We got our house about two years ago which is about when the cesspool collapsed and the whole yard got trashed. I planted some butterfly bushes and some other plants which is when I learned about invasive species and that’s when I got sucked into native plant gardening. So I’ve been chipping away eventually yanking all the butterfly bushes and replacing everything I planted with natives.
I don’t have much of a budget, and I’m a newbie. I just got those stepping stones for $20. I’d like to replace them with nicer stones at some point. The anchor was from a yard sale, same with the birdbath.
Do you guys have feedback for this becoming one of those really cool looking gardens some day? I know I’m in the “sleep” going into “creep” phase and I need to not get too impatient moving stuff around. The leaves look messy but I know it’s good to leave stuff undisturbed but what’s some good things to do to dial this in?
Left of the birdbath from front to back:
Blue Eyed Grass, Cardinal Flower, Milkweed, Coneflower, Bee Balm, Hydrangea (that needs to move I think the sprinkler is killing it) behind the Hydrangea is the stump of an iron weed (I transplanted that wilted immediately but there’s a sprout that’s coming out of the root ball that looks fine) and Pink Spires.
Birdbath to the right:
Fleabane, Aster, Stonecrop
Right of path that I haven’t mentioned already:
Mint in a pot, whorled tickseed, (hidden) royal catchfly, Anise hyssop, Joe Pye Weed, volunteer local violets.
It’s possible I mixed a few things up but I welcome all comments, advice, feedback. I should mention this has become by far my most favorite sub you guys! I appreciate all the knowledge and dialog.
by iwanderlostandfound
13 Comments
How about grasses or sedges? I have Sideoats Grama, Pennsylvania Sedge and Prairie Dropseed and they look great amongst my flowers.
Douglas tallamy
I added some Switchgrass to my garden this summer. It looks amazing and is already starting to spread a bit. I chose it for autumn interest in the garden and for winter habitat for wildlife. It’s already starting to turn colors and looks absolutely beautiful.
Love it. It’ll fill in so much more next year. Love the grasses up front, the path so you can actually enjoy it, and the wire to keep the critters from destroying it. Can’t wait to see it next year! Update us!
>I just got those stepping stones for $20. I’d like to replace them with nicer stones at some point.
Not me over here skipping the stepping stones because they’re too expensive haha. I’m just gonna do mulch for now. Real stone is priceyyyy and the concrete ones look kinda meh. What are you looking to upgrade to?
That said, I think this already looks really nice! Lots of cues to care which is great. The anchor is amazing. I would add some more short stuff in the front. That Blue Eyed Grass isn’t gonna get any bigger so I think there’s room to fill. Some of the short plants I’m planting in my new front yard conversion (Connecticut) are Jacob’s Ladder, Pussytoes, Hairy Beardtongue and Creeping Phlox so maybe look into those and see if they’re a fit.
Shrubby St. John’s Wort is ornamental and deer resistant. Also love skullcap and rattlesnake master
This is gonna look great when everything fills out. I don’t even think you’ll notice the look of the steppingstones once that happens.
get swamp milkweed, they like it a little better than orange milkweed
I think it looks great and it will look even better next year!
If you don’t already know, there are some really active Facebook groups on LI.
I’m on my second year at my new house and I’ve been given so many free plants – I say yes to everything!
Consider putting in some ephemerals. Virginia spring beauty might fit in well and give you something to look forward to in spring.
It looks very nice! I think it would be an improvement to make a designated space for your future wild pet lizard! 😀 Make an inviting nice habitat for them so they can burrow, nest, hibernate. It’s a pretty tight fit in there, so underneath the anchor would probably be okay. Get the soil loosened there if it isn’t already, add the leaves that we see in the photo on top of the loosened up soil, (nothing added to the soil itself, just a layer of leaves placed over the soil), and replace the mulch back on top of the little pile of leaves. Finishing touch to then put a small piece of driftwood to mark the spot, which would also double as something for the lizard to climb on. They will find the soft spot in the ground that you made for them. No fertilizer or water to that direct area, but if it gets residual water from nearby plants, that’s okay. It will burrow to where it’s at a comfortable moisture level, and this area is next to the path that wouldn’t be watered, so it seems like a nice spot. They sell driftwood type pieces at like pet stores, for terrarium lizards, they are very pricey. So I would look around the yard, be creative if there’s not much wood around, (stick bundle with twine bow or with nautical ribbon?), and then expand across the neighborhood or in my travels, at yard sales, etc, keeping an eye out for ‘cool piece(s) of wood’ that a lizard can climb on.
That looks great! I would add some rock border all around it at the bottom of the wire fence. I find a great rock makes things look A+. And you’ll want to be careful of the joe pye weed–if it’s the straight species it can get TALL and FLOPPY and then you won’t be able to use your door at all. Oh, and you could also consider adding a dark-colored trellis in front of the house, below the window–that would give the back of the garden a “garden” feel instead of a “house” feel. Sort of like a back boundary. You don’t even need to actually grow anything on it.
Overall this looks great! Very exciting, good work.
Growing up in Suffolk County more than 50 years ago, my favorite true natives were bird’s foot violet and blazing star (I believe *Liatris scariosa*).
If you want to get adventurous, there is a prickly pear native to LI (*Opuntia humifusa*).