover, dandelions, and creeping Charlie there. I stoped trying to eradicate certain species and learned to work with them. I also created a native plant front garden along the street leading to the alley. My neighbors comment on it and hummingbirds visit there.
@@sevenstarsofthedipper1047burdock is not native , but we love it and still grow it, burdock is a bee's 🐝 paradise !!!!!! We can grow from a 4 inch high plant to 5 ft in a few weeks /months insane growth, thistle is also fun birds go crazy for it in fall
@@knyghtryder3599 I have thistle and poke weed too. The poke weed grows to over 6 feet and birds love the berries in late August through September.
Thanks for another great garden video, my dear friend
Amazing! Great educational video!
This is a great video. I plan on doing an non editing re-prairie in my back yard. I wish I could burn it like Gerould Wilhelm does.
Thank you for this wonderful video with really helpful advice!
You are Welcome. Glad you find it useful!
Wow , how interesting by watching this wonderful video , love it ❤
Thx for the information 😊
What is the name of the plant with red flowers at 1:02:35..? I so enjoyed your presentation. This will be a great resource that I will be using as my property evolves to becoming a native habitat. Thank you for sharing.
Ah, that is Royal Catchfly, Silene regia. A threatened species in the wild, but easy to grow in a garden. I’m very glad you enjoy the talk! Thanks for the feedback.
That was very interesting. Thanks for sharing🌱🌸👍
at 22:46 you mention your favorite plant, what is the name? legg plant?
Lead plant.
@@kenwilliamskenzhort5347 thx
What you call "fancy names", are the names by which people who do not know *local plant names* are able to know without a doubt if they are buying the right one. As those *local names* can differ widely from place to place, let alone from country to country,
Where I live (the Netherlands) I know of at least 5 plants that are in different places known as "Kattenstaart" ("Cat's tail"). They are all totally different plants for totally different uses, so you only know for sure which one you want or have if you know the *official (mostly Latin) name.* In other words: the "fancy names". :)
Right. That term was humor.
I appreciate the expert information and advice. Cats like platforms, and I don't approve of shooing them off. 😂
Good knowledge for newbes
8:00 Wait... wait.... trees store Carbon in their massive root systems, they also release root exudates which is carbon into the soil also. Tree's aren't just carbon monoliths above ground. 😂
Excellent point! I stand corrected. Thanks for the input.
The first flower looks like trees from the Lorax.
Prairie Smoke seed heads unfurling.
Thank you! I was looking for the name of it!❤
Do you have a video about editing your garden? How to sort through the abundance, how to select plants to remove, etc. I don’t need it yet, as I’m just getting started, but I know I’ll need to know this in a couple of years.
That’s a great idea Laurel, but it is something I have a hard time putting together. My biggest impediment is that when I see an issue in my yard I just start working on it and forget to take any “before” pictures. Putting it together into a useful video will be an issue because editing is so very site specific.
I pretty much find it doesn’t matter WHAT plants I remove as it matters that I remove SOMETHING! It’s about training your eye to detect clutter, and then prioritizing. There are random volunteer white asters in our landscape that get pulled all the time. But I always leave a few for their autumn display.
I think that good editing is a byproduct of developing a personal relationship with the place. Spend time out there and learn what about it really appeals to you. Find ways to give edited plants to other gardeners, and start trying. You will only get better with time.
Let me also say that I’m finding that the extensive use of cool season groundcovers inhibits recruitment of volunteer plants and reduces the need for editing. So double down on that.
Thanks for the suggestion Laurel. I’ll see what I can come up with!
I usually leave wood sorrel alone. I pick it and use the leaves in salad to add a lemon flavor. Taste these heart shaped leaves - pure lemon! Not the stems.
Yeah, if they are the worst problem in your garden, then take a break and have a cold beverage. However, late in the season they can start climbing up over other stuff and might need a little attention. Very little.
Hi Ken, just to clarify, was your point about Canada Golden Rod is that it's good like other golden rods, but that it can take over your native plant garden very easily, so get rid of it?
I think my point has changed and is now, “Be aware of it. Manage it very carefully, mostly by removing above ground growth. Don’t let it make seed.”
Great video! Love the info on editing. Regarding cutback, is that done in the fall or spring?
