My Front-yard Native Plant Garden Conversion

Originally published in the November/December 2023 issue of the WildFlower News

Text and photos by Kristina Haagsma

Before the conversion, 2022-04.

Editor’s Note: Kristina began her front-yard conversion in April, 2022, by hiring a landscaper to remove the sod. She has been planting native plants ever since, which now make up over 95% of her plantings. Her yard is located in the Donsdale neighbourhood, and gets full sun. Kristina offers the following advice to other gardeners contemplating a similar endeavour…

1. Ask the experts. Members of the Edmonton Native Plant Society and Alberta Native Plants, Trees, and Shrubs Facebook groups can verify whether or not a certain plant is native to Edmonton. Greenhouse employees, while well-meaning, do not typically have expertise in native plants. (I purchased a very pretty variegated ribbon grass, which the greenhouse employee assured me was native to Alberta, only to learn it is non-native and somewhat aggressive.)

After the conversion, 2023-08-11. Native plants include: wild blue flax (Linum lewisii), common bearberry (Arctostaphylus uva-ursi), common tall sunflower (Helianthus nuttallii), rhombic-leaved sunflower (Helianthus pauciflora subsp. subrhomboideus), smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), prairie fleabane (Erigeron strigosus), and slender blue beardtongue (Penstemon procerus)

2. Choose the right suppliers.

Partway through the conversion, 2023-05-24. Native shrubs/forbs on the left include: wolf-willow (Elaeagnus commutata), goldenrod (Solidago sp.), and red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea).

• For flowering plants: Arnica Wildflowers, the Edmonton Native Plant Society, Medieval Manor Gardens, and Wild About Flowers.

• For trees and shrubs: Sunstar Nurseries, Wild About Flowers/Wright Nurseries, and TreeTime.

3. Creating a native plant garden paradise attracts lots of birds, which is wonderful! This comes with responsibility: make your large windows bird-safe using Feather Friendly window decals, or Acopian BirdSavers. Similarly, don’t use herbicides and pesticides.

4. Most importantly: START SMALL. My massive undertaking was time-consuming and overwhelming. To ensure your own sanity, start with smaller beds rather than ripping out all the sod at once.

5. Follow your creativity.

   
   

   

   The boulevard after the conversion, 2023-08-11. Native wildflowers in this area include: prairie sage (Artemesia ludovicana), blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), mouse-eared chickweed (Cerastium arvense), long-stalked chickweed (Stellaria longipes), rosy pussytoes (Antennaria rosea), and small-leaved pussytoes (Antennaria parvifolia). Native grasses include: blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), slender wheatgrass (Elymus trachycaulus), Canada wildrye (Elymus canadensis), and tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa).