Images of meadows of summer flowers, phlox-filled woodlands, and delicate trilliums bring cheer to any gardener in the dead of winter. A webinar by C. Colston Burrell recently offered viewers just those images and many more.

Titled “Nature as Gardener: Working with Natural Process for Beauty and Reduced Maintenance,” the webinar was held on February 11. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS), it is one in a series programs being held this winter and spring. They are open to the public and PHS members for a fee.        

      

Burrell, a garden designer, has a multi-faceted career that includes being a lecturer, photographer, and author. His publications include A Gardener’s Encyclopedia of Wildflowers and Perennial Combinations. His design and garden maintenance business is called Native Landscape Design and Restoration.He has worked as curator at the U.S. National Arboretum and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. He currently resides in Virginia.

In his webinar, Burrell discusses using native and site-adapted plants to create beautiful gardens that require less time and money to maintain.

By “using layering, underplanting, free-seeding perennials, and annuals, and a little benign neglect,” says Burrell, “you can reduce the amount of time spent working in your garden.” He urges gardeners to work with Mother Nature by “augmenting and editing.” Avoid major overhauls unless it is unavoidable. Even removing weeds can disturb soil leading to more weeds.

Knit plants together in a bed, and mix different plants in the same bed, says Burrell. His photos of meadows show how he has accomplished this with a variety of perennials. The potential combinations are endless as shown by this garden of trilliums.

In woods, like shown in his photo of a garden at Mt. Cuba Research Center in Delaware, one sees the impact of vertical stratification. Plants grow in layers. Tall trees tower over a blooming dogwood, an understory tree, with shrubs and perennials growing beneath them.

Burrell discusses how the components of ecosystems–organism, populations, and community—are related. Healthy ecosystems are resilient, says Burrell, and can resist drastic swings in temperature and moisture. For ecosystems to be healthy, all its components need to be healthy as well. A point to remember when building one’s garden, gardening in woodlands, or caring for our forests.

Nature plays a role in the life of all plant communities. Nothing is static. Due to the role of succession, changes occur in cumulative, directional, and predictable ways, says Burrell. One well documented example is the transformation of grassy fields or meadows to brush, then trees, and finally forest.

A young plant community does not have vertical layers of plants. It is homogenous in diversity, age, and soil. The community becomes stratified over time and gains species diversity. Communities become heterogeneous in species, diversity, and soil as they age.

Starting a New Garden

Begin with a soil test. You want to choose the right plants for your soil to reduce the need for amending it to meet the needs of the plant. Slightly acidic soil, like found in the Piedmont region, supports many native plants. Native azaleas; hollies and other evergreens; and trees such as oaks and hickories thrive in the soil of this region.

When starting a garden where the soil is depauperate, turn compost and Plant Tone into the ground as deeply as you can, then add another layer of compost before planting. Around existing trees, you can lightly augment the soil in the planting area without disturbing the roots.

In woodland areas, you can add 4-5 inches of compost over the roots of tree and grow plants there, says Burrell. Be sure to keep compost or mulch 4-5 inches from the base of a young tree and 8-10 inches from the base of a mature tree. Leaving compost or mulch next to the base of a tree can lead to serious problems.

When designing a garden, create a matrix of native plants from low-growing ground cover, to medium-sized plants, to tall ones, says Burrell. Add some seasonal pizzazz too, he suggests.

To create a beautiful garden quickly, Burrell recommends planting a plug tray of blue phlox instead of annuals. The phlox will fill in the garden while other perennials are growing. The result: a stunning sea of blue.

For more information about layered gardens, Burrell recommends Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West.

Gardeners should avoid, (or at least minimize) the use of pesticides. (Never use them when flowers are in bloom.)

“Picture-perfect plant combinations make for beautiful gardens yet keeping every plant in its place is a lot of work,” Burrell comments about his lecture. “If you grow native and site-adapted plants, and long to lower your maintenance time and budget, this is [the method] for you.”

Anyone seeking further inspiration for a less manicured vision of gardens should explore The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition by William Robinson ((1838-1935), and Rick Darke. First published in 1870 by Robinson, and republished in 2009, it presents the world with a new image of gardens.

“You have to decide how much chaos you want,” Burrell says and how big a role nature will play.