Enhance Your Property with Meadowscaping and Pollinator Gardens
By Laura Taylor, Conservationist and Education Coordinator, WMSWCD
Meadowscaping and naturescaping incorporate native plants, wildlife habitat, and natural ecological systems into beautiful home and urban garden spaces. This guide is intended to give you a quick introduction to the process and point you toward more information and resources to help your project succeed from start to finish.
Benefits of Meadowscaping
Meadowscaping and other naturescaping practices help conserve and increase biodiversity, including native plants and pollinators. They reduce our ecological footprint and increase awareness of our natural and cultural heritage. And they create a beautiful vibrant natural landscape where you can relax, restore, and explore.
Basic Steps
More Information
Sources of native plant materials:
Willamette Valley native seed is available in residential yard-scale quantities from:
(RR July '18)
Meadowscaping and naturescaping incorporate native plants, wildlife habitat, and natural ecological systems into beautiful home and urban garden spaces. This guide is intended to give you a quick introduction to the process and point you toward more information and resources to help your project succeed from start to finish.
Benefits of Meadowscaping
Meadowscaping and other naturescaping practices help conserve and increase biodiversity, including native plants and pollinators. They reduce our ecological footprint and increase awareness of our natural and cultural heritage. And they create a beautiful vibrant natural landscape where you can relax, restore, and explore.
Basic Steps
- Map your site – include existing features, light, moisture, and soil.
- Plan and Design
- Choose your planting type(s) (meadowscape, hedgerow, naturescape, etc.).
- Pick plant species that will thrive in your design and conditions.
- Map plant and feature locations choosing the right plant for the right place.
- Prepare the site - be patient and give this step the time it deserves! It will save you much time and labor in the future.
- Clear weeds & sod (see our Sheet Mulching 101 article for more info: https://wmswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Garden-Bed-Preparation-Techniques.pdf)
- Amend the soil if needed.
- Place hardscape features and mulch.
- Plant! - Timing is important
- Plant container plants in fall or early spring (Oct – April).
- For native seeding, fall (mid Sept – mid Nov) is usually the best time to sow to get successful germination in the spring.
- Water – necessary the first year or two to help young plants get established. If you chose the right plant for the right place, they should not need this after a few years.
- Maintain – weed regularly and thin out plant communities that get too dense.
More Information
- Meadowscaping Handbook https://wmswcd.org/projects/the-meadowscaping-handbook/
- Pollinator bloom-time chart https://wmswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/WMSWCD_PollBloomChart_interactive_4.2018.pdf
- Portland Plant List (General native plant info for the Portland area) https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/69700
- Oregon Flora Project (Plant photos, range maps, origin status) http://oregonflora.org/
Sources of native plant materials:
Willamette Valley native seed is available in residential yard-scale quantities from:
- Jonny Native Seed http://www.jonnynativeseed.com/Welcome.html
- Pro Time Lawn Seed https://ptlawnseed.com/collections/native-seeds
- Silver Falls Seed Company https://silverfallsseed.com/
- Willamette Wildlings https://willamettewildlings.com/
- Comprehensive online list: http://www.plantnative.org/nd_or.htm
(RR July '18)
|
|