Creating Softer Landing Spots and Fall Magic with Native Plants

Less turf, more color!

Newark Street Community Garden in Washington D.C., looking for a way to celebrate its 50th birthday (!), came up with the idea of a new native garden at one of the entrances to the 4 acre site home to 220 individual garden plots, In its first year, the new garden is already brimming with fall color. And it is oh so replicable in our home gardens. The gardeners involved are determined to make the most of a high profile corner with a bradford pear tree (Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford') and well trodden turf.

The gardeners developed a native plant garden plan for the Celebration and approval by the management team for the fellow 200 plus gardeners. The joyous Celebration was had and the garden made it through the challenging summer of 2025, thanks to dedicated and consistent watering and weeding by three gardeners. To date, only one shrub has needed replacement and another removal. That's a pretty good survival rate and a reminder to all of us, that when you plant new plants, chances are not every single one will survive.

The gardeners hope to remove the bradford pear tree, considered to be highly invasive, asap. Their plan involves nurturing two Japanese persimmon trees (Diospyros kaki "Fuyo Jiro) to be the eventual replacements for the bradford pear. The Japanese persimmons join several native persimmon trees (Diospyros virginiana) in other parts of the garden. The gardeners are mindful that if they were to remove the pear tree now, the persimmon trees are not yet mature enough to cast the shade necessary for the new garden. These gardeners also know the importance of converting compacted grass to a softer landing spot to create a haven for beneficial insects.

Their plant choices were highly considered. Drawing on inspiration from the nearby National Cathedral native plant gardens (see here, here and here) and observing what was doing well there and which combinations they liked, the gardeners drew up a plan. Then there was availability of plants to think about. Last, all of the community gardeners were very interested in what would be blooming during their big Celebration. Lots of moving parts but the results are lovely!

The soils are typical of what we find in urban residential lots. Lots of clay and fairly high compaction. The corner is along a west facing brick wall and is fairly shaded by the pear tree. While we often read native plants do best in their native soils without amendment, in urban areas, where a lot of filling and grading have typically occurred and where there is often compaction, it is wise to amend the soil and make sure planting holes have loose soils so plant roots can grow.

Drifts of Texture and Color

sweetspire & seersucker and blue wood sedges

drifts of sedges

The placement of plants and the contrast between leaf types and colors is so fantastically done and so easily replicated at home. Here, three types of sedges, seersucker (Carex plantaginea), woodland sedge (Carex laxiculmis 'Bunny Blue') and wood's (Carex woodii), are planted in drifts between the shrubs. Wood's sedge planted around the base of the tree was planted as 2" plugs to ensure the plants could establish between the mature root system of the tree. Those plants are already creating a carpet of sorts. The repetition of colors and textures in the sedges draw your eye through the garden effortlessly.

Texture Contrast

blue stem grass and red twig dogwood

blue wood sedge and viburnum

penstemon and bluestem grass

Likewise, the contrast between leaf shapes makes everything so interesting. Little bluestem grass (Schizachryrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation') next to a red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Baileyi'), a narrow leaved blue wood sedge next to possumhaw viburnum (Viburnum nudum) and little bluestem grass next to the broader leaved perennial penstemon (Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red') (and there are those flowers in late spring and early summer) are just a few of the constant contrasts here.

Pops of Color

bluestar

blue wood sedge and sweetspire

Eastern bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) is just stunning and we can see you don't have to have a lot of them to get wow factor color impact. The early fall color of dwarf Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica 'Little Henry') also adds an ethereal quality at this time of year.

Ecological Glow Up

The incredible array of plants growing in these 220 garden plots is species diversity at its best. More types of vegetables than one can imagine and bountiful flowers, both common and rare, abound throughout the growing season when you get this many gardeners in one place. And there are a fair number of native perennials and shrubs in the mix among the plots too. The addition of this corner native garden elevates that ecological impact. These plants will offer a concentrated source of food for the beneficial insects whose larva need these particular plants to survive from larval to pollinating stage. The seed heads of plants like Virginia sweetspire feed song birds. Adding native plants to any garden setting, even one as glorious as this, bumps up the garden's contributions ecologically. A bradford pear tree, compacted lawn and exotic plants just can't compete with the ecological value of this new native garden.

And, of course, this is just so beautiful! Whether you are motivated by ecological value, aesthetics, less maintenance, or all three, this new garden offers so much. What a way to celebrate a momentous occasion!

Happy Gardening.