Native foraging. Exploring the Bounty of Nature: The Art and Ethics of Native Foraging. In our fast-paced modern world, it’s easy to overlook the abundance that nature offers right outside our doorstep. Foraging, the age-old practice of gathering wild plants and fungi for food, medicine, and craft, reconnects us with the land and the seasons […]
Catalpa Trees Catalpa Trees are native to the United States but are not native to New York State. Historically, their natural range was centered in the Midwest and Southeast, with Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) occurring primarily in river floodplains and disturbed alluvial soils. Despite this, Catalpa Trees have been widely planted for over a century
Matrix Planting What Is Matrix Planting? Matrix planting is a design approach where a dominant, continuous ground layer supports and stabilizes a comparatively smaller number of feature plants that emerge through it. Think of the matrix basically as the living fabric of the garden. The structure further integrates everything else. Ecologically, this mirrors how real
Landscape Transformation Process Landscape Transformation Process: Every great garden begins with a little faith. The before stage can look bare, messy, or even disappointing at first. Bare soil. Open space. A lot of possibility. This is the starting line of transformation, and it’s where every beautiful landscape begins. Landscape Transformation Process: The “During” Phase
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Growth Takes Time Growth Takes Time In gardens and in life, growth rarely happens on our preferred timeline. We live in a culture that rewards speed, efficiency, and visible results. However, real growth follows a slower, quieter rhythm. It asks for patience, trust, and a willingness to stay present. Quiet Beginnings. In a native garden,
The Long Garden Game The Long Garden Game. Native wildflower gardens are certainly not just a trend. They are one of the most practical, hopeful ways we can heal land in the United States. However, they ask something difficult of us: patience. These gardens do not perform on demand. Instead, they unfold over time, rewarding
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Roots Before Blooms Roots Before Blooms: How Native Gardens Truly Grow. One of the best ways to understand native gardens is through the idea of Roots Before Blooms. It captures the honest rhythm of how these landscapes establish, mature, and thrive over time. Year One is the Sleep phase. This stage often rather tests good
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Sleep, Creep, Leap: How Native Gardens Truly Grow One of the most helpful ways to understand native plant gardens is through a simple phrase: Sleep, Creep, Leap. It perfectly describes the real, honest rhythm of how native landscapes establish themselves over time. Year One is the Sleep phase. This is often the hardest stage for
Progress of a Project: Before, During, After Every great private landscape begins with uncertainty. At first, the before stage can look dull, like there’s too much lawn or just generally unfinished. However, this is exactly where transformation begins. The progress of a project starts long before anything looks beautiful. Progress of a Project: Let’s Gooo!
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Before, During, After: The Transformation of a Native Plant Garden Before During After. Every native plant garden begins with a view that appears a little underwhelming. The before stage is often bare, compacted, and unimpressive. Turf grass, invasive plants, or tired soil dominate the space. To the untrained eye, it can feel like nothing beautiful
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Japanese Knotweed Remediation Japanese Knotweed Remediation: Listening to the Soil Beneath the Problem Japanese Knotweed is altogether often labeled an enemy. It spreads quickly, dominates disturbed land, and challenges even experienced land stewards. Yet this plant is not appearing by accident. Its presence is a signal. Japanese Knotweed thrives where soil chemistry is deeply imbalanced
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Flower Crowns Origins, Meaning, and Two Cultural Forms. Flower crowns appear across cultures as symbols of beauty, seasonality, and belonging. More than decoration, they mark moments when humans consciously align themselves with the natural world. Made from living plants, a flower crown carries the message of abundance, impermanence, and renewal. Historically, floral headpieces emerged wherever
Forest Bathing: A Return to Our Ecological Roots. Forest bathing, known in Japan as shinrin-yoku, emerged in the 1980s as a public health response to rising stress, burnout, and disconnection from nature. The practice is simple but profound: slow down, enter a forested environment, and engage the senses fully. Unlike hiking or exercise, forest
Plein Air Painting: Returning to the Garden. Plein air painting is basically the practice of creating art outdoors, directly within the landscape. It is not simply a technique, but a posture toward the world. To paint outside is to accept nature specifically as the primary teacher and collaborator. Nature has in general always been the
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Edible Landscapes: Where Beauty and Nourishment Meet. An edible landscape is a garden designed to feed both people and place. It basically blends food-producing plants into the everyday fabric of a yard, transforming ornamental space into living abundance. Form + Function Continuity. For most of human history, beauty and usefulness were generally not separated. Fruit
Right Plant, Right Place. “Right Plant, Right Place” is a simple phrase that carries so much ecological wisdom. It describes the foundation of good garden design and the difference then between landscapes that struggle and landscapes that thrive. When plants are matched to the conditions they evolved in, gardens cooperate with nature instead of fighting
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Commercial Native Landscaping: Build It Right Once, Maintain It Less Forever. Commercial landscapes do not need to be high maintenance to be beautiful. In fact, the opposite is often true. When commercial sites invest a little more intention, planning, and quality during construction, they save dramatically on maintenance costs for decades to come. This is
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Soft Landings: A Better Way to Care for Trees and Build Habitat The practice of designing “soft landings” is transforming how ecologically minded gardeners care for the spaces beneath their trees. Instead of relying on mulch or stagnant lawngrass, soft landings involve planting gentle, shade-tolerant native perennials under the canopy. These plants create a living
River Birch Trees (Betula nigra) River Birch Trees (Betula nigra) are basically one of the great success stories of wet ground. They love saturated soils, seasonal flooding, rain gardens, streambanks, and wetlands, and they do not merely tolerate these conditions, they rather thrive in them. In landscapes shaped by water, River Birch feels inevitable, as
Ecological Stormwater Solutions Rain Gardens, Native Plants, and Bioretention Ponds. Ecological stormwater solutions work by slowing water down, spreading it out, and letting living systems do the work. Rain Gardens with Native Plants. Rain gardens are shallow, bowl-shaped gardens placed where runoff naturally flows. When planted with deep-rooted Native Plants, they act like living sponges.
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