Native plants are those that have existed within a region for thousands of years; the plants that were naturally occurring before colonization. Native landscaping uses native plants, which are better for the environment, in place of typical garden center plants. Ecoscaping is term that I like to use to describe what we do. Our goal is to create environmentally-friendly spaces that work with nature and take a more hands-off approach to let nature do what nature does, rather than overly controlling it.

Native landscaping uses plants that are native to an area. Using native plants supports important wildlife like pollinators and birds by giving them food and shelter. Traditional ornamental plants from other countries typically do not support wildlife the way that native plants do. Traditional landscapes are very controlled, manicured, typically using pesticides and fertilizer that do more harm than good. Traditional landscapes offer no shelter and little to no food for wildlife. Native landscaping tends to have a slightly more hands-off approach, like leaving flower stems standing during the winter as a home for cavity nesting bees, using natural fertilizers like leaf compost, and keeping all materials like leaves on the property they came from to create a closed-loop system which supports sustainability.

No. Most yards are full of invasive plants and turf grass. Letting a yard go wild, or just not mowing it, and letting letting weeds show up in your garden beds, would mean letting invasive plants grow and spread. More times than not, you cannot let an area "go wild" anymore, because invasive plants will just take over, and there will be few to no native plants. That is why it's important to consult a native landscaper before letting your yard grow on its own.

Native landscaping is a term used to describe the action of using native plants within a landscape. Native plants can be used for all types of landscapes, even formal ones! Native landscaping does not automatically mean it has a wild look to it. There are native plant options to fit most needs!

For a native garden to look finished completely depends on the method of gardening itself.

Typically, if we install plants one year, by the second year the garden will be fully grown in. However, each year plants will fill in even more as we allow them to reseed within the space, which cuts down on weed pressure.

For new gardens, keeping up on watering and weeding is crucial. We often use plugs which are very small plants and they can dry out very easily until established. Gardens that don't get the care they need the first season typically take longer to look "complete" because plants die off and need to be replaced.

For something like a native meadow sown by seed, it could take up to 3 years for the meadow to really take off.

Native gardens require less maintenance than traditional gardens because of the more hands-off approach. The goal of our gardens is to create a very full space with little to no bare mulch. This cuts down significantly on weed pressure. However, weeds do happen, especially in new gardens, so keeping an eye on them, especially in the first few years, is crucial.

Mulch is important for new gardens because it keeps weeds down. We use undyed leaf mulch that has no chemicals added. Once gardens are filled in less and less mulch is required.

Native plants do not need added synthetic fertilizers. Occasionally leaf compost is needed but that is not always the case.

Native plants do not need supplemental watering when planted in the right place. Once established, you don't have to worry about watering them. They are very resilient!

Native landscapes are intended to be beautiful for humans, but also act as a home for wildlife. We encourage leaving plants standing all winter and only doing a late spring clean up. This is less work for you and better for the birds and the bees!

Watering a new native garden is crucial. We often use smaller plants called plugs for our gardens. They can dry out very quickly until their roots are established, which can take 4+ weeks. After a garden is established, watering should be little to none.

We do not recommend using fertilizers on native plants. Native plants are adapted to our soil and don't require additional nutrients. The only fertilizer we use is compost which can be helpful when dealing with very dry soil but is not necessary for every job.

We do not recommend using pesticides in home gardens. We promote hand-pulling or use of weeding tools.

Our modern world is greatly lacking in habitat. Native landscapes are meant to be a refuge for wildlife.

Any plant can attract mosquitos because they rest in cool, shady spots. But, native gardens help decrease mosquito populations because they support the wildlife that eat mosquitoes, such as birds and bats.

Depending on what wildlife you have nearby, it is possible for any type of garden to be a refuge for all kinds of animals, even snakes. We see that as a beautiful thing!

Yes! For gardens that must be kept short and tidy, there are many native plant options that can be used.

We grow many native plants ourselves at our property in Bucks County. We use them on our projects and sell them at local farmer's markets. We also support many different local native wholesale and retail growers.

We do not use pesticides in home gardens. We either hand-pull or use manual tools.

We only use pesticides on large-scale jobs such as meadows where invasive plants are present or invasive plant removal projects. In these cases, we use ecologists who have lots of experience with this practice & who we trust to do applications responsibly.