Natural Landscaping

Why surround yourself with a monoculture of Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass)? The web offers a great deal of information on landscaping using native plants. The links below reflect my Midwestern (Wisconsin) bias.

News and Events

Events in the midwest.
Calender for the Wild Ones.
see also the volunteer page; you can learn a lot working on a restoration project.

The Wild Ones is a national organization devoted to natural landscaping, and probably the best place to start. Much of the information on this page can be found there. They have chapters in Wisconsin. Related organizations are listed here.

Here are some sites with instructions on starting and maintaining your own prairie.

The Wild Ones Handbook is brought to you by the EPA.
'Paradise Now' guide . to native landscaping.
Grand Prairie friends in neighboring Illinois.
Even more information from Grand Prairie friends.
Native Prairie Management Guide from a guy in Iowa.
Research on restoration at Ohio State University .
A forum for discussion of prairie gardening.

Note that antiquated weed laws are a problem in some areas.
If you want fauna to go with your flora, The National Wildlife Foundation has a Backyard Wildlife Habitat program.
USDA links on Native Plant gardening.
Readings for a course on restoration. Mostly from Restoration and Management Notes, and other scientific journals.
Flora of Wisconsin
Manual of Controle (DNR), because weeds are always a problem.

Books

Books , recommended by Wild Ones of Ann Arbor, MI.
Books recommended by Prairie Nursery
Books recommended by the Prairie Enthusiasts.

Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora: Theodore S. Cochrane, Hugh H. Iltis; Technical Bulletin No. 191, Department of Natural Resources, Madison, WI; 341 species of native plants showing their distribution in the state. An essential reference for the native plant geek.



Gardening with Native Wild Flowers: Samuel B. Jones, Jr. and Leonard E. Foot,; (Timber Press, Portland - 1990); This handy book covers all the basics on planning and planting a wild flower garden It has much of the same information as some of the ones below, but its listed first because its the one I own. It includes a list of commercial sources for native plants.
Native perennials : North American beauties: Nancy Beaubaire, guest editor.; Handbook #146, (Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Spring 1996); This small handbook is one of a series, the BBG Gardening Guides.
The Natural lawn & alternatives: Margaret Roach, guest editor; handboodk #136, vol. 49, no. 3 (Brooklyn Botanic Garden, - August 1993); Another in the series. This one covers varieties of grasses, sedges, and groundcovers, and how to grow healthy lawns without pesticides.
Natural Landscaping - Designing with Native Plant Communities: John Diekelmann, Robert Schuster; ill. Renee Graef; (McGraw-Hill - 1982); Very detailed discussion of site design; an emphasis on natural plant communities, with chapters discussing the communities for different geographical regions.
An Introduction to Naturalized Landscapes: John Diekelmann and Cathie Bruner.; (City of Madison, 1988.); The subtitle is 'A guide to Madison's Natural Lawn Ordinance.', but the legal issues is only part of it. Good basics on site design, problems with pests, etc. I'm assuming this ordinance is still in effect.
Our native plants : plants of Dane County and where to find them: Victoria Nuzzo; (The Capital Times, 1977.); A good introduction to many of the common native plants in our area.
A Guide to Selecting Landscape Plants for Wisconsin: E. R. Hasselkus; #A2865 (University of Wisconsin Extenstion - 1997); The UW-Extension office has number of helpful publications; you can order them (and preview them!) from their website:; http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pubs/; Another good one is 'Prairie Primer', (#G2736) by Stan Nichols, Lynn Entine, Evelyn Howell.
Requiem for a Lawnmower: Sally Wasowski with Andy Wasowski; (Taylor, TX - 1992); The author's enthusiasm makes this a fun read. Although much of the book is focused on native Texas plants, her main idea is very generally applicable: the plants that are native to your are the ones that will grow best there, and require less maintanence.

Nature's Design: Carol A. Smyser; (Rodale, PA - 1982)
The Natural Habitat Garden: Ken Druse, with Margarget Roach; design: B. Peck; ( Clarkson Potter, NY - 1994); Full of beautiful pictures. Visions to inspire anyone.
Not Recommended:
The Woodland Garden: Robert Gilmore; This book does not even address the question of native plants. Lots of pretty pictures though.
Growing Woodland Plants: Clarence and Elenor G. Birdseye.; (Dover, NY - 1951); Like the above, the focus is really more on 'garden' than native, although it encourages native plants. The repeated emphasis on acid soils is almost funny.

Sources

Prairie Nursery: (Westfield, WI)
Prairie Frontier: (Waukesha, WI)
Applied Ecology: (Brodhead, WI)

Edible Forest Nursery: (Madison, WI)

another list
a list of Midwest nurserys that have native plants
another list

Related information

Gardening.