Native Gardening

Brand new to native gardening in North Carolina or gardening in general?

These tips and ideas may help you as you begin your gardening journey.

Getting Started!

Plant

Suggestions

Container Gardens

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Getting

Started!

Here are some tips to help you get started including, understanding your garden conditions, working in clay soils, how to plant and mulch.

Start Small

Begin with small, manageable garden projects that you feel confident you can complete. Although it can be tempting to take on all of your garden ideas, all at one time, it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged if you are not able to complete what you set out to do. Taking on small projects you are more likely to finish will leave you with a sense of accomplishment and ready to tackle the next project!

Get to Know Your Space!

Understanding how much sunlight your space gets and the amount of moisture in your soil are the first

steps to building the knowledge to successfully choose plants that will thrive in your garden.

Common Sneezeweeed and Garden Phlox both thrive in full sun and moist soils

Sunlight

Observe how many hours of sunlight your garden receives from late spring through

early fall (when shrubs and flowering perennials have foliage and blooms).

This will allow you to choose plants that will perform best in your particular garden settings.

Full Sun - Deep Shade ... what does each mean?

Full Sun: 6 or more hours of sun
Part Sun: 4-6 hours of sun
Part Shade: 2-4 hours
Shade: Less than 2 hours

Some other sunlight terms you may come across ...

Deep Shade: no sunlight
Dappled Shade: Under a tree where plants get only bits of sunlight coming through the canopy

Soil Moisture

Understanding how long your soil holds moisture can help in choosing plants.

While many plants do well in average moisture soils, some plants perform

best in either dry soils or moist to wet conditions.

Average Soil: Areas that neither hold water or dry out quicky

Dry Soil: Areas that, you guessed it, dry out quickly.

Areas on the upper part or the top of a slope
Spaces that get sun the entire day in the summer. Sandy soil drains well and therefore may dry out more quickly

Moist Soils: Areas that, yep, dry out sowly

Places where water pools and sits after rain. These are often the low points or areas at the bottom of a slope.
Areas that may occasionally flood
Along a stream or edges of ponds

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There are many beautiful, full sun grasses and flowernig perennials that would have grown in prairies or meadows

Ferns, sedges, spring wildflowers and ephemerals that naturally grow in decidous woodlands create lovely shade gardens.

Lanceleaf Coreopsis does well in average soils, but is also drought tolerant.

Cardinal Flower thrives in moist or even wet soil.

What to do with Clay Soil?!

Have you ever put a shovel into the ground, only to end up with your entire body reverberating like you struck a rock? Yep, the joys of gardening with clay soils!

Most of us in piedmont North Carolina have heavy clay soil, with little to no topsoil, especially if you are in more developed areas. The good news is that plants native to NC are adapted to clay soils. However, historically a layer of topsoil would have existed above the clay, which is often lost due to development or possibly farming. Therefore, amending the soil with compost can help create better growing conditions for your plants and make working in the soil much easier! Leaving the leaves that fall in your garden in autumn will help build your topsoil over time too!

Adding compost to the clay soil will ...

Aerate the compacted clay soil allowing the tender roots of new plants to grow
Create better drainage
Add nutrients and microorganisms to help foster plant growth
Make gardening easier for you and more enjoyable!

Mulching

Mulch will help retain moisture in your soil, help suppress weeds and over time help build your top soil.

What Type of Mulch is Best? … Almost any will do!

Leaf mulch (fallen leaves from the previous autumn) is free and works great.
Wood chips are also a great option and can be dropped at your house for free (or a tip). CHIP DROP is a way to request wood chips from arborists in your area. It’s super easy, just keep in mind they may drop A VERY LARGE AMOUNT, so unless you need A LOT of mulch it may be great to coordinate with neighbors and share!
Buying mulch in bags or from a landscape company also works!

Mulch to Avoid:

Dyed mulch (often black, red or dark brown), as this will add chemicals into your gardens
Rubber much … for obvious reasons 😉

Don't be afraid to make a mistake!