I’m glad you find the video useful Benjamin. Regarding cutting back; from an ecological point of view, we would never cut anything back. The vegetation in our gardens, both dead and alive, provides different kinds of habitat throughout the year. If you check out entomologist Heather Holm you will learn that various native bees and wasps nest in dead hollow or pithy stems. Some use stems that are 2 or 3 years old.
So the short answer is “it depends.” Where is the garden? In a tucked away corner of the back yard, cutting back might be irrelevant. Just leave it alone. I generally use the rule of thumb, “if you don’t like looking at it, cut it off.” Tall liatris stems tipped over at weird angles are visually distracting and I remove them. But I leave most everything over the winter and then cut things back selectively in the spring. Doug Tallamy advocates finding a place where cut off stems can be stored vertically, so insects can utilize them. Doug is usually right.
So it’s a balancing act. We want to provide resources for insects, but we also don’t want the neighbors to hate our yards. In fact, we want the neighbors to be so inspired that they plant more natives. Nothing is more inspiring than jaw dropping beauty! Shoot for that.
Ken, somehow creeping bellflower has popped up in my native garden space in my small Chicago backyard. This plants isn't anywhere else that I can see - but I do take care of my parents property (2 miles away) and they have creeping bellflower - on purpose. I have lots of natives already growing here. How do I get rid of the bellflower without disturbing the other natives?
Bummer! I hope the infestation isn’t too big yet. Use some variation of the “death by a thousand cuts” method. Go there at least every week and remove all visible foliage.
Some day the bastards will starve to death. Then keep going back every week for another year. Then never quit checking the spot out.
Have fun every time! Happy Gardening!!!
Could you please post more like this. It would be helpful if you posted some vlogs of going into over-full native gardens and pulling stuff out, and showing the 'after'. It might help train people (specifically me!) I think this is a big problem in native gardens and something even 'experts' are confused about. I expressed concerns to a Backyard Habitat auditor about falling into the pit of messy, chaotic native landscaping and was brushed off that 'it all just needs to go wild'. Get crazy. Let it run rampant, get over-full. I want to go native, but the program needs to understand that people also would not want to lower their property value. Curb appeal is one of the few actual value-added efforts a homeowner can make before adding interior square footage/bathrooms/whatever special new room is trendy. I see picture after picture of native gardens that are overwhelming messes. I think the native world needs WAY more content on making a pleasing, harmonious, layered, even "country garden" yet very native look. People let their natives grow over and it scares people away from the ecological benefits. I'm trying to be very intentional about creating clumps of species. I'm focusing more on low ground covers clumped in groups with taller stuff at the back, medium stuff between. I imagine I'll have to pull out quite a lot over the years. I'm a little concerned the one milkweed I got will take over the yard. Please post content to help people who don't know what they're doing with the mess! It's needed.
Has anyone had issues with HOA with removing their lawn and installing a garden to help the pollinators?
You'd need proof of rights to grow food or wildlife habitat. Some states protect it but some don't.
Why do we need to get rid of our Canada goldenrod?
Ken, this is wonderful...were you featured in the Cornell Gardening for Birds Course? You look so familiar!
Not me. I’ve got a familiar face. Glad you liked it!
How many of these flowers are for zone 9 ? I enjoy listening and watching but it doesn't apply to people in the warmer and humid states .
I’m glad you enjoy watching and listening. And indeed, the plant palette where you live is completely different. This emphasizes the importance of #9, Other Gardeners are Your Best Resource, because local gardeners can inform you on plant choices. In fact, all 10 of the principles presented here apply wherever you live, just as long as you Go Native!
Ugh the first plant! Pink smoke
Do you know of anything similar to the WPPC for Kendall county? Im new and have been looking for a way to get started. Read a lot but have no idea how to do it. Would love some guidance
Wild Ones is a great organization and has a chapter that serves Kendall County
wildones.org/chapters/chapters-in-illinois/
Also, The Conservation Foundation in Kendall County is the home of the Conservation@Home program and is a potential source of networking opportunities. Good Luck! Plant Native!!!
What zone is this man in?
5b
@@kenwilliamskenzhort5347 Same here. Now I know o can try some of these plants in my garden!
