Tag Archive for: Native Plants

10 Native Plants Perfect for Your Southeastern Wisconsin Landscape

Integrating native plants into your residential landscape offers a myriad of benefits beyond mere aesthetics. Native plants are naturally adapted to the local environment, requiring less water, fertilizer, and pesticides, which translates to lower maintenance and reduced costs. Their deep root systems help prevent soil erosion and promote water infiltration, contributing to healthier soil and improved drainage.

Native plants also provide crucial habitat and food sources for local wildlife, fostering biodiversity and supporting pollinators like bees and butterflies. By choosing native plants, you not only create a beautiful and sustainable landscape but also play a vital role in preserving the natural heritage of our region.

Let’s explore 10 native beauties that are sure to elevate your outdoor space.

  1. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea): A classic favorite, this striking perennial boasts vibrant purple blooms that attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, adding life and color to your garden beds.
  2. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum): Delicate pink flowers give way to wispy seed heads resembling plumes of smoke, making this plant a unique and eye-catching addition to any landscape.
  3. Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa): Also known as bee balm, this aromatic herb produces clusters of lavender-pink flowers that not only smell delightful but also attract a myriad of pollinators, including hummingbirds. Be sure to plant this where it can spread!
  4. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta): With its cheerful golden-yellow petals and dark centers, the black-eyed Susan adds a pop of sunshine to gardens and provides food for birds and butterflies. This plant is best for a wild garden as it reproduces by seeding and each year will come up in a new place.
  5. New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae): Fall wouldn’t be complete without the splash of purple, pink, or blue provided by the New England aster. These late-blooming beauties are essential for sustaining pollinators as summer transitions to autumn.
  6. Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis): Elegant red and yellow flowers with distinctive spurred petals grace this native perennial, attracting hummingbirds and adding a touch of grace to shady spots. Like other natives, this plant likes to grow from seed and will move around your garden, popping up in the most unusual places.  It’s a wonderful surprise each spring to see where you’ll find them.
  7. Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum): As its name suggests, boneset was historically used for medicinal purposes, but today it’s valued for its clusters of white flowers that brighten up moist areas in your landscape. This is absolutely adored by butterflies.  It does get quite tall but there are shorter cultivars on the market that might be better suited to your space.
  8. Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii): Looking to add some height and texture to your garden? Look no further than big bluestem. This tall, native grass sports attractive blue-green foliage that turns a stunning bronze in the fall.
  9. Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica): Bring a touch of woodland magic to your garden with the delicate pink buds that unfurl into clusters of sky-blue flowers in the spring, creating a captivating carpet of color. These do go dormant in the summer so interplant them with another native to fill the space once summer rolls around.
  10. Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense): Perfect for shaded areas, wild ginger’s heart-shaped leaves and unusual maroon flowers add a subtle elegance to woodland gardens, all while providing habitat for native wildlife.

By incorporating these native plants into your landscape, not only will you enhance the beauty of your outdoor space, but you’ll also support the local ecosystem and reduce the need for excessive maintenance and watering.

So, why not go native and create a sustainable haven right in your own backyard? Our landscape designers are experts at creating beautiful and sustainable landscapes and can help you incorporate native plants into your landscape. Give us a call at (262)252-4260 or complete a contact form to get started.

2023 Landscaping Trends

We’re taking a look at what we expect to be the top  FIVE 2023 landscaping trends. Before you know it the growing season and hardscape construction season will be running full steam ahead and we want you to be on top of all the exciting landscaping happenings!

1)  Blurring the Line Between Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

Indoor and Outdoor Landscaping Spaces

The trend of creating fully-functional outdoor spaces is not new, but continues to explode in popularity. In 2023, we will see even more homeowners incorporating outdoor kitchens, grills, bars, sinks and refrigerators.  Interest in built-in patio planters to hold kitchen and herb gardens is also on the rise.  Providing shade through pergolas and extending the outdoor season through fire pits and other heating elements will be a landscaping goal for many this year.

2) Outdoor Lighting

Path lighting for safety, bistro lights for character, up-lighting for aesthetics…the choices of how you can use lighting in your landscape are endless. With new technology comes new products. LED fixtures and bulbs allow for an array of colors at your fingertips.  Bluetooth allows you to control it all with your phone.  Innovative new outdoor lighting designs and lights embedded into pavers and seat walls are cutting-edge and something you will see a lot of in 2023.

3) Rain Gardens

Rain Garden Installation

As development continues to expand and houses are built closer together, green space naturally shrinks. That means it is more important (and necessary!) than ever to find places for the rainwater to go. Rain gardens provide an attractive way to minimize that problem. You can read about the rain garden we installed at a commercial property in Delafield, Wisconsin.

4) Native Plants for Wildlife

It’s a hot and necessary trend to provide welcoming and nurturing environments for birds and pollinators. Incorporating native plants and native cultivars into the landscape can reap huge rewards for the homeowner and the environment. Ornamental grasses and perennial seeds can increase the number of birds coming to the yard and designing eco-friendly landscapes is a growing request of our clients.  From full, certified monarch waystations to creating a special bed or area in the yard dedicated to bees, butterflies and birds, you have many choices in how to encourage more wildlife through your landscape planning.

5) Low Maintenance Landscaping

Most people with their busy lifestyles are not hardcore gardeners that enjoy spending hours each week maintaining their yard. Newer varieties of old favorites are now on the market that stay smaller (less pruning) and still bring impact to your yard. While all yards require some maintenance to keep up a polished appearance, a good landscape designer can help you create a plan that reduces the number of hours you spend working on your yard.

Landscaping Professionals

Landscaping Professionals

Our team has experience in executing all of these five landscaping trends. If you are ready to get started dreaming of your own landscaping project, now is the perfect time to work with our designers. Get your planning done now, so you can hit the ground running when the Wisconsin snow is gone and sunny days re-appear! Contact us here.