All gardeners have made mistakes and killed plants. It is one way we gain gardening knowledge.

Plant

Suggestions

Brand new to native gardening and unsure of what to plant?

Here are just a few ideas on perennials to help get you started!

These plants are easy to grow in NC and usually available from local sellers.

Tip: Planting one to three flowers that bloom in each of the seasons (spring, summer and fall),

will ensure you have beautiful blooms all season long.

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Full Sun/Part Sun

Spring Blooming: Full/Part Sun

Blue-eyed Grass

Sisyrinchium angustifolium

Height: 1ft

- great border plant

Oenothera fruticosa Southern Sundrops (8).JPG

Southern Sundrops Oenothera fruticosa

Height: 1-2ft

-

Lanceleaf Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata

Height: 1-3ft

- reseeds easily

White Beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis

Height: 2-4ft

- great bumble bee flowers

Early Summer Blooming: Full/Part Sun

Butterfly Weed

Asclepias tuberosa

Height: 1-2ft

- drought tolerant

Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Height: 2-4ft

- not deer resistant

Bee Balm

Monarda didyma

Height: 2-4ft

- grows on underground runners

Coral Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens

Height: vine

- great vine for a trellis or arbor

Late Summer Blooming: Full/Part Sun

Downt Skullcap

Scutellaria incana

Height: 1-3ft

- interesting seed pods

Narrow-leaf Mountain Mint

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Height: 2-4ft

- many native Mtn Mint species

- grows on underground runners

Orange Coneflower

Rudbeckia fulgida

Height: 2-3ft

- drought tolerant

Joe Pye Weed

Eutrochium

Height: 5-7ft

Fall Blooming: Full/Part Sun

Aromatic Aster

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Height: 2-3ft

- trim back in June for a

fuller plant in fall

Grayleaf Goldenrod

Solidago nemoralis

Height: 2-4ft

- cut back in June for a

fuller plant in fall

Pink Muhly Grass

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Height: 2-4ft

Schizachyrium scoparium Little Bluestem (12).JPG

Native Bluestems

- variety of species of

varying heights`

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Shade/Part Shade

Spring Blooming: Shade/Part-Shade

Green and Gold

Chrysogonum virginianum

Height: groundcover

- groundcover

Foam Flower

Tiarella cordifolia

Height: 1ft

- moist soil

Wild Geranium

Geranium maculatum

Height: 1-3ft

- moist soil

- full shade to part sun

Eastern Columbine

Aquilegiia canadensis

Height: 1-3ft

- part shade to part sun

Beautiful Summer Foliage: Shade/Part Shade

Christmas Fern

Polystichum acrostichoides

- moist to average soil

- evergreen

Southern Lady Fern

Athyruim asplenoides

- moist to average soil

Cherokee Sedge

Carex cherokeensis

- moist to average soil

- part shade-part sun

Appalachian Sedge

Carex appalachia

- average to dry soils

-

Fall Blooming: Shade/Part Shade

Woodland Goldenrod

Solidago caesia

Height: 1-3ft

- average to dry soil

- also grows in full-part sun

Turtlehead

Chelone glabra

Height: 2-4ft

- moist soil

Great Blue Lobelia

Lobelia siphilicata

Height: 2-3ft

- part shade to part sun

Big-headed Aster

Symphyotrichum grandifolium

Height: 1-3ft

- part shade to sun

Container Gardening

No space to plant in the ground? No problem!

Whether you only have a balcony or are renting and cannot plant in the ground, container gardens filled with native flowers will not only add beauty to your space, but they will be a source of habitat for little critters like insects, lizards and birds.

TIps for Container Gardening with Native Perennials

Be sure to fill your planters with flowers that require the same amount of sun.
You will likely need to divide the plants in your containers every year or so to control their size and prevent roots from becoming pot bound. Once you remove and divide your plant, place part of the division back in your planter and the rest you can plant someone else or share with friends or neighbors!

Spring Blooming