After a couple of hours of Google research, here is my back of the envelope sketch of a possible front yard design with mostly native perennials. Not really to scale – it’s about 20ft from driveway to path, and about 18ft from sidewalk back to the dahlia garden bed. I’m in Ann Arbor, Michigan (zone 6) in a mostly sunny south-facing yard. I don’t know much about this, but am aiming for a pollinator-friendly, low-maintenance, mostly-native-perennial garden with an array of seasonal blooms. Thanks in advance!
by UnluckyWind2784
11 Comments
I would take into consideration season of blooming. I’m not sure about MI, but here in PA columbine is a spring flower, so you’ll just have seed heads the rest of the season. My BES and coneflowers begin to die off in late August/early summer, and asters and goldenrod are fall. So you’ll see patchy areas as the different plants grow and bloom.
Maybe be prepared and have annual seeds such as marigolds and cosmos to fill in?
I’m still figuring out for my own–i have a lot of summer bloomers and am working on back filling with spring and fall!
Amazing! Grasses would add texture, and if you want to enjoy the seed heads of the black eyed Susan in the fall, consider Chelsea chopping some of the smooth aster that’s closer to the front.
Cute! Certainly better than anything I would be able to sketch 😅
Looks like a solid plan! Good choice of perennials, too. Can’t go wrong with native plants!
Lilac is not only non native, but also tends to struggle a lot in hot summers in America. Especially in a southern exposure full sun setup like this.
Why not something small and fruiting there instead? Highbush Blueberry maybe? Or even a dwarf apple? You can enjoy the fruit as can birds and squirrels
Other than that I think it sounds lovely
Looks great for a first draft. I like that you’re considering multiple uses and have focused on natives.
I second that you need to take into account the seasonal blooms. You might want to spread the flowers out instead of keeping them in patches so that something is always “an interest.” At a glance, I don’t see any winter interest either – no evergreens, nothing with winter berries. Especially for Michigan where the winters are long, you want to pay special attention to what your yard will look like fall to spring. Flowers are good, but also consider bark, greenery, fall colors, and such.
I like the green area – it’s good to have an open area like that for recreation in your yard, but I’m not sure about the mulch. I think you intend it as a pathway, but would you actually walk along it? It doesn’t go anywhere – and if it’s not well-trodden, you’re going to be constantly fighting weeds. If you’re looking for a border, a decorative fence or some traditional rock edging will work better.
Finally – add bushes. People always forget about them, but they really are one of the foundations of good garden design. They give shape, create privacy and add interest year-round.
I would recommend picking out a type of goldenrod, and it shouldn’t be canadensis, which is very aggressive/sociable. I’d recommend zigzag or stuff goldenrod
Edited to add, a grass like little bluestem would be a great one for a sunny spot
Looks great! My only thought is to double check the height to ensure you’re putting the tallest plants in the back. Wild Geranium tends to be shorter, so I’d move it to the front.
Not sure what you’re starting from, but if you’re looking for low maintenance, definitely don’t underestimate the importance of site prep, since the weed control gets more complicated when there’s stuff you don’t want to hurt.
Definitely would recommend native grass mixed with the flowers. What will be best depends on your soil and the height you want, but I love my little bluestems especially. Junegrass is a great cool season one that looks pretty fun part of the year and mixes into flower beds nicely. The tall stuff is also delightful but also maybe more difficult to fit in to an organized garden.
For the purple coneflower, I’d recommend mixing both echinacea purpurea and echinacea pallida for slightly different bloom time, and because maybe one will do better than the other. Similarly with the asters, more types of asters could mean different bloom times. I’m seeding some frost aster, to add to New England aster, in my native plant area this year.
For groundcover, I personally haven’t found a great native one I like for walking on in higher sun areas. If you don’t want the tillering with wild strawberries, there are some fine fescue “eco lawns” that might be a good fit (not native). Sedges could be worth looking into also, but that seems like a fairly high sun area, so idk of a good one for it. If you don’t want to walk on it though and do want something aggressive like the strawberries, another to consider could be canada anemone.
Just double checking, the path to the right of the redbud is a foot path?
I see people bracket their driveways with redbuds and it clearly creates problems until (if) it’s already very well grown (15+ feet). They can eventually make cool trees to walk/drive under, but it’ll be closer to 10+ years unless you’re buying very mature trees.
Definitely need a shrub or two for year-round structure. Try a New Jersey tea for shorter ones, and some taller ones near your sidewalk for privacy.