Gardening with Native Plants
Native species are those that occur naturally in a particular region, without having been introduced by humans. Northern Virginia’s native plants have evolved over millennia to thrive under local conditions and alongside local wildlife. By contrast, non-native plants are adapted to conditions in other parts of the world. They often require more maintenance than native plants, and do not typically support the food and habitat needs of our native wildlife.
This garden is composed of 68% native plants and 32% native cultivars. A native cultivar is a plant species native to our local area that has been selected or bred by humans to enhance desirable characteristics, like bloom size or foliage color. Plants were selected for this garden based on how well they support River Farm’s natural ecosystem services, including providing:
- Habitat for pollinators, including food for butterflies and caterpillars
- Food and habitat for wildlife
- Plants that are edible
- Waterwise plantings
- Year-round interest through flowers, leaf color, and bark texture
Beyond providing for local ecosystem services, this garden was created to provide educational opportunities to River Farm’s visitors. The landscape demonstrates how native plants can be used in a home garden, featuring plant varieties that are low maintenance and have reduced water needs.
Garden Design
This landscape was planned to ensure that existing large trees on the site would be preserved as part of the final garden design. Large trees provide essential habitat for wildlife, including insects, birds, and mammals. They also perform essential ecosystem services by sequestering carbon and stabilizing soil. Some of the large native trees that anchor this garden include a 29-foot-tall American sycamore, a triple-stemmed American holly, and multiple black tupelo, eastern redcedar, and magnolia trees.
Large trees often have a proportionally large influence on microclimates in a landscape. Unique sun, shade, soil moisture, and drainage regimes around the trees lent themselves to different types of plantings. Planting areas in this garden are accessible via mulch pathways.
They include:
- Woodland deciduous azalea and viburnum plantings
- Woods’-edge plants
- Native meadow
- Native shrubs and edible garden
- Native shade garden
Thank you to our Donors and Sponsors
This tremendous garden was made possible through the generous contributions of time, expertise, and resources of landscaping and nursery companies from across the region. Learn more about our generous donors.