How to Design a Four-Season Michigan Garden One of the greatest compliments a garden can receive is this: “There’s always something beautiful to see.” Many gardens burst into color for a few short weeks in spring or summer, only to become quiet and unremarkable during the rest of the year. But a thoughtfully designed native
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The Best Native Plants That Thrive In Clay Soil If you’ve ever tried digging a hole in Michigan clay, you know the feeling. Your shovel hits the ground with a thud. The soil sticks together in heavy clumps after a rain, then hardens like concrete during a dry spell. Water seems to linger in some
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How to Know If Your Native Plants Are Happy Sometimes the healthiest native plants are the ones gardeners worry about most. There’s a moment every gardener experiences. You walk outside with your morning coffee, look over your newly planted native garden, and wonder, “Are my plants doing okay?” Maybe a few leaves are drooping. One
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Why Native Bees Are the Garden’s Most Important Pollinators 🌿 Previously in Nature Notes Issue No. 3 – How to Create a Pollinator Habitat in Michigan In our last Nature Notes, we explored how even a modest garden can become a welcoming habitat for butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects. This month, we’re slowing down for
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What Is the Best Formula for Watering Native Plants? A Simple Guide to Helping Michigan Native Plants Develop Deep, Healthy Roots One of the questions I hear most often is: “How often should I water my native plants?” It’s an understandable question. After all, many gardeners have spent years caring for annual flowers, vegetable gardens,
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Do You Really Need Fertilizer? A Michigan Gardener’s Perspective on Feeding Native Plants Walk into almost any garden center in spring and you’ll find shelves filled with fertilizers promising bigger blooms, faster growth, greener leaves, and healthier plants. It’s easy to assume that fertilizer is simply part of successful gardening. After all, if a little
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Creating a Beautiful Native Garden with Layers How to Add Depth, Structure, and Year-Round Beauty to Your Michigan Landscape Have you ever visited a garden that felt peaceful, balanced, and effortlessly beautiful? Perhaps nothing in particular stood out. There wasn’t one spectacular flower demanding attention. No dramatic focal point. And yet the garden felt complete.
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The Best Native Grasses for Michigan Gardens Beautiful, Low-Maintenance Choices That Add Movement, Texture, and Year-Round Interest When most people imagine a beautiful garden, they think first about flowers. Purple Coneflowers. Black-eyed Susans. Bee Balm. Butterfly Weed. But one of the secrets to creating a truly beautiful, natural-looking Michigan garden isn’t another flower. It’s grass.
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How to Keep Native Plants Healthy During Summer Heat Simple Ways to Help Your Michigan Garden Thrive Through Hot, Dry Weather Summer has finally arrived in Michigan. The days are longer, gardens are bursting with color, pollinators are busy from sunrise to sunset, and everything seems full of life. Then the forecast appears. Several days
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What’s Blooming Across Michigan Right Now A Seasonal Journey Across the Great Lakes State Nature Notes • Educational Series Published June 2026 Before We Begin… Before reading any further, I’d like to invite you to do something. Step outside. Take a slow walk through your yard, your neighborhood, or a nearby park. Listen for birdsong.
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