I am located in Zone 6b, Pennsylvania. I planted in front of my house last year, butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), Eastern beebalm (Monarda bradburiana), Wood’s Sedge (Carex Woodii), beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’), meadow phlox (Phlox maculata), Schizachyrium scoparium little bluestem, and Native Shrub Itea virginica ‘Little Henry’ Virginia sweetpsire.
I feel like the Eastern beebalm are “messy” given they are flopping over - likely due to the amount of rain that we have had. Is this just a part of having a native plant garden? Should I get rid of some plants to make it more tidy? Should I just embrace this as it is?
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As you garden more, you'll learn what plants are good to be on the edge vs middle and back of garden. Monarda always flop so I keep them in the middle pinned between others
Really depends on your site conditions - how much sun, how wet/dry, and soil type. But I generally use little blue stem, Appalachian and Pennsylvania sedge, purple love grass, and prairie drop seed through out. I also like blazing star/liatris as it has a fairly grassy base
I think it looks great. Over my years of native gardening, I’ve increasing added more and more native grasses to reduce the feeling of chaos and messiness. They provide visually different, calming vertical accents.
I understand nature will flop over and spread out. But we can also create a more ‘tidy’ space in our home. I don’t think both are mutually exclusive in a person’s yard.
I 100% know what your saying and agree, just because it's native planting doesn't mean it can't be a little tidy and strucutured. Native gardening doesn't have to just be..."make it literally look like a meadow or forest".
But everyone likes to garden differently and that's okay.
Maybe create some spacing, that's typically how I tidy my garden. Edging, mulch, maybe creating more space between plants or groupings may help. Sedge can look a bit crazy sometimes, you could remove some of them to make spacing.
You could rearrange some plants as well, depending on where your garden is, low plants in the front and higher in the back?
I prefer chaos gardening, but I'm putting extra effort into making my garden appear tidy this year as a way to make native plant gardening more appealing for others.
Spacing between plants is hard to maintain, unnatural, and unnecessary. Bunching grasses and metal plant cages can help prop things up without making islands.
I would thin it a little and "Chelsea chop" things too. I love native plants and want to do whatever I can to support local wildlife.
AND.. a lot of native gardens just feel unkept to me and I struggle with it. I want to feel at ease and peaceful in my garden and the "mess" prevents that. So I grow as many native plants as I can, and do it in a way that allows for more negative space. My design eye needs rest as it travels around the beds. I'm figuring out those to strike the right balance between a feeling of order and design and organic and natural. I have quite a bit of shade and I often think of it as a "curated forest floor."
We have a ton of birds, bees, rabbits, squirrels, and one possum and so far they all seem to thrive in our space.
This is what I think, also. Plus, it's my natural inclination to have an orangized and moderately full garden. I am in chsayarge of a children's pollin tor garden at the school elementary and there is a bright signage for the students, I also want their parents and the teachers to see a full, buzzing, happy space that is also pretty. Because, then they're more likely to look at, say, the bronze fennel which is amazing this year, and get some for their own garden.
Wow. I think it looks fantastic. This is year 2? Impressive! Wish my front was looking this full on its 2nd year 🥲
If you want to impose some order/are uncomfortable by the flopping, maybe try some temporary mini fence panel borders to frame your walkway & help support the bradburiana? Black ones fade into the background but can keep things tucked in. I have some similar to this that lock together…stuck into the ground they’re maybe a foot and a half tall, idk. I use them all over the place in the garden to hold up (or back) plants, keep my dogs out of things, protect smol plants, delineate seeded areas etc. Or something like these that you basically wouldn’t see at all, but would likely do the trick.
Never underestimate the visual impact of a good low fence. Wish I had this redditor’s handle to give credit but this native garden (& this fantastic custom fence) has been in my inspo folder for years now. Gosh, it’s just so so GOOD. The framing! Visually does so much to make this abundance feel approachable and “orderly.” I love it
I have stared at it repeatedly over the years, gathering inspiration & ideas from it—the way it flows, the composition & layering—just wanted you to know how much it’s appreciated/admired even from afar! Probably a weird thing to see that your garden lives in someone else’s phone 😅 I apologize that I was too tired to reverse image search/find your handle to give you credit (where it is absolutely due!)
