I hired a landscape designer and he delivered this #LandscapeDesign. It looks good, but somehow communication broke down and they included a lot of non-native plants when I thought I was clear I wanted native plants. If they include obvious introduced plants, how can I trust they'll source plants that meet my less visible criteria, like straight species / open pollinated & local ecotype? So I guess I have to modify and implement it myself, based on what native plants I can source.
@skyfaller When you say native do you mean to your area of PA, to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast? Eastern half of North America? People use this term to mean different things.
I agree that if you want straight species and local ecotypes you’ll probably have to get them yourself. I would trust very few people to understand those concepts well enough to do what you want. People think they know what you mean but the idea in their heads is different from yours.
@skyfaller I keep thinking about this. Native plants are a passion of mine. If I may recommend, consider planting some kind of Joe Pye weed somewhere. Such a tall pollinator-friendly plant to have around. Butterflies love it.
Planning to buy one of every perennial he has. For shrubs I'm planning to get Aronia melanocarpa var. depressa, Vaccinium corymbosum, Rubus occidentalis. I might use Cornus sericea for my yard tree, but I'm not sure how tree-like it is.
By native I mean native to eastern half of North America, and by local ecotype I mean as specific to Philly as possible.
@skyfaller Did you ask them to create an edible landscape? Because that's what stands out to me about the choices.
It may be they thought "natives except for edibles, which for most of us are non-native species".
In any case, to create an equivalent edible landscape with natives, you'll need to research not just their needs (so they can be grouped together by similar needs), but also which complement one another, and bring in what kind of pollinators/pests, etc.
@meganL Yeah I did say my dream was a permaculture forest, but (a) I was explicit that serving the wildlife was top priority, food for myself was second, and (b) I talked at great length about my ideas for native edibles, including ordering seeds for native edibles from the Experimental Farm Network. Like, good luck stopping me once I start info dumping. It felt like they must have tuned me out at some point.
Thank you for mentioning researching plant needs/synergies! Any sources you'd suggest?
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