Backyard Native Garden

 

This native garden that we started in the spring of 2024 is doing well, with just a few exceptions, in its second year. In 2023, we put down cardboard and composted wood chips in a rough square along the edge of the backyard turf. It receives direct sun in the morning into the midday with filtered light through the rest of the day. A wet area at the edge of the woods that had started to be infiltrated by the Japanese knotweed lies behind and to the west of it. We planted three spicebush starts in that wet area behind this garden this past spring. Renee also planted five Canada anemones, Anemone canadensis, in this wet area behind this garden this summer. As it is a robust native spreading ground cover, we are hoping that it gets established and does its part to combat the return of the knotweed here in the west of our property.

The star of the "backyard native garden" so far is the false sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides. It has an extended bloom time, from early summer until first frost. It is not fussy, and is thriving in this garden. It is often described as a short lived perennial, so we may want to collect seeds. Some birds like its seeds, so it is one to leave without cutting back in the fall.  Another feature is that the deer and groundhog population appear to leave it alone, unlike some other plants in this garden. In addition to being easy to grow and thriving in this location, it is pollinator friendly. In this photo, Renee recently caught a swallowtail visiting our false sunflower. 

Right now, in August, the bee balm, Monarda didyma, is also blooming. As a member of the mint family it is not that attractive to deer or rabbits, so I suspect that the groundhog was the culprit that chomped it down earlier. It has spread and is blooming despite being grazed on. 

Seen in the rear of the garden from a different perspective and a little earlier this summer, the figwort, Scrophularia marilandica, has been blooming for weeks now. It is a tall plant without picturesque blooms. However it is rich with nectar and draws many bees and wasps including different native bees. It is recommended by the Xerces Society. Renee grew some figworts from seed, and the ones here in this garden are thriving. In the center foreground in this shot, our bergamont, Monarda fistulosa, appears to be thriving, but still has not bloomed in late August. 

Several plants on this side of the backyard native garden have really struggled. Both the couple of black eyed Susans and the purple coneflower have been seriously browsed. Whether the culprit was the groundhog or the deer family, someone has repeatedly eaten these plants despite the use of deer repellent sprays. 

Loooking at this photo of the other (north) side of the garden, one can see some of our attempts to include flowering plants with a variety of bloom times. The plant in the foreground of this photo is eastern bluestar, Amsonia tabernaemontana. It appears to thrive here in this location, and as a member of the Dogbane family, it has not been browsed upon. It flowers in the spring. Another early bloomer is the columbine, Aquilegia canadensis, which got started in this garden after Renee tossed in some spent flower heads from another location last year. Barely visible behind the figwort and false sunflower is one of our couple of boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum. Now, in late August, it is not yet blooming, but it should soon.

Here along the border between the wet edge of the existing woods and the turf of the backyard, this backyard native garden is doing pretty well despite our focus on reclaiming the knotweed expanse. (Frankly, now a burnweed expanse, the topic of a future post.) We plan to apply the cardboard and chip approach to an additional area to the south of this garden and expand it with more plantings next year. We may plant a couple of our mountain mint starts here on the border between the planned new section and this garden to jumpstart the expansion and protect the plants suffering from excessive browsing.

Native Shrubs in the Front Yard

A butterfly visiting as seen through the dining room window yesterday

We have planted several native shrubs over the past year or so in our front yard. We have started replacing some of our front lawn with what we are calling the "Shrub Garden." Also, last summer, before the house was painted, we removed a dead shrub that had been a part of the established foundation plantings which include several hybrid rhododendrons and ornamental evergreen shrubs.

