| MAKING
A NATURESCAPE PLAN
To avoid confusion, second guessing and
simply stated, headaches, a plan
is a cherished item. It is perhaps the single most important
item in your naturescaping effort. While a written plan
is best, you may be able to get by with a "mental" plan,
depending on how your mind works.
On this page, we present one method of
achieving a naturescaping plan, ie, deciding what to
plant where. On the Examples
page below, we present a few plan examples and some
photographs. Our goal here is to present enough information
to permit you to make a modest plan. It should be recognized
that there are many considerations involved in making
a plan and you may want the assistance of a landscape
design professional - a list of which is provided in
our Landscape Professionals
Directory. So... let us dive in.
On the previous page, you were introduced
to the idea of "outdoor living space"
and you made a baseline plan.
The baseline plan indicated the various areas of your
yard (based on use), how to get from one area to another,
and which areas would be naturescaped. On this page,
we will address "making a plan" for the latter
- the areas you've decided to naturescape. We will provide
a three step approach
and follow that with other
considerations.
In general, a plan will show the type
of plants to be planted and where they are to be planted.
A plan may also indicate the relative size of each plant,
particularly the large ones. For smaller "herbaceous"
plants, there may not be sufficient space to indicate
each plant. In this case, one may make some other notation
that suggests the general placement, species and quantity.
To begin the process of arranging the
plants for your plan, we suggest that you first obtain
(or create) a list of common native plants - by "common"
we mean not rare and generally available. (Note
that you can add fancier or less common plants later
to embellish your landscape, but for now we are trying
to keep things simple.) It is often beneficial to categorize
the plants on your list by sun or shade (if this had
not been done already) and by any other appropriate
categorization, for example, wet soil or dry soil, etc.
Using a field guide of local plants, or visiting a local
native plant nursery or simply entering a plant name
in Google, should enable you to determine the growth
conditions and growth characteristics of any plant.
Three Step Approach
To create your naturescape
plan, the goal of this page!!, we recommend
that with your baseline plan and your local
plant list in hand, you step through the following
for each area you would like
to naturescape.
- Select and place your tree
or trees first (because trees are the
largest component and may influence conditions for
plants growing under them). Note that it is often
desirable to plant trees in clusters as this is how
they often occur in nature (some species more than
others).
- Next select shrubs
that provide the characteristics (habitat, color,
food, etc.) you desire and that correspond with the
trees with which they are planted (for example, shade
tolerant if being planted in the shade). It may be
desirable to select and place the shrubs such that
they provide a continuum or other desired relationship
between your trees or other plants.
While it may at first be tempting to try the museum
approach (one of this and one of that), we recommend
planting shrubs in small groups of 2-4 depending on
the shrub, and maybe overlapping one group with the
rest. This more closely approximates how they are found
in nature, and this will likely look more natural. Not
only mght this look be more desirable but it leads to
less maintenance as discussed below.
- Then select herbaceous
plants to fill in the spaces between
the trees and shrubs. Your herbaceous plants - perennials
and annuals - are smaller, non-woody plants. Many
go dormant in summer droughts and in the winter. Some
areas may be left as lawn or covered with leaves,
straw or grass clippings, etc. Note also that over
time, plants will grow into one another.
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Other
Design Considerations
Other considerations in designing a naturescape
include:
- Sunlight/Shade. Notice the path of the sun relative
to your building. By leaving your building "exposed"
to the sun you can achieve passive solar heating.
An appropriately placed tree, on the other hand, can
significantly lower an air conditioning bill or simply
provide a deliciously cooler summertime house. A deciduous
tree permits passive solar heating in the winter and
cooling, energy saving shade in the summer.
- Culling. If one or two trees of
a certain species are desired in a mature naturescape,
it may be desirable to plant several trees of that
species initially and selectively remove trees as
they grow out. See the photo that shows several young
hemlocks growing next to one another. Only one or
two will ultimately survive. We can implement and
manage the same process. By doing this, we can cover
the amount of ground that the mature ttrees will cover,
and don't have to worry about weeding or other maintenance
concerns in that area. When one of the small tress
looks particularly stressed, we remove it.
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- Stormwater. Reducing storm
water run-off from your property can significantly
benefit human health as well as the health of
the ecosystem. This can be done by the creation
of on-site bioswales or other moisture-absorbing
or distributing features. Bioswales can be arranged
to accommodate water from disconnected gutters
or other sources. Note that if a bioswale is
implemented, it should be located at least ten
feet from the foundation of a house or like
structure with a basement and at least six feet
if there is no basement. The creation of a bioswale,
essentially a depression that collects some
water, also permits the incorporation of a greater
diversity of plants (rushes, spireas, shrub
dogwoods, etc.), thereby fostering varied "looks"
on your property and "habitat diversity." For
more information on bioswales, please see our
Special Considerations
page below.
Increasing the amount of organic material on
or in your soil also helps reduce stormwater
run-off because this material acts like a big
sponge. This is perhaps best done by applying
leaf mulch or like substance. Leaf mulch is
discussed in the site preparation step which
is next.
- Other Thoughts. There are
many other thoughts or factors that one might
consideration in landscape design and plant
selection. These include placing out colored
landscaping flags, with different colors representing
different plants, to get a visual feel for a
proposed layout (see photo); selecting the same
or similar plants for opposite sides of a walkway
to give the feel of walking "through" a landspace,
i.e., a "gr___," as opposed to dividing
it; making any grade adjustments, include those
that compensate for added soil height due to
any added organic material; and either creating
a "view-shed" or blocking unwanted
views. See our hedge section on the Special
Considerations page for hedge plant suggestions.
- Have fun! It is a wonderful,
creative, dynamic, topical and interesting thing
that you are doing. Have fun with it. It is
not traditional landscaping, so when it does
not look like traditional landscaping, don't
worry. And, perhaps most of all, don't take
it too seriously. Be dynamic - live and grow
- just like your landscape!
PN
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