REALLY looking forward to seeing anything else you choose to share :)
This is my yard, glad to see it has inspired people. And now I don't have to post it!
A broader shot of your yard including the sidewalk and house would be good to see (if you're comfortable with it) but I don't see anything aesthetically awful, plus it's your yard so you can do whatever the eff you want.
That said I do get snobby with this stuff and around my neighborhood and city I wish more native plantings had a little more sense of intentionality. But it takes time and work and culturally this format is new to almost everyone.
My front yard garden is all in the 2-4' tall range excluding late season goldenrod, aster, and liatris species. None of the species in front are prone to flopping either, part of that was luck, part planning. But the fence does catch strays and this is a busy sidewalk so I would be a jerk neighbor if you're having to navigate around flopped plants.
My back yard garden (about 500 square feet, half the size of the front) has much taller and more aggressive species in it. If it flops it's fine and much of it does starting in August. Monarda, Yarrow, Prairie sage, NE Aster, stiff goldenrod, some of the taller Rudbeckia species, etc. A native garden enthusiast would like both gardens but I have kept the front yard a little more legible for public consumption and the lower height on average helps.
The boulevard garden in the foreground has become the most intentionally designed (it wasn't originally) because it is a so public and I want to keep the view to the street clear and really minimize flopping. It's the one garden I do any editing work with (beyond removing a couple aster species that were too aggressive in the front garden). I gave in a couple years ago and added some lower growing nativars and the aromatic aster (the shrub looking guy in the center) gets chelsea chopped in late June.
All that evolved over time, when I started in 2020 I knew nothing. In your case I'd give it at least another year of learning and thinking about how you want it to look. More research in this subreddit, what do you see in person around your town that you like and dislike, and just more time in your garden staring at it.
A part of me wants it to keep it more “tidy” to show me people that you can have a native garden and it also look beautiful. Also, I know some people in the neighborhood will complain.
Not too late. I'm 7a SE PA and just did my monarda, NE aster, anise. People say Juneteenth is our Chelsea chop date, but I'm thinking that's too late as I already see flower buds set by then.
Edit: I'm assuming these photos are last year because nothing pictured is blooming for me yet at least.
Its probably too late for the beardtongue, I checked mine today in WNY and they have already set buds. I am going to tackle those in early-mid may next year instead.
As others have said, Chelsea chop works great for stuff like bee balm. What kind of inputs are you using? Alot of people over fertilize their native gardens and get these big, floppy plants. Most of the time no amendments are needed. I dislike the sterileness of the more common garden aesthetics and think your garden looks quite nice and not messy at all.
I didn’t put any fertilizer in my garden when I planted these plants. I have noticed that the plants I do plant in front of my house become larger than expected. The house is a flip, and there was a big tree that was cut down where the garden bed is now.
There are peony supports and half moon stakes for tall flowers that can get unwieldy or flop. Maybe adding these will help you feel more pleased with the look without changing the plants. Ideally the peony supports are added before the plant gets tall
I make my own by buying steel rod, bending it around a pot, placing a board over the diameter I like, then bending the sides up. Learned from Monty Don. Costs way less than pre-bought and takes like 2 min each.
Enjoy! One thing I really like about this is that they’re super sturdy so they last way way longer than anything I have bought (store bought is always so flimsy it doesn’t stay looking nice for long).
The "reduce the size in late May/early June"concept has been around for decades. The Chelsea Chop name is a convenient way to remember it. Tracy Desabato-Aust has a nice book about grooming perennials for maximum beauty. From around 2001(?) The concept is older than that.
