Urban Native Gardens

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Revision as of 15:39, 3 June 2009 by Peggy Brennan (Talk | contribs) (Why is it Important?)

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What is It?


  • Urban Native Gardens refers to is the use of plants, including trees, shrubs, groundcover, grass which are indigenous to urban areas for use in urban gardens. Its intent is to blend property into the natural setting of the area.
  • Also known as: Natural landscaping, Native and urban gardens.

Why is it Important?


Native plants:

  • are lower maintenance
  • are tolerant of tough conditions such as drought and poor soil
  • are better adapted to local climactic conditions
  • better able to resist the effects of native insects and diseases
  • are less dependent on fossil fuels (due to lower maintenance)
  • instill an understanding of our natural world - its cycles, changes and history
  • provide an opportunity to work with instead of against nature
  • give a gardener insight into seasonal rhythms and life cycles
  • blend better in with natural surroundings
  • help reestablish what once went on naturally in the area
  • help increase wildlife, such as birds, butterflies and pollinating insects
  • preserve the natural history of the area

When to Use It?


  • List the important considerations when to use this pattern.
  • When would it be sustainable?
  • When would it not be sustainable?

Green Garage Use of ??


Sustainability Goals
  • The specific goals we're trying to achieve. This should be the performance outcomes.
  • Strive to quantify if at all possible.
  • It doesn't describe how...just the outcomes.
Strategy and Conceptual Design
  • Describe how we plan to achieve these goals
  • Explain why we chose this specific strategy and design (our rationale)
  • Include pictures, drawings or videos(flickr)
  • Supporting science:
Proposed Materials / Suppliers
  • Identify (via links and short description) the materials and suppliers we propose to use.
Development Story

The ?? - Development Story page contains many images and videos documenting the process used at the Green Garage to design, build and operate our ?? system.

Related Internal Links
  • Help people find other related Green Garage pages that may help them. Keep it tight.

Resources


  • Natural Landscaping Wikipedia entry
  • Landscaping With Native Plants in Michigan by Lynn M. Steiner

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