The Modern Gardener's Dilemma with Guest Christina Musgrave

The Modern Gardener's Dilemma Turning Big Garden Plans into Small Actionable ProjectsEpisode IntroductionIn today’s episode, The Modern Gardener's Dilemma, I chat with my friend and garden designer Christina Musgrave on how the average person can fight overwhelm and tackle their garden projects with a dose of reason. Host Stephanie BarelmanStephanie Barelman is the founder of the Bellevue Native Plant Society, a midwest motivational speaker surrounding the native plants dialogue, and host of the Plant Native Nebraska Podcast.Guest Christina Musgrave Christina Musgrave has spent most of her life as an artist specializing in watercolor and printmaking. During COVID, Christina felt a strong desire to begin her garden journey and fell in love. After discovering the myriad benefits of native gardening, she changed her focus to converting her suburban lawn into pollinator habitat. As much as she enjoys gardening for herself, Christina felt a deep desire to assist others with their gardens as well as educate the necessity of pollinators to the environment. She has since returned to school to become a certified landscape designer and has started her own business, Kingsfoil Gardens. Christina now uses her background in art and love of gardening to bring joy and appreciation for the native landscape. Thanks so much for joining us Christina! Episode Sponsors.Listen, Rate, and Subscribe!Get some merch! https://plant-native-nebraska.myspreadshop.com/Find us on FacebookVisit our homepage https://plant-native-nebraska.captivate.fmGive us a review on Podchaser! www.podchaser.com/PlantNativeNebraskaSupport My Work via PatreonThe Plant Native Nebraska podcast can be found on the podcast app of your choice.Episode ContentTRIGGER WARNING: We occasionally discuss plants with a more eastern or western range. But we make a point to only discuss midwestern U.S. plants. Always check BONAP or other range maps to determine the best estimates of historical nativity. Kingsfoil Gardens Visit Christina's website and learn more about her work and business at www.kingsfoilgardens.com What Most Gardeners Would Do Differently Plan first, tackle projects in small steps, and remember creating excellence takes time. Cool GardenersMonty Don, UK gardener: not US native-plant focused, but has solid gardening knowledge and techniques Piet Oudolf, dutch designer that does favor quite a few native plants: very artistic naturalistic landscapes, Kelly Norris, garden designer and author from Iowa: visually stunning native plant-forward landscapes How to Start Planning Your Landscape Make a list of what kinds of spaces you wantLook at your existing landscape How A Designer Might Plan BASICS: Get an aerial view of the house via GIS system, Google Earth; check sun tracker apps; make a base map with measurements of everything possible; check window perspectives (from the house to the landscape;) check street or sidewalk perspectives; and GET UTILITIES MARKED! FLESHING IT OUT: consider hardscape, paths, seating areas, etc. first! After you have considered the locations of those in your design, a designer may start with trees and shrubs and then work down to perennials and even annuals to hold the space until bigger plants mature GET YOUR SOIL TESTED!https://midwestlabs.com/Traditional Garden Design TouchstonesConsider:Scale: Go out and measure, take out some grid paper and play around with stencils, maybe invest in some clear rulers Balance: Taper plant sizes so that you don't have height discrepancies. There are always exceptions to every rule but it's good to put similar height plants together and back larger ones to the back of the border and place shorter plants up front Repetition (good for aesthetic cohesion)Visual Abundance: Mixing Different Plants (mixing different colors, textures, and bloom times)Shapes- Curvilinear or Rectilinear, which ideally is matched to existing landscapingMulti-Seasonal Interest (again, the different bloom times)Habitat ValueNative Annuals to Use as Fillers While Your Plants Mature Plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)Lemon bee balm (Monarda citriodora)Rocky Mountain bee plant (Peritoma serrulata) Clasping coneflower (Dracopis amplexicaulis)Christina and Steph's Favorite Plants to Plant "En Masse"Wild StrawberrySwitchgrass Prairie Smoke Penstemon sp.AstersShrubby St. John's Wort Visualize garden spaces as rooms It helps! Trust us. Christina's Favorite Plants for Texture Liatris Eryngium Yarrow Christina's Favorite Plant Pairings Mt. Mint X CoreopsisPussytoes X Plains Oval Sedge Smaller Liatris sp. X Sedges Garden Transitions Think gates, arbors, hedges, walls, doorways, negative space, etc. Negative Space: What's That A place for your eye to rest, negative space can be comprised of turfghass (could be native turf,) balancing smooth texture against rough texture, a color monoculture, hardscaping or fencing vs. plants.\Christina's 7 Herbaceous Plants She Can't Live Without Wild StrawberryPrairie Smoke (Regional Native)Bradbury's Bee BalmButterflyweedRattlesnake MasterPrairie Dropseed Plains Oval Sedge If you've read to the end of this, thank you and I hope it has been informative! Additional Content Related to This EpisodeWhat Makes a Plant Native?http://bonap.net/fieldmaps Biota of North America North American Plant Atlas database-select Nebraskahttps://bellevuenativeplants.org Bellevue Native Plant Societynative (wild type) vs. nativar/native cultivar (native plant cultivated by humans for desirable characteristics)Local Plant SuppliersMidwest Natives NurseryGreat Plains NurseryNebraska Statewide ArboretumPrairie Legacy NurseryMulhall'sOnline Plant SuppliersPrairie Moon NurseryPrairie NurseryStock Seed On the WebBONAP aforementionedBellevue Native Plant Society on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/bellevuenativeplantsocietyBooks &amp; AuthorsRick Darke- The Living Landscape Douglas Tallamy- Professor and Chair of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Entomology at the University of Delaware, author of The Living Landscape, Nature's Best Hope, naturalist, and curator of "Homegrown National Park". Enrique Salmon- Iwigara Daniel Moerman -Native American Ethnobotany Heather Holm- https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.comNative Plants of the MidwestPlanting in a Post-Wild WorldJon Farrar's Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska Additional ResourcesNSA at https://www.plantnebraska.org great articles and downloads&nbsp;Xerxes Society- champions of pollinator health&nbsp;Native Plant Finder- https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/Other Local OrganizationsGreen BellevuePATHMilkweed MattersNebraska Native Plant SocietyListen, Rate, and Subscribe!Get some merch! <a...