Join the Garden Tour
We will be touring Donna’s Garden on Saturday, July 20th, 2024 from 10 am to noon. Members are encouraged to bring a friend and to carpool. See all of our upcoming events and register for the address on our Events Calendar.
How It Started
Starting 5 years ago in my new-to-me 100-year-old home, I was persuaded to follow my neighbor’s thrill with his roses. I ripped out hostas across the front yard, rescued a rose from a shady spot, and planted a peony with a few more roses. My lovely non-native gardening neighbor friend gave me divisions of her plants.
How it is Going
Then I discovered native plants and how helpful they are to the ecosystem. I began planting only natives and straight species (after I learned how to tell a cultivar and why to avoid them). Working toward the goal of 70% native plants, I generally try to plant 3 of a plant. This gives a more natural look and have enough for pollinators to spot what they’re looking for readily. I love purple and deep mauve, so you’ll see a lot of that. Yellow’s the complementary color, so you see that too. My 2 dogs can readily wreck a garden by walking over new plants or squirrel chasing. I fenced off a wing of my yard for plants only.
I helped out with the Cornell Cooperative Extension pollinator garden and participated in Master Gardener training. Recently I realized my garden met the criteria for National Wildlife Federation habitat certification and now I’m proud to be certified. And my previously non-native gardener neighbor friend is now trying to plant more native plants.
Adding In
Then there’s The Gate. I’d always hope to have an arbor or arbor/gate and this was the year. On a cold, wet day in March, my son and I assembled subunits of the gate inside and then finished assembly outside. It features a circle, which tends to frame certain elements of the garden. I’d always planned a Florida dogwood and I’ll be planting one soon. From another angle, the gate frames my garden shed, so I added a flower planter there.
The next hardscape addition was a wood chip path this May. After trying many ground cover plants/turf in my shady, dog-pounded backyard, I resigned myself to the fact that plants would never thrive. As my Mother’s Day present this year, I asked my kids to do a work day with me to install a wood chip path. Two kids and the delightful boyfriend of one of my kids had a work party on a hot day in early May. I am thrilled to have the functional and beautiful wood chip path and the dogs like it. I also feel so loved when I look at it or walk on it.
I’m learning to sit in my garden, rather than work all the time. Often I drink my morning coffee as I’m awakening, sitting in a chair near the back door. That’s helped me garden sit at other times, to look, listen, and be in on what’s going on.
I hope you enjoy my garden. I’m so happy to share it and hope it brings you joy! – Donna Lee
Wild Ones
Wild Ones Capital Region New York is a chapter of a national organization promoting the use of native plants in every garden. Membership is a great way to support this mission on both a local and national level. Check out membership.wildones.org for more details including all the great benefits you will receive as a member. Our local chapter works diligently to provide specific information about our local native plants. Even if you are a Wild One’s member, please consider donating directly to our chapter.