Last fall after the painters were done, we planted a Virginia sweetspire, Itea virginica, to replace the  shrub that we had removed. It seems to be settling in. It gets full sun in the morning, but afternoon shade from the house. Yesterday, while in the dining room, we noticed a butterfly on it. At first I suspected that the butterfly was a swallowtail, but Renee identified it correctly as a red-spotted purple, Limenitis arthemis astyanax. They have evolved to mimic pipevine swallowtails since the swallowtails are not palatable to birds. The red-spotted purple caterpillars have also evolved to mimic, wait for it, bird poop. I guess another example of less than palatable food for birds. Black cherry trees are a host to the red-spotted purple, and we have one on our property and several in the woods surrounding us. 

Serviceberry in June 2025

We started our "Shrub Garden" when we planted this serviceberry, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance,' in the fall of 2023. When we planted it, we used cardboard and wood chip mulch to start the garden. We also put a wire fence around it to protect it from the critters.  It has flowered each May since then, and this summer we have seen catbirds and goldfinches eating berries from it. 

The summersweet finally leafed out

Last fall, we expanded the mulched area and planted a summersweet, Clethra alnifolia. We left it in its pot for a long time after we bought it and let it get a bit dry, so we were worried when it didn't leaf out when the other shrubs did this spring. Now we realize that it just leafs out really late. It flowers later in the summer, but it is a long bloomer and very popular with the pollinators. 

Renee is planning on planting some golden alexanders and columbine here between the shrubs, but we have so much to do in the knotweed expanse that it might not happen this year. 

Common snowberry island in the lawn, 2025

The third shrub in the nascent shrub garden is the common snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus. We planted it last fall, and as can be seen in the photo, we haven't expanded the lasagna cardboard and mulch to it yet. Also, we need to be aware that it is susceptible to deer browse, and we don't have a cage around it. At the least it should be a target of spraying with a deer repellant. We have a lot of seedlings to plant now, but later this summer, I would like to complete the shaping and smothering of the lawn with cardboard and mulch for this garden bed with its native shrubs.

Less Lawn More Life Challenges

We finished our Less Lawn More Life challenge space, just a day or so ago, but it has only made a small dent in our south knotweed expanse. It is a start though! The Week 5 Challenge: Identify and Remove Non-native Invasive Species is our starting point with the ongoing fight with the knotweed, which here involved lots of shoot and rhizome removal. Earlier we planted a Betula nigra and Hamamelis virginiana, a river birch and witch hazel respectively which turned out to be the Week 4 Challenge of planting a tree or shrub. The river birch is a keystone tree for Atlantic Highlands, our Level II ecoregion, and the Hamamelis virginiana is a host to over 60 moths and butterflies. This tree and shrub layer is a backdrop for our native plant bed inspired by the Less Lawn More Life challenge. 

The area we planted to the north of the river birch is around 70 square feet and not so much an oval as a trapezoid with rounded corners. We planted eleven plugs from The Pollen Nation or Bagley Pond Perennials and three seedlings that Renee started from seeds.

• 3 New England aster, symphyotrichum novae-angliae, a late blooming nectar source into the fall. 
• 3 sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale, another fall blooming perennial native. 
• 3 short toothed mountain mint, Pycnanthemum muticum, another pollinator favorite, blooming starting in July with vigorous spreading characteristics and deer resistance. 
• 2 golden alexander, Zizia aurea, a spring blooming shorter perennial, host plant to Black Swallowtails.
• 3 basket flower, Centaura americana, an annual native to the American southwest and Mexico that Renee started from seeds. While the new perennials "sleep" or "creep," the basket flowers will show off and appeal to pollinators. 

 

Planting Some Natives

Cupplant -- Silphium perfoliatum

While we are working on a list of possible plants for the area that we have chosen for the Less Lawn More Life challenge and a plan for planting them, we finally had a nice day today and chose to work somewhere else. Renee has some plugs with cupplant seedlings that are getting root bound and they will be too tall when they mature for the area we are planning. So, we switched gears and chose another location in what we are calling the knotweed expanse that extends all along the south boundary of our property. 

