Creating a garden landscape requires initiative and diligent work, but it needn’t be a chore. When designing your garden space, do so to incorporate the things you enjoy about gardening and minimize the tasks you find burdensome. For instance, it’s okay to enjoy weeding, building dirt, studying, and recreating native habitats, and it’s not necessary to plant seeds in rows, water constantly, and use motorized or expensive tools.

To get started, you will need to size up your possibilities. Shade gardening is sometimes the only option in many yards in Western North Carolina. The soil in shaded areas is often perfect for many native plants. Take a walk in the woods and observe where native wildflowers thrive. Harvesting native plants from wild, undisturbed habitats is not an environmentally-friendly practice. However, an impending clear-cut for a new highway or subdivision will often yield an opportunity to "rescue" plants doomed by loss of habitat or unconscious grading. These areas will yield a crop of shade-loving natives which will not return the next year, as their habitat will have been destroyed.

To create a native area, an understanding of the special needs of these delicate beauties is essential. Take note of dampness, surrounding trees and vegetation, soil, and direction of light. It is best to move plants before or after they bloom. The trillium, for instance, is a native plant often seen for sale. They and some other native species require special conditions to return a second year. In the woods, they grown in hardwood forests, in damp but well drained hillsides. They bloom before the canopy of trees is completely leafed out. But most importantly, in order to survive for a second season, they require the white, stringy fungus found in leaf mold. All woodland natives grow naturally in thick blankets of rotting leaves. Ferns, wild geraniums, and jack-in-the-pulpits love these same conditions.

As pastures give way to housing and roadsides are sprayed for weed control, plants like butterfly weed, Queen Anne’s lace, and bee balm (scarlet bergamot) need new habitat in order to survive. Each of these plants usually grows naturally at the edge of weeds or fields where they get full sun. Queen Anne’s lace and butterfly weed grow in soil which is unsuitable for many plants. They withstand drought and require minimal care. Bee balm likes to have "wet feet" and will thrive in damp ground, under gutter runoff, or where natural underground water lines run. Mixed with other perennials, pasture plants can add a profusion of color and fragrance to your garden. Not only does butterfly weed provide a favorite spot for monarchs and other butterflies to light, the seed pots create both winter interest and lots of seeds to share with friends.

Mullein is another roadside weed that can be used to cover areas of disturbed soil. Its lovely, fuzzy leaves form a rosette which retains its beauty all winter long. In its second year, it produces a single tall stalk of yellow flowers which will reseed randomly all over your garden. Since birds love the seeds and spread them, it is easy to remove the plants from unwanted areas following a hard rain.

Self seeding annuals will add a kaleidoscope effect to your garden landscape. In heavily mulched areas, the seeds will fall naturally and reappear magically the following year to your surprise and delight. A stroll through older neighborhoods during summer will provide you with glimpses of fragrant four clocks and touch-me-nots. Each of these plants produces hundreds of seeds and the seeds are easily spread by broadcasting them directly onto mulch. Cleomes also self-seed rapidly, creating dozens of new plants each year. There is no need for fertilizer beyond mulch and, if you remove fallen leaves by hand, never by raking, it will allow the seeds to remain where they have fallen.

For a more adventurous landscape, add some big, hardy, invasive perennials, such as yarrow and tansy, which have fragrant, fern-like foliage, inviting to the touch and lovely additions to cut flower bouquets. Daisies, coneflower (echinacea spp.), and black-eyed susan spread rapidly and provide cut flowers. Bounding bet is a beautiful and fragrant perennial brought to America by English colonists for its natural cleaning properties. Purple asters bloom in fall, attracting monarch butterflies and providing one last blast of color when many blooms have faded.

The key is to mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch retains moisture, ensuring that you rarely need to water or fertilize. Remember, plants thrive where conditions are best for that particular plant. And most gardeners will tell you that the answer to just about any problem is found in the garden.

Anne Gietzen is an award-winning long-time gardener who has lived her entire life in North Carolina and currently resides in Black Mountain, amidst her thriving garden landscape. This article was provided by the Mountain Tailgate Market Association.

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