Walking in Memphis & Native Plant Gardening
- Nuts for Natives
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
Focusing on a big welcome.
Memphis, a City aiming to let gardeners across the country know about its expansive gardening culture, just hosted the 2025 Garden Fling, an annual get together of about a hundred garden writers, You Tubers and Instagrammers. I was lucky enough to join for three days of visiting gardens from the very urban to the very country and everything in between.
Many gardens included native deciduous trees, grand southern magnolias, oak leaf hydrangeas, elderberries and some native perennials. All of the gardens were creative, beautifully designed, eclectic or graceful, or all of those, but I wasn't sure I would post about the Garden Fling, given our focus on natives for the Chesapeake watershed.
That was until I met Sarah and Luke Bettendorf. I was chatting with Sarah who was volunteering to help show a garden. I mentioned native plants and Sarah introduced me to her son, Luke. Luke Bettendorf is a horticulturalist for the City of Germantown on the outskirts of Memphis. He also has his own design company, Bettendorf Landscape Design. We met in the garden of, as I soon learned, legendary former Germantown Park & Recs Director, Pam Beasley. Luke is working on bunches of very cool projects involving native plants and stormwater management and buffer restoration. I asked Luke a question I often ask "what do you say to people about native plants?"
Luke said "I just tell people to get their hands in the dirt. That's the thing. Once they get started it will all go from there." So simple. During the tours of amazing gardens, I had been giving this a lot of thought. These gardens were unique and special in their own way. Each clearly loved and labored over. It was readily apparent the gardeners are knowledgeable, talented and creative. I was wondering whether native plants are a feature added rather than a way of gardening.
Sarah then mentioned, in her current role as a Director of a Nursery School, she has kids with their hands in the soil growing food. I asked her "you mean the kids at the nursery school?" She said "yes, if they can stand and walk they can put their hands in a garden bed!" Pretty interesting! She is getting very young kids eating cabbage because they had a hand in growing it.
I think the Bettendorfs are on to something. It's not whether someone is gardening with native cultivars or straight species or is under the impression their kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) from Asia is a native dogwood. What does matter is whether someone is interested in growing things, talking about it and learning more. The rest will come. The Bettendorf approach is a welcoming big tent and I really like that! Thank you Sarah and Luke.
There is an often cited statistic that in 2024 about 55% of households have someone who gardens - either maintaining a lawn, growing vegetables or flowers or more. In a recent survey, one third of people said buying plants that help wildlife is important. Welcoming more people to learn more about whatever type of gardening they do is the next step!
Back to Pam Beasley's garden. Wow - it was just jam packed with ideas and inspiration. I want to share some of the Memphis gardening magic with you. Memphis gardeners are in zone 8, so a bit warmer than we are and they get about 10 inches more rain a year than we do.
Pam uses baskets in so many creative ways. The garden is divided into separate rooms, shade, vegetable and flower beds and more. Her garden edges are bordered by a path that gives access to all of the beds and includes a work station in the far corner hidden by a fence. The garden is peppered with native elderberries (Sambuca canadensis). Truly spectacular.
Elderberries
Speaking of elderberries, they are a standout native shrub for pollinators and birds alike. They are big shrubs and can ramble abundantly. I had never seen one pruned into a tree form -- perfect for a garden. The pruner told me he just continually prunes out branches growing sideways until the tree forms. Great tip.
Getting the Most Out of Smaller Spaces
Gravel
Many Memphis gardeners mentioned that because urban houses can be small, it is common to use the garden as an outdoor room. Many used gravel so effectively. It is relatively inexpensive and off sets lush plantings spectacularly.
In this garden, a mix of native and ornamental ferns, heuchera, other ground covers and various hydrangea really pop next to the gravel.
Limbing Up Trees
Limbing up trees to allow for more light and space in narrow side gardens was another popular technique for smaller gardens. These are crepe myrtles (Lagerstroemia) that have been limbed up over years creating a spacious feel for shrubs and perennials planted beneath.
Restrained Color Pallet
In this garden. to create a cohesive cozy zen feeling, the gardener used only black accessories and green and white plants. The owner of the house has a lot of art and color on the inside and chose the restrained colors for the outside as a respite. The result is totally serene and mesmerizing.
Converting Lawn to Grasses
A number of gardeners with large lawns began the large task of beginning to convert lawn to more ecologically productive space by adding fairly narrow swaths of new beds planted with native grasses. The curving swaths of newly planted grasses or carex easily blended in and added interest to the lawns.
Columnar Trees
Narrower forms of trees like European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Fastigiata') and native sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette') were very popular. It's a great way to add both vertical interest and more trees to a garden.
Whimsy
Garden creativity includes just the right amount of whimsy. I am always so amazed at what people come up with!
And then there were the native plants. Many blooming a bit ahead of ours here so a tiny glimpse of what's about to come!
If you'd like to visit Memphis gardens, check out the Experience Memphis Gardens and keep it in mind for next year. So much history, so much kindness and so many gardens!
Happy Gardening.
I missed a lot of details that you captured! It’s great seeing the Memphis gardens through your eyes. I was amazed by the size of all the Magnolia grandiflora, and also spotted quite a few Magnolia virginiana in several gardens. It’s one of my favorite tree, and it grows well in my zone!