One gardener just showed the internet how beautiful a well-planned native plant garden can look.
Native plants — species that originated in the same area where they are planted — have a ton of advantages over commonplace garden choices. They are well adapted to the local weather conditions, so they rarely need water beyond the ordinary rainfall. They're also suited to the local soil. They don't need intensive care, making them easy and cheap to keep, and they support local native pollinators, which might struggle for food and shelter otherwise.
But beyond all that, they're also beautiful and varied, as this Redditor demonstrated in their r/NativePlantGardening post.
"I talked about sedges," they said. "Here's some native sedges (Carex Sprengelii)."
Their video shows several bunches of grasslike blades, all a vibrant green. They're surrounded by flowers and strawberry plants, which the original poster identified as "heavily planted Fragaria Virginiana; the shrub is Lindera Benzoin Spicebush with roughleaf dogwood; three northern sea oats; [and] two bush honeysuckle." The total effect is a multi-layered flower bed adding visual interest to the original poster's yard.
In the video, they walk viewers through the different layers of their garden, explaining how the individual plants contribute to the whole. The gardener was happy to brag about their low-maintenance ground cover. "It just reseeds itself," they said. "Don't need to do anything."
The garden is already beautiful, but the original poster wasn't done. "I'm trying to cover this ground here with lyreleaf sage," they continued. "By next year it should be covered."
Along the edge of their house, they show off more sedges, aster, lobelia, hostas, violets, and many more. The flowers add incredible color and variety to the yard.
Commenters were impressed with the well-planned garden. "So beautiful, good job!" said one user.
🗣️ How did your garden turn out this year?
🔘 Amazing 🤩
🔘 Could be better 🙂
🔘 Terrible 🤬
🔘 I don't have a garden 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Another commenter hoped to follow their example. "Gorgeous! Thank you for the inspiration," they said.
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