Small Space Gardening

garden life in vibrant color, goldfinch on spent black eyed susan, insect damage, bee on flower

How to Know If Your Native Plants Are Happy

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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bee drunk inside bergamot flower

Why Native Bees Are the Garden’s Most Important Pollinators

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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relaxing in an established native garden

What Is The Best Formula For Watering Native Plants

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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native landscape design diagram

Best Native Shrubs for Privacy and Wildlife

Best Native Shrubs for Privacy and Wildlife Beautiful Native Shrubs That Create Habitat, Structure, and Year-Round Interest When most people think about creating privacy in their landscape, they immediately picture a row of evergreen shrubs. It’s understandable. Evergreens have long been the traditional solution for screening views and defining property lines. But what if privacy

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hands working in the garden soil

Do You Really Need Fertilizer? A Michigan Perspective

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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charming suburban garden in bloom

Creating a Beautiful Native Garden with Layers

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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eastern bluebird feeding fledgling

The Best Native Plants for Attracting Birds in Michigan

The Best Native Plants for Attracting Birds in Michigan There’s something deeply comforting about a garden filled with birdsong. A goldfinch balancing on a swaying seed head. A chickadee darting through the shrubs. Cardinals glowing against soft summer greenery. When native Michigan plants are thoughtfully woven into the landscape, gardens begin to feel more alive

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Small native Michigan garden featuring prairie dropseed, alumroot, and pollinator-friendly flowers.

The Best Native Michigan Plants for Small Spaces

The Best Native Michigan Plants for Small Spaces One of the biggest misconceptions about native gardening is that you need a large property to make a meaningful difference. But even the smallest garden spaces can become beautiful, peaceful habitats filled with pollinators, birds, butterflies, and seasonal color. A small front bed.A narrow side yard.A sunny

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