Using Native Plants

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Using Native Plants
Evelyn Howell, UW-Madison, Department of
Landscape Architecture March 2009
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Topics What are Native Plants? Why use them in
garden design? Design Concept Natural
Landscaping Design Implementation Management

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Native Plants Plants that are present due to
forces other than direct or indirect human
action. Evolved in communities, not under
cultivation.
Yellow Coneflower
Pasque Flower
Maidenhair FErn
Bloodroot
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Exotics Species from other places (Europe,
Asia) introduced to the area after Euro-Yankee
settlement.Naturalized Species exotic species
able to grow and reproduce without active
cultivation or care
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Wisconsin has hundreds of native plants, some
with wide environmental tolerances, others quite
specialized.Habitats range from rock to dry
sand to wet peat moss, and from full sun to deep
shade. It is possible to find a native plant for
almost any garden situation.
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Natives represent a wide array of colors,
heights, forms, and textures
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Why use them in garden design?My reasons
Conservation--of the species, of ecosystem
processes(biodiversity, nutrient and water
cycles), of energy and resources Expressive
of Regions Aesthetics Connection to
Nature is good for people
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All landscape and garden designs begin with a
DESIGN CONCEPTThe Design Concept is the theme
or metaphor or Big Idea that guides the layout,
composition, organization and imagery of the
design
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Example of concept carried out in a variety of
materials and forms Prairie School of Design

• Frank Lloyd Wright
  Jens Jensen

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Of course the garden does not attempt to
reproduce literally the broad, treeless prairie.
No garden can do that because it would require
too great a scale. It merely symbolizes. The
open part or lawn suggests the freedom and
flatness of the prairie the irregular border of
trees suggests the woods that line every river.
The garden does not attempt to portray the
cottonwood-lined rivers of Nebraska or any other
type of prairie. The case is analogous to
program music. Beethoven in his Pastoral
Symphony did not try to imitate a storm. Music
cannot do that, but music can arouse in us the
emotions we have during a storm. Wilhelm
Miller
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Prairie River Columbus Park
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Prairie Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright
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Nature-Inspired Stained Glass Frank Lloyd
Wright Water Lilies
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Nature-Inspired Stained Glass Frank Lloyd
Wright Autumn Sumac
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Concept Natural Landscaping
The use of native plants in community-like
groupings in the built environment
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Native species are usedPlants are allowed to
take their own formPlanting beds have irregular
shapes (often curvilinear)Both seasonal and
year-to-year changes are celebratedOrder and
aesthetic appreciation come from ARTISTIC DESIGN
RULES the structure, composition, and functions
of the natural communities used as models

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Design rules are conventions that organize space
and/or elicit emotionsUse Tools Line, Color,
Form, Texture, Dynamics
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Used in combination, design tools create order

• Unity
• Balance
• Space

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Creation of Space Open, semi-canopied,
canopiedLandscape design creates space in the
form of outdoor rooms1. Ceiling open to the
sky, or formed by tree canopy vines covering a
pergola2. Walls defined by tree trunks, shrubs,
vines on fences, tall herbaceous
species3. Floor defined by low-growing herbs,
vines, moss, leaf litter, bare soil
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PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGICAL COMPOSITION AND
STRUCTURE Include species that represent
ecological roles Blooming times Active growth
periods Pollination/dispersal mechanisms Growth
strategies--annual/perennial slow/fast
establishment Include appropriate life forms
(Trees, herbs, vines, ferns, graminoids, etc)
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A few species should be abundant the majority
should be relatively sparse.Include horizontal
and vertical patterns of growth Layers of stems,
leaves and roots Aggregations vs. random
placements
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Native species differ in the timing of active
growth periods and blooming and fruiting
times.These temporal patterns influence the
structure of communities, and therefore of
natural landscape designs.
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Shaded Yards Forest Understory
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Spring Ephemerals

• Cardamine concatenata (Toothwort) (Brassicaceae,
  the Mustard Family)
• Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's Breeches)
  (Fumariaceae, the Fumitory Family)

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Spring Bloomers Foliage Lasts into Early Summer

• Phlox divaricata (Woods Phlox)(Polemoniaceae, the
  Phlox Family)
• Podophylum peltatum (Mayapple) (Berberidaceae,
  the Barberry Family)

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• Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot) (Papaveraceae,
  the Poppy Family)
• Trillium grandiflorum (Trillium) (Liliaceae, the
  Lily Family)

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Spring or Early Summer Bloomer Foliage Lasts
until Late Summer

• Actaea pachypoda (rubra) (White (Red) Baneberry
  Doll's Eyes) (Ranunculaceae, the Buttercup
  Family)
• Anemone (Hepatica) acutiloba (Hepatica)
  (Ranunculaceae, the Buttercup Family)

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• Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-Pulpit)
  (Araceae, the Arum Family)
• Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger)
  (Aristolochiaceae, the Birthwort Family)

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• Geranium maculatum (Wild Geranium) (Geraniaceae,
  the Geranium Family)
• Smilacina racemosa (Solomon's Plume, False
  Solomon's Seal) (Liliaceae, the Lily Family)

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Late Summer

• Solidago flexicaulis (Zigzag Goldenrod)(Asteracea
  e. The Aster Family)

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Forest Gardens
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PRAIRIE a system dominated by grasses, with less
than one mature tree per acre
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PRAIRIE STRUCTUREMost plants are herbaceous
perennials2 basic groups of plants

• Grasses
• Forbs (Non-Grass-Like Flowering Plants)

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Prairies are dominated by a few species of
grasses (at least 50 cover), with many forb
species, especially those belonging to the
composite, legume, and rose families
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In a typical prairie, there are more forb than
grass species for example 10 - 15 grass species,
40-80 forb species
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Roots
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MULCHMulch accumulates if not burned or grazed.
Can be enormous quantities of mulch in tallgrass
prairies (takes 3 to 4 years to decompose)Mulch
shades the ground, thus keeping ground
temperatures cool as well as reducing light
levels at the surface and intercepting
rainfall.Mulch provides habitat for many
prairie animalsWhen prairies burn, resultant
removal of mulch stimulates increased growth and
flowering.
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Role of Grazing in Maintaining Species
DiversityGrazing animals can keep densities of
potential competing plant populations below the
level at which they would directly compete, thus
maintaining community diversity
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Implications of Community Organization and
Structure on Prairie DesignSelect species and
organize design such thatMore than 50 of the
biomass contributed by grassesMore forb than
grass species--composites, legumes, milkweeds,
mints, lilies and rose and parsley family species
are especially prominentA few species are
common, the majority are relatively sparseAt
least one species is in bloom throughout the
yearPlants display a variety of root forms and
rooting depths
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Periodically remove mulch Burn, if
possibleConsider mowing in summer to maintain
diversity
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Prairie Design Concept Vista

• Used in relatively large spaces meant to be
  viewed from a distance
• Use only a few species, but with a range of bloom
  times
• Use 90 grass plants for every 10 forb plants
• Arrange forbs in monospecific groups -- drifts

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Prairie Design Concept Vista
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Prairie Design Concept Close-Up

• At least twice as many species as Vista Model
• 50 to 70 grasses 30 - 50 forbs
• Choose forbs so that 1/4 bloom in spring, 1/2 in
  summer, 1/4 in fall
• Choose at east 1 species from the leading
  Families

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Prairie Design Concept Close-Up
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