10 Steps to Cultivating a Native Garden

1       Lawn? What Lawn? Native Grass make excellent lawn subsistutes. You can also think about no  lawn at all and going native plants instead. Native plants overall consum less water then non natives and also require less maintence . Natives if planted corrected and in their proper environment will not need to be fertilized at all once they are established.. Natives are very colorful and are timed to the more natural rhythms of nature, so you will need to readjust your thinkg and pay more attention to their natural display cycles. Replace overhead sprinklers with drip or below ground soaker systems. Even tho they are natives, you may need to water them if the condition requires.

2      I tell my radio show audience that dirt is what you sweep out the house but it is important that you have some understanding of the make up of the soil that you are trying to use for the garden. Is it clay or sandy or loam? What PH is it? These things are not 100% important that you know because if you want natives and not knowing the soil you can still look around for what natives are growng in your area or what other folks are growing, especially if they have similiar situations like yours. A Native Gardening Club would be very beneficial here. Join a local club and get advice from the pros who have been growing natives on heir properties for a long time. Buy plants from them. See what they are doing. Ask quesions.

3      Visit locations and or read or locate info on the internet concerning what naives grow in your area. Each state has their own Native Plant Society. Try calling information and ask for the Native Plant Society in your City and see what happens.

Here are a few I found on Google

California Native Plant Society - CNPS

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of California's native plants and to ...

www.cnps.org/ - 17k - 

Florida Native Plant Society

Promotes the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida.

www.fnps.org/ - 20k - 

Washington Native Plant Society

The home page for the Washington Native Plant Society website.

www.wnps.org/ - 7k - 

Native Plant Society of Oregon

Details membership, bulletins, their own email discussion list and the officers of each chapter in the Society.

www.npsoregon.org/ - 15k - 

Virginia Native Plant Society

Purpose is to further appreciation and conservation of Virginia's native plants and habitats.

www.vnps.org/ - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

Native Plant Society of Texas

Promotes the conservation, research, and utilization of the native plants and plant habitats of Texas.

www.npsot.org/ - 5k - 

Arizona Native Plant Society

Arizona Native Plant Society. Statewide nonprofit organization devoted to Arizona native plants; missions are education, conservation, and encouraging use ...

aznps.org/ - 8k -

South Carolina Native Plant Society

South Carolina Native Plant Society, founded in 1995, is committed to the preservation and protection of native plant communities in South Carolina.

www.scnps.org/ - 8k -

Georgia Native Plant Society

The mission of the Georgia Native Plant Society is to promote the stewardship and conservation of Georgia's native plants and their habitats through ...

www.gnps.org/ - 11k - 

MT Native Plant Society

THE GOALS of the Montana Native Plant Society are to preserve, conserve, and study the native plants and plant communities of Montana, and to educate the ...

www.umt.edu/mnps/ - 2k - 

Varieties Varieties Varieties

4    What to plant is an important question. Remember what your goal was in the first place. Did you want the land to be used or just be there for enjoyment? If you plan on using it either as a  garden or park then you must take into account what the traffic will do to the plants and what plants can handle this type of situation. Not all natives adapt to human traffic (as pet traffic) so picking the proper plant for the proper situation is very crucial. I would look for examples of what is working in my area and then adopt from there.

5  There is a right time to plant and the wrong time to plant. Figure it out for your area. Amend the soil that you are planting in a month or two before the actiual planting date. Some folks believe that becuse you are planting natives that you do not need to do anything to the soil. Just plant directly into the soil without changing much. You may or may not need to water depending on the weather (remember the timing on planting?), while others belive that you should admend the soil a little to imintate the way nature wold admend the soil by applying a small amount of compost and rock dust and working the soil over and breaking up any hard pan. Watering well and then allowing the soil to sit for a week or two will allow it to dry enough yet be workable for planting. I would still mulch a small amount (nature does mulch everything) and apply mulch regularly through out the year (yep, nature mulches a little bit every day).

6  Organic Foliar feeding is a good way to get your plants establish and healthy. The foliar applications ill not harm any beneficials nor birds or animals that happen to get into the spraying. I would foliar spray everything once a month. This spraying imitates the way natures feeds in a rain forest. 

7  Bird Bath    Invite local insects to make it their home. A source of water will go a long ways in making your environment habitat for beneficials as well as for birds, bats and other friend creatures that live in a native garden.

8   The less you interfere with the garden, the more nature like it will become. Allow it to develope on its own. You are just the care taker given the oppertunity to relaxand grow along with the garden and to be there when it needs your help.

9  Organic fertilization is an important part in having a antive garden. Never use any chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc in your native garden. Natives usually do not need to be fertilized but sometimes they may need a little bit to help them through or to make them grow a little bigger.

10  Natural Pest Control methods should be used only if the natural system is not working. In other words let the bugs work it out amongst themselves at first and see if it doesn't balance out and then apply proper control methods applicable to native gardens. What that basically means is no chemicals.

Enjoy

Andy Lopez

Invisible Gardener