Confluence Habitats

A garden renovation in process, and a great example of why ongoing maintenance is so important! This client had a large garden installed several years ago (by another contractor), composed of a diverse selection of Missouri natives that has mostly filled in nicely, and is certainly providing abundant resources for wildlife. However there are unexpected site conditions, namely a large amount of water flowing both above and below ground, that have caused a large swath of intended plants to die out and be replaced by spontaneous vegetation which is mostly undesirable. Much of the garden also now has a ground layer of Bermuda Grass and White Clover, which would be extremely difficult to remove without starting over. Some of the more vigorous reproducers, namely Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), have also spread widely through the garden.
The client reached out to us this spring, and we came up with a plan to preserve and encourage the successful and wanted plants, while weakening the Bermuda and clover before adding some big and tall plants suited to wet conditions that will hopefully be able to shade out the ground layer of weeds. We will also be thinning some of the more vigorous wanted species.
Planting is the first step, but gardens are made through gardening!

Happy Pollinator Week! To all of our clients who spend their time and money creating habitat for our seriously declining insect population, thank you!!
While we utilize primarily native plants for many reasons, their relationship with insects is a major motivation. While insects can collect nectar and pollen from all different kinds of plants (with varying degrees of nutritiousness) including those that are non-native, many insects in their larval stage can only eat the leaves of very specific plants. Famously, Monarch butterfly caterpillars can only eat the leaves of Milkweed species. There are many other relationships like these, such as Zebra Swallowtails and Paw Paw leaves, Spicebush Swallowtails and Spicebush and Sassafras leaves, etc.
Native trees play a huge role in providing food for insects, with their large amount of leaves to feed hungry caterpillars. And for bird lovers, know that as infants, many birds need a huge amount of protein, often in the form of hundreds of caterpillars a day!
Ecosystems are complicated and while we are not able to make up for the immense amount of habitat loss, we can see the results of gardening with native plants in the lively gardens we build and maintain.

Our latest rain garden installation! After having her sewer lateral replaced, this customer was required by the city to disconnect her downspout from the sewer. This is an effort to reduce storm water overwhelming our aging sewer system.
Not wanting a soggy yard, she turned to us to design and install a custom rain garden — complete with a buried downspout for a clean look.
Planted:
Aronia melanocarpa — Black Chokeberry
Chelone obliqua — Rose Turtlehead
Geranium maculatum — Wild Geranium
Lobelia cardinalis — Cardinal Flower
Packera Aurea — Golden Groundsel
Heuchera Richardsonii —Prairie alumroot
Carex Albicans— Oak Sedge
Carex Annectens—yellow fox sedge