Determined size of area to be designed; soil type; sun/shade and wind characteristics; other features, e.g. rockiness, hillside, erosion issues, water flow (about 2000 sq ft; sandy/rocky, well-drained soil; mostly sun; subject to some wind from the northeast)

Identified major color, height, and textural considerations for plants in context of site characteristics (right plant, right place); identified hardscaping elements (gravel path from street to yard); developed/refined plant list based upon availability; created planting plan

Identified key considerations to prepare the area for successful planting: removal of invasive shrubs/vines; removal of existing lawn; developed materials list and timing for soil amendment (minimal – to ensure easier ongoing maintenance) and hardscape work; source & order plant materials

The most extensive and time-consuming part of the project! We cut the major invasive vines/shrubs & removed stumps; killed & removed lawn (there are different ways to do this depending upon one’s tolerance for time and use of non-persistent herbicides – here we wentwith the latter to speed up the process, then, once the grass was dead, we used a machine todig down several inches to remove it and its root system). We then brought in 25 yards of fine-ground mulch to achieve multiple objectives: amend the sandiness of the soil; improve moisture retention; discourage weed growth. The mulch was spread evenly over the entire area (except where the gravel path was laid out – there we laid down landscape fabric), then tilled to a depth of 12,” removing as many large rocks as possible, to make planting easier. We used a machine to dig the holes needed for the larger shrubs that would be planted (native high-bush blueberry).

Finally, we installed the edging for the gravel path and spread the gravel.

Installed approximately 350 plants, all native species, comprised of 20 woody shrubs of two species, two types of grasses, one type of sedge, and a dozen (plus) species of wildflowers, all to provide food and cover for native pollinators and birds.

This is typically a short-lived element of installation; water in thoroughly at time of planting, again a couple of days later, then once or twice the following week, as long as regular rainfall (about 1”/week) is occurring. In this case, after a wet spring, drought hit after planting (of course!) so we had to keep up with regular watering (about 2 - 3x/week) for six weeks during this time.

Year-one maintenance was as noted above – watering through summer drought to ensure plants were able to establish healthy root systems.

We left all leaves and dead plant material for winter cover (many pollinator species lay eggs in leaf litter and hollow plant stems; flowering plants – grasses included - produce seed that will feed birds throughout the winter.

Year two, we installed another path (this a simpler stepping-stone one) and kept an eye out for any invasives, which we identified and pulled as soon as we saw them. It was a fairly wet summer, so no supplemental watering was required. We added some seedlings from other garden beds to fill in open spots. Growth was explosive.

Year-two fall & winter again left leaves and dead plant material; in spring, waited until soil temperatures came up to around 50 degrees before cutting back stems and removing leaves to compost.

Ongoing, we’ll remain vigilant for the return of any non-native and/or invasive species and remove as needed; we may move some plants around here & there to ensure balance and perform “edits” to keep a balance of grasses and flowering plants.