Wild Native Space and Tidy Lawn in the Same Small Garden!

Having it all.

Back Lawn and Wild Space

Natural design versus formal design. This is a constantly reappearing topic in conversations about gardening with native plants. Between common names for many of our native plants including the word "weed" and many beautiful images of prairie style gardens and meadows featuring native plants, a preception of native gardens as a bit wild has taken hold. We know, though, there are lots of examples of more formal gardens featuring native plants.

I had somewhat of an aha moment when I visited the home of Eileen Watson outside of Buffalo, New York earlier this summer. Eileen has both formal and casual parts of her garden on 1/5th of an acre. This design works for so many situations. Need a grassy area for kids to play? Need a more formal area for entertaining? Check. Want a place where plants can grow with effusiveness? Check.  Want a place where you could explore and observe wildlife, insects, birds and more, doing their thing. Check!

Screened Porch

Screened Porch Planting

Eileen has all of this in her relatively small backyard. A screened porch at the rear of her home is bordered by a narrow bed bursting with ferns, solomon's seal (Polygatum biflorum), tall anemone (Anemone virginiana), bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) and non-native bellflower (Campanula).  This low, abundant planting envelops the porch like a warm hug. It also is a nice bridge between the formal part of the garden and the wildness to the rear.  

Back Garden

Crisp Edges

The relatively large rectangular lawn takes advantage of more sunlight and allows for all sorts of activities and uses. It also creates a crisp contrast with Eileen's wild and wooly, insect and bird filled back garden. The rear of the garden is where Eileen's real enthusiasm lies.

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  swamp milkweed

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  button bush

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  joe pye weed

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  wild indigo

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  butterfly milkweed

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  gray dogwood

She brims with excitement as she talks about her button bushes (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and gray dogwoods (Cornus racemosa) as well as loads of moisture loving perennials such as swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and joe pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum). Eileen also planted drought tolerant species like wild indigo (Baptisia), butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) and rattlesnake master. (Eryngium yuccifolium)  In mid summer, milkweeds provided color in what is a fairly shady area beneath mature hardwoods.  Eileen explains these plants all can take the fluctuating amount of water which is entirely dependent on the rainfall. It can be feast or famine and that's the whole point of this garden. It rolls with the weather. A path of stepping stones winds through allowing one to explore and Eileen is a keen observer of nature.

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  coral honeysuckle

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  trumpet vine

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  dutchman's pipe vine

Eileen also took advantage of the garage wall, long fence and a trellis, made by Eileen's husband from copper piping, by adding coral honeysuckle vine (Lonicera sempervirens) and dutchman's pipe vine (Aristolochia tomentosa). The trumpet vine along the fence (Campsis radicans) pre-dates Eileen. A note for DIYers, Eilleen says the trellis was modeled after a wrought iron arch they admired in a rose garden. Since working with wrought iron requires a forge and anyone can work with copper piping, copper piping it was!

An anesthesiologist by training, Eileen's analytic approach comes through as she talks about the number of species of plants she has added. The garden project first came about when Eileen decided to tackle the ponding water issue. She knew she wanted to use native plants, having been introduced to nature through outdoor recreational pursuits as a young adult. By creating the rain garden at the rear, she solved the drainage challenge and created an energetic habitat that reminds her of the past and creates a benefit for the present.  

Eileen created the design and worked with a landscape design firm, The English Gardener, to determine the right size of the footprint and depth of the rain garden to ensure proper drainage and to create a planting list of natives they could source. From that list, Eileen chose her plants.

Front Garden

Front Walk and Garden

Eileen's front garden is the perfect combination of the formal and informal with a cottage style feel and plants that would be at home by anyone's front door: hydrangea "Annabelle,' (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'), wild indigo, coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) and annual spider lfowers (Cleome) create a welcoming entrance.  The design of this garden really accounts for a range of styles and uses. 

Garden designers talk a lot about the value and importance of using cues to care. These cues signal to passersby that plantings that may lean toward the wild side are tended and cared for.  Cues to care are typically edging, a border of neat low plants, signage or a mown path. In Eileen's garden, the cue to care is a large rectangular lawn. This is a very effective cue because it adds that dose of familiarity most humans desire. This garden design is also an easy way to cater to the many preferences that can reside in the same household. Something for everyone!

I am very grateful to Jay Jinge Hu, gardener extraordinaire and creator of You Tube Channel Whispers in the Garden for the introduction to Eileen. Jay and Eileen are neighbors who met on dog walks and immediately recognized their shared love of gardens!  While their two gardens are very different styles, a bond over plants and nature always seems to readily transcend!

Happy Gardening.