We chose an area that is a little over ten feet by ten feet and just beyond a barely established trail that weaves along the property boundary to plant three cupplants, Silphium perfolatum. First we dug up any of the knotweed shoots that had appeared here. We also found several live rhizomes and removed them. They and the shoots are now spread along the edge of our asphalt driveway to bake in the sun for a couple of months.  Then we planted the three plugs approximately two to three feet apart. In the photo, the small plugs are hard to see; clicking on the photo will enlarge it. One is to the right, appearing below the watering can. One is to the left, below the watering can. The third is farther to the left, along with a goldenrod that has popped up on its own. 

Cupplant, Silphium perfoliatum, is a tall and aggressive plant that likes moisture, making it a good choice for the back of beds like this one here in the knotweed expanse. While it may not bloom or reach its full height for the first year or two, upon maturity it will bloom with yellow flowers from mid-summer attracting pollinators of all kinds. Cupplants get their name from the way their leaves project directly from the square stem forming a cup that holds water after rain. It has a reputation for, in addition to being a pollinator magnet, supporting birds by providing food, water, and shelter. Goldfinches are known to relish the seeds of the cupplant. While it is found naturally in counties south and north of us in eastern Pennsylvania, it is not native to our local ecoregion. That said, with its aggressive nature, we are hoping it will outcompete the return of the knotweed, and we appreciate the support it will provide to pollinators and birds. 

Guidelines and More First Steps

In our last post I mentioned that we had joined the Less Lawn More Life challenge and had chosen a site.  This photo shows a portion of former knotweed expanse that will be our location for this challenge. 

As part of the Week 3 Challenge, Wild Ones shared this webinar: Native Plants Planted Right. I took some notes broken into three parts, similar to Loris Damerow's presentation itself, on  planning, prepping, and planting, and I will outline them below. 

Today, I viewed a pair of videos featuring Doug Tallamy on a YouTube channel that focused on planning and planting native plants in the home garden. This one was filmed at the Mt. Cuba Center. This one was filmed at the University of Delaware Botanic Garden. Each of them gave an overview of his rationale for individuals becoming conservationists in their home landscape as well as some detailed information on how to do so.  

With these guidelines, I feel a bit better prepared to tackle the Week 3 Challenge (Plant Some Natives) in an informed manner rather than just planting some natives willy nilly. My next post should be the plan and maybe some progress reports. 

Plan:

• Draw or sketch a plan to scale
• Consider the needs of plants: soil, light, moisture levels
• Plan for layers and drifts (odd numbers, three or five)
• Include a variety of bloom times
• Incorporate keystone and host plants

Prep:

• Lasagna method: Cardboard and chips/mulch (easy but slow)
• Dig up sod (fast but harder)
• Specific to us: knotweed shoot and rhizome removal 

Plant: 

• Don't overwork the soil
• Consider the plant's size when grown for placement
• Dig wide, but shallow hole
• Water deeply: first year once or twice a week
• Mulch lightly 2" or 3" inches away from stem
• Label each plant: physical label, sketch, and/or spreadsheet 

Post Planting:

• Weed early and often
• Observe over time: notes or journal
• Is every plant labeled?
• Remember "sleep, creep, leap" for the first three years

Knotweed and Less Lawn Updates

 

The knotweed, whether it is Japanese knotweed, Fallopia Japanica, or the hybrid discussed in Joan Jubela's article mentioned earlier, is unrelenting. Elimination has not and will not be achieved this year (ever?). We have to be satisfied with some combination of controlling, managing, or reducing the spread of the zombie-like plant for now.  I did come across a helpful video for controlling invasive knotweed. Yes, it is from a commercial company, but it pulls together ideas that are supported by other recognized and legitimate sources. This video supports the steps we are taking, but we still need to try to not be demoralized by the numbers of shoots emerging from what had appeared as a knotweed cemetery earlier this spring. 

