Landscaping With Native Plants Goes Mainstream
Without artifice, but full of authentic Mountain style
Shade garden created by Blake Nursery with abundantly
naturalized Aspen (Populus tremuloides), Columbine (Aquilegia), Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum), and Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia). This is truly close to a no-maintenance garden, with the understanding that you are willing to “go with the flow”, i.e. it is always evolving with self sowing of seeds and thus is different from year to year. Photo courtesy Cherie Rutt, Ringo Marketing.
Low maintenance, drought tolerant, occasionally irrigated lawn south of Livingston, Montana created by Blake Nursery using a custom native grass seed mix. Grass species selection was based on soil, water, and elevation conditions. Francis Blake, is the company guru for native grass seeding. Photo courtesy Sandi Blake.
Low-growing, delightful and often overlooked Gumbo Lily, or Gumbo Evening Primrose (Oenothera caespitosa), attracts nocturnal hawk moths for pollination when flowering at sunset. Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen in Montana in July, 1806. This original plant was exhibited at Crazy Mountain Museum in Big Timber during the 2006 bicentennial celebration. Photo courtesy Sandi Blake.
Carefree beauty abounds in the Lewis & Clark Montana Native Plant Garden at Crazy Mountain Museum in Big Timber. This interpretive garden, created in 2004 for the L&C Bicentennial includes many of the plants collected by the explorers, including Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), Silky Lupine (Lupinus sericeus), and Golden Currant (Ribes aureum). Photo courtesy Sandi Blake.
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• Energy efficiency: High energy costs have made people seek alternative ways to landscape their yards. Metered city water is increasingly expensive, as is running an irrigation system to water high-maintenance Kentucky Bluegrass sod. To say nothing of the cost of running a lawn mower on a weekly basis! There are many (not all) native plants and grasses that have low water requirements. Purists may want to stick totally with natives, but to add interest and color to an energy efficient landscape; low water-use native plants are successfully combined with a wealth of non-native, drought tolerant species.
• Sustainable living: There is an increased interest in indigenous horticulture as people appreciate Montana for what it is. To create a landscape that’s harmonious with nature they realize the value of letting nature be their inspiration and guide. People in Montana are turning to robust, hardy, beautiful natives that speak “Montana.” Call it “green” or “sustainable” if you will, this lately gone mainstream movement seems the right thing to do. The use of native plants in the landscape has also been encouraged by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a design program whose rating system gives Brownie points for the use of drought tolerant plants.
• Time saver: Low-maintenance gardening is increasingly popular. As mentioned above, using water efficient plants (Xeriscaping) will eliminate much watering, mowing and care. (However, this is NOT to say that using native and other drought tolerant plants is synonymous with “no maintenance.” Newly created landscapes in particular need TLC, often in the form of vigilant, regular watering — even the toughest plants have to get rooted to survive. Effortless landscaping can be a goal, but it comes with understanding.)
Native grass lawns are a low-maintenance alternative, and once established require little watering and mowing. Native grass seed mixes are custom made to fit individual sites so they blend in with surrounding grasses.
Hardscaping with the use of boulders and natural patio or wall stones in the landscape is increasingly popular; native plants marry harmoniously with natural rocks and stones.
  
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