Recently, I interviewed Carolyn Turner all about her amazing yard. She’s turned every square foot into an oasis for birds, butterflies, bees… everybody! My hope is she will inspire you to do the same. Now, while native planting is actually easier than you’d assume, you might feel like you want some help. Maybe you need help with the aesthetics, maybe you want to be sure you’ve got blooms all Spring/Summer/Fall… or maybe you really just want to pay someone else to do it all. That’s totally fine!

Keeping with my theme of native-focused AND local business promotion, I’d love to introduce you to a few of the best habitat-creating landscape designers in our Columbus area:

First up is Native Landscaping and Consulting, LLC

From their website:

“Peter has over 20 years of experience working with plants native to the Midwest as well as trees and shrubs. He grows many of the plants that he installs in order to maintain a superior level of quality not found elsewhere. Each plant has been attended to extensively and carefully cultivated. No synthetic fertilizers or neonicotinoid insecticides are ever used. Many of the species at Native Landscaping and Consulting LLC are not found in the big box stores or even at local or regional nurseries.”

I also briefly interviewed Peter recently and he said:

“Most of my work involves removing invasive species like honeysuckle and other unwanted plants which I usually replace with native plants. I grow and sell over 30 species of native plants as well. Our native shrubs that have been displaced by invasive species are actually more nutritious than invasive species (Viburnums vs. honeysuckle), and are perfectly timed to meet the nutritional needs of wildlife when in flower and in fruit. I tend to notice a positive impact, especially with native perennials , almost immediately. I do not offer formal designs, as I believe they set false expectations and really represent a static planting without taking into account the attributes of individual species. I refer to my native plantings as habitats. An example would be planting out a 150 square foot prairie perennial plot with 15+ species whose cultural needs match the site. Another example would be removing invasive species from a woodlot and trying to plant and understory of native trees and shrubs (deer are a huge problem with this). Kinda long winded, but I hope this helps. Let me know if I can help otherwise.”

Next up is Erin Salsbery, owner of ECS Botanicals

A local designer and mom, Erin specializes in planning seasonally-inspired gardens, cut-flower and pollinator gardens, with a focus on habitat restoration that also looks beautiful!

Finally, check out Amy Dutt at Urban Wild Ltd - Sustainable Design & Planning

Amy is one of the owners of our native nursery partner Scioto Gardens. She has done native designs/installation for: COSI, the AHA! Children’s Museum, Columbus School for Girls and more! Recently I asked her what her “why” for doing all this was:

“Landscape design mixes art and science, problem solving and empathy. I love designing landscapes that look and feel good, function well, and have the bonus of adding habitat for wildlife. I target 70-90% native plants in a landscape. Non native plants do not provide nutritional food for creatures and can invade and harm our woodlands. Native plants help birds, bees and butterflies survive, bringing joy to my clients.”

By the way, she even designs and installs nature playscapes (similar to the amazing natural play area at Franklin Park Conservatory)

So there you go. Native planting and habitat creation/restoration is just as much an art as it is a science. You can totally throw seeds, plant plants randomly, and just see what happens… release your inner mad scientist! But, if that sounds crazy to you or just not very fun… you can also work with one of these wonderful people listed here to get the job done and get the animal parties started!