The knotweed appears most unfazed by the past two year's treatment trying to eliminate it in the wet areas over the property line and on the borders of the "expanse" on our property. As we are not prepared to use herbicides ourselves, we may need to contact the service we used in 2023 and 2024. 

We are making some headway on the area that I refer to as the "knotweed expanse" most of which is seen in the background of the photo of the river birch, Betula nigra, taken after it had started to leaf out below. 

While not that attractive, we are fencing or caging the woody plants as we go to protect them from browsing by the deer or other critters while the plants are still young and susceptible. While investigating about a week or so ago, we found an oak seedling that was growing along the property line between the river birch and the springhouse overflow bog. I crafted a cloche to protect it from the browsers, the edge of which can be seen in this photo:

We also planted and caged the witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, that we had purchased at Edge of the Woods. We planted it just to the east and fairly close to the birch tree. As they mature, we hope their roots will intertwine and cooperate rather than compete for water while these two plants provide layers between canopy and understory. The witch hazel is native and pollinator friendly, flowering in the fall. 

Before the storms at the end of last week, we also planted the last two purchases from Edge of the Woods, the Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica. Renee took the lead with these, planting them in the area under our red oak. These pretty spring ephemerals are native and should thrive in this area. This area under the tree has been lawn, but our plan is to work towards this to be an area to shrink the lawn and be friendlier to caterpillars. Leaves that we left last fall under sticks never blew away. Spring ephemerals, leaf litter, and perhaps a large rock or tree branch will provide better pupation sites than lawn would.

We have joined the Less Lawn More Life challenge and the week two challenge was to choose a site for the challenge. We chose an area between where we planted the river birch and witch hazel and the driveway.  This site is in a direct line of sight from our three-season room seen in the photo above and will be a focus area for the challenge as we move forward with other plantings and locations. We have a number of seedlings to plant, and we are approaching the last frost date. Our next post will discuss planning and planting. 

Stopping the Spread?

 

In an earlier post, I suggested that we might plant the three spicebush, Lindera benzoin, seedlings or starts in the south knotweed expanse, near the new river birch. Instead we chose to put them in the area between the woods and our back yard native garden and lawn to the west of our house. This area has been infiltrated by the knotweed, but apparently fairly recently without totally taking it over. 

It is a wet area that should be a good location for the spicebush. Earlier this week, my wife dug out a number of knotweed shoots that had popped up, and on Wednesday we planted the three seedlings. The mature spicebush are thought to be fairly unattractive to deer, but since they are so small we built small cages for them from the end of a roll of coated wire fencing. We planted them about six feet apart in a wide "V" shape. This area already has a number of prolific ostrich ferns, Matteucci struthiopteris.

We are hoping that the spicebush grow successfully and quickly in order to combine with the ferns to counter the return of the knotweed. Both the spicebush and the ferns prefer the kind of partly shady and wet environment found in this location. The spicebush is a pretty multi-season shrub with flowers in the spring, vibrant yellow fall leaves, and red berries (or drupes) on the female plants if a male plant is nearby to pollinate. We won't know for a while if we have both male and female plants, but we can always plant additional ones if these three are only one sex. 

In addition to the berries being attractive to birds, Lindera benzoin is the host plant to the spicebush swallowtail butterfly, Papilio troilus. So, while not a keystone plant, the spicebush is a specialist host plant. Diving into iNaturalist, Papilio troilus have been observed nearby, so if these young spicebush thrive, we will be helping these butterflies too. Here is an interesting video about Specialist Host Plants and the bees, butterflies, and moths that need them. 

For this year, our biggest task is not to focus on specialist pollinators, but to revegetate towards managing the knotweed expanse at the southern end of our property. This tray with our order arrived via Fed Ex yesterday from Pollen Nation with 25 plugs. The tray has ten mountain mint, five common sneezeweed, five cutleaf coneflower, and five New England aster. Some of these are keystone plants, and developing a plan or design concept incorporating these along with my wife's seedlings and her ordered plants is our next task.