Join the Garden Tour
We will be touring Kate’s Garden on Saturday, August 10th, 2024 from 10 am to 12:30 pm. Members are encouraged to bring a friend. Read street signs to park where you won’t get a ticket and please consider carpooling. See all of our upcoming events and register for the address on our Events Calendar.
How it Started
When we bought a fixer upper and moved into Saratoga Springs in 2017, I inherited a rare (for City living) ½ ac yard from a lifelong gardener. It was immediately clear that there were no trees on the property. This allowed the prior owner to have full sun exposure for flower and vegetable gardens.
During COVID and to my surprise, I became a full-blown bird person! Watching and becoming aware of birds and their connection to the world around them. Curiosity and a growing awareness of habitat loss, and necessary food sources (not just feeders). This motivated me to consider the needs of birds, insects and the local ecosystem into plans for our property.
Based off a garden designer friend’s design, the front yard reflects a semi-formal style. Keeping well defined beds as hopefully a selling point to neighbors for growing native gardens of their own. Some areas have been left alone to be able to reveal their natural characteristics. Plants like pokeweed, sumac, goldenrod, and grey dogwood have popped up and been left to do their thing.
How it’s Going
As my husband Jared and I have settled into our home and surroundings, we’ve made a slow transformation. From non-native ornamental shrubs and flowers to intentional creation of beds, planting of native trees, shrubs, and plants, and gradual reduction of lawn to more natural areas. An ongoing huge effort has been removing the non-native, invasive species- oriental bittersweet and honeysuckle have been a particular challenge.
The rewards are around us as Catbirds, bluebirds, cardinals, robins, sparrows, house finches have all been nesting on the property. Opossums, groundhogs, and rabbits (so many rabbits :/) have all made the yard their home at some point over the last 7 years. Bumblebees amass in huge numbers in an annual spectacle in Spring and nest in the shed. Other insect species seem to increase every year. Fireflies have returned to the yard since we started leaving areas alone with leaf litter.
I love the feeling in native gardening that you’re always learning through doing. With the large beds created and planted in spring 2023, there have been moments of joy- wow look at all the hummingbirds on the beebalm!- and challenges- oh the rabbits ate all the asters, milkweed and coneflowers. I sit out and watch nature tv with my coffee every morning and continue to plot new ideas for the garden.
I look forward to sharing my garden with you and am open to your ideas and thoughts!
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.