MOWING SHOULD BE A CHOICE!!NOT MANDATORY!!IN CANADA YOU HAVE TO MOWING GRAS ON YOUR LAWNS!! PLS WRITE TO GOVERNMENT!!STOP MOWING!!LET WILDLIFE LIVE
Gulf Fritillaries caterpillars live on Passion Flowers (Maypops are Passion flowers)
28:33. Oops!!!
Always try to create a sense of place instead of just a lot of plants. Sculpt the land. Our work demonstrates this .
It is amazing that any birds can live under those conditions! I have an acre that I am trying to re-native. It's difficult because the wildlife I have living on my property are eating plants faster than they can grow!!! All the homes around me grow nothing useful.
I thought that was Roy!!!!!
Ha! Roy is a dear friend. He plants. I maintain.
Some very great points made. However, perhaps the comment of spraying chemicals for large grass kill projects should be reconsidered.
Thank you! Valid point and I generally avoid chemicals altogether. However, in this case, without that option that one acre of what is now prairie would still be lawn.
I compare one herbicide application to remove a lawn to yearly herbicide applications to maintain a lawn, and go from there.
If you know a good way to affordable kill acres of lawn at once, I’d love to hear about it.
Why don’t nurseries label plants as native or non native. Why are natives so hard to come by? I bought 2 semp ash spirea think g it was native. Now I have to take them out and buy something else
Good point Louise, thanks! For the most part, the landscape and nurseries industries are not interested in the ecological landscape movement. Ecology is not part of their business models.
There are nurseries that specialize in native plants. Search them out. Look for nature conservancies, native plant societies and Wild Ones chapters that have native plant sales, and buy from them. Follow native plant groups on social media. I’m on Instagram @kenzhort and I follow some great practitioners. Many of them know good plant sources.
And knock on the doors of people you see with nice native gardens. Not only will they know good native plant sources, they probably have plants to give away. Other Gardeners are your Best Resource.
If you must shop at a mainstream nursery, take your smart phone and research things before you buy. Good luck and happy gardening!
Hi Louise! Some garden centers do have a native plant section. The garden centers near me have a pretty small native plant section because most of the ones they sell are ugly and don’t seem to have customers running to grab them off of the shelves. I live in zone 7 I try my best to have a pollinator garden but I haven’t found any native plants (to VA) that will look pretty in my garden. Good luck to you!
My goldenrod told me not to listen to this guy
You have very wise goldenrod
The only goldenrod he said was a problem was Canada goldenrod but he thought the other varieties were ok
You should really credit Doug Tallamy's work more. This was basically a repetition of his talk, but he's only mentioned on passing.
My bad. Thank You for pointing that out. I certainly never intend only a passing reference of Doug Tallamy. Without him the first section of this talk is impossible. I try to always mention that his books are where you start. The first time I read his first book I was embarrassed at how hard I’d worked figuring stuff out, when he had already spelled it out so beautifully.
Besides that, he is the nicest, most helpful person on the planet.
Anybody reading this who hasn’t read his books, please do.
I disagree a bit. I've read three of Doug Tallamy's books and from the get-go (incl the one on Oaks) and to me this did not feel like a Doug Tallamy lecture or book. I was greatly pleased to see Doug credited - with pictures of the most important books - early on. Anyway, I'm glad so many tremendously value and recognize Doug Tallamy's work. Feeding the ecology is the only needed reason for me to be all in for this native gardening venture.
Canadian goldenrod is my favorite! Its not for lazy gardener's!!!
Tis a fact! Happy Gardening!!!
I would make sure that the arborists were not cutting any pest infested trees. View any incoming material with extreme suspicion...because other than roadside drift, poor plant choices because they were not carefully researched, and animals, this is how you get garden pests and invasives.
This is worth considering, especially if your community is experiencing an outbreak of something nasty. However, through my career I’ve utilized many dozens of loads of wood chips. These were delivered to the park where I worked by a utility right-of-way clearing company with no regard for pests, disease or tree type. The only problem I ever had was when the crew threw their old herbicide containers in with the chips and we killed a nice crabapple tree. It was one tree out of two sets of three in a prominent spot, and was impossible to replace. The heat of decomposition cooks out most biotic pests.