Gardens

GETTING STARTED GUIDES

Native plants can be used in your yard, no matter how big or small, and no matter your style, whether you like the “kept” look, or the wild look.

• WILD ONES NATIVE GARDEN DESIGNS a step-by-step online guide to getting started and planning a native garden
  
  Produced by Wild Ones
• Climate Resilient Landscapes    how to create a landscape that slows climate change, increase climate resilience, and stems biodiversity losses
  
  Produced by Wild Ones
• Top plants to use in Michigan: NOWO Powerhouse Plant List
• Rochester Pollinators Garden Plant for small areas
• Michigan-Native-Garden-Design-for-the-Birds.pdf (michiganaudubon.org)
• Getting Started – Native Plants and Ecosystem Services (msu.edu) website for all things Michigan gardens (not exclusively native)
• Plants to attract and support beneficial insects (msu.edu) brochure with native plants indicating bloom times
• Small native garden ideas from Lehigh Gap Nature Center- printable pdf booklet)

Check out some of our members’ gardens here for ideas!

• Brueck House
• Moore/Pozniak House
• Community Garden Projects

Homegrown National Park – Tallamy’s Hub •  homegrownnationalpark.org

Michigan Bees and their plant needs • Michigan Bees  MSU.edu

Michigan Butterflies and their host plants • NativePlant.com Butterfly Larval Host Plant list

Michigan Flora • Browse – Michigan Flora (select by Genus to find a plant or use the search tab)

Michigan’s Natural Communities • Michigan Natural Features Inventory (msu.edu)

Michigan Vegetation circa 1800 Maps • – Michigan Natural Features Inventory (msu.edu)

Native Bees and Wasp Info: Important Pollinators • Bee and Pollinator Books by Heather Holm (pollinatorsnativeplants.com)

National Wildlife Federation – Garden For Wildlife • nwf.org/garden-for-wildlife

Restoring The Landscape With Native Plants • restoringthelandscape.com

US Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers • fs.fed.us/wildflowers

Learn more about species and garden topics:

Get Sedgy! Adaptable Native Sedge Species to Replace Wood Mulch – YouTube

10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Superstar Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf – Gardenista

Deer-resistant plants – habitatmatters.org

Salt-Tolerant Native Plants – Grow Native!

Enhancing beneficial insects with native plants – MSU Extension summary of study with links to detailed info including bloom times

Rain Gardens: A Tool for Ecological Restoration and Improved Water Quality, by Peggy Malnati

Practical Phragmites Control by Bob Williams

Botany Primer  by Natures Notebook – Learn botany terms and details

Butterfly Gardening

• Components of a Butterfly Garden – Handout by Brenda Dziedzic
• Michigan Butterflies and their host plants • NativePlant.com Butterfly Larval Host Plant list
• Butterfly Gardening Information
• Nature in the Hills – Brenda’s Butterfly Habitat – YouTube

Honeybees vs Native Bees

• Help the native bees

Native Plants Tolerant of Juglone (Black Walnut, etc.)

• • Prairie Moon Nursery Black Walnut Tolerance List  All natives, although some may not be native to Michigan.  This list is from Minnesota.
  • Juglone Resistant Plant List
  • Black Walnut Toxicity MSU  Please note that this list requires careful research, as many of the plants here are NOT natives.  Use with caution.

Replacing Common Invasive Ornamentals with Similar Natives

Powerhouse Plants for Southeast Michigan

Adapted from NWF GFW Plant List Ecoregion8 for local species, more species in the genus maybe available as well.

Having some plants from each of these categories will support a healthy foodweb, then add additional plants to your liking as every plant serves a purpose in the ecosystem!