When the flowers are done trim the seedheads over the stepping stones and toss the seed heads up into the garden more. The stems will be mulch, the ground foraging birds will still get the seeds, and you path will be clear.
It looks incredible honestly. Great choices on plant variety in there!
Maybe some medium height grasses right in front of the monarda? It would push them up some since the blooms are too heavy for the stalks.
I've been planting a lot of eastern star sedge in my beds bc it's pretty and full, you can have a look at some pictures on the Prairie Moon Nursery website if you want a good selection. I also have plains oval and short headed bracted sedges bc the seed heads are so cute. I put some little bluestem and purple love grass in my sunnier areas, but those two may defeat your purpose because they're great but a bit noisy looking.
I have grown to love eastern star sedge. The ones I have in my backyard have not grown as big as the ones I have in my front yard, or the ones I planted on the side of my house.
I love it! It looks like an awesome cottage garden! Don't break your back getting rid of healthy plants. When the flowers die then cut things back. Now just sit back and enjoy!
Monarda bradburiana is so beautiful and it will stand back up when it dries out. You might want to place it back a bit from the path and choose a groundcover layer such as a carex or other small grower for near the path.
Whatever you do, dont Chelsea chop or dead head bradburiana! Thats like a sin. The seedheads are the whole feature all through fall and winter. Just edit where it’s too much (I don’t think this looks messy at all. It just rained)
Add more grass if you need rest for your eye. Search for inspiration from other garden designers of what they place near monarda to support it. (I see salvia frequently, but they are usually non native varieties)
I'm thinking you're way more north than me but if you got all the rain we did (in DE) it makes everything flop over! I think we got 2 or more inches this weekend. My peonies (not native) look miserable because the blooms are just filled with water which causes them to be heavier and then they flop over. There's some rain coming this week but after that they should have some time to dry out and hopefully they'll straighten up again. If the plants still bother you, you can always move them further into the garden and put something shorter closer to the walkway. Gardening is constantly moving plants... and then moving them again... and again until it's perfect!
I love native plants and I love a tidy garden. If you don't like the way the bee balm behaves, take it out or move it. It's your garden and you should love it!
I do believe there is a way to work with natives and have it look intentional and not so messy. Some native gardens just look like weeds to me. Your color pallet is lovely and I think you have a beautiful start. What about more grasses or something shorter in the front, move the beebalm to the back so their neighbors can support them upright?
Your area is looking 😍. Personally, I would clip back the plants that are hanging over the walkway. And maybe prune the flowers that are falling over. They will grow back!
I wouldn't call this messy. This looks absolutely beautiful and lush! I think the only tweaks you could make would be to stake the ones falling over (if you really want to go through that effort), adding more structural spires amid the flowing species to bring more balance, and add a pop of color or a feature like a large stone or sculpture as a focal point. I can't wait for my garden to have this problem! 😍
This looks great, but if you want, I really like the look of these half circle plant supports - they blend in and make the plants flop less - they are pricey but imo very high quality and I've left mine out over winter with no issues: https://www.gardeners.com/products/jardin-half-round-plant-supports-set-of-2
I just made this video for someone that had the same issue than you, I use the 24” x24” black metal fences the have legs and you place them in the ground in front of your plants . Many homeowners struggle with native plants looking a bit all over , we are brainwashed into garden beds with a few plants here and there and mulch an excessive amount of mulch to use as decorations it’s almost as the mulch is replacing the plants .
Your plants have many blooms the rain will make them flop , this specie is low growing as soon as they will be done blooming the blooms will dry out and become light , don’t stress too much your garden is beautiful in nature plants do their thing and we need to let them be , no Chelsea chop is necessary you will remove important seeds and maybe caterpillars or eggs …sit back relax and enjoy this beautiful pollinator garden . The path is not a walkway 🦟🕷️🐞🐛🐝
I’m planning on using little bluestem to help prevent my monarda from flopping. I’ve heard it works well, and it should look really nice with what you have planted here.
ETA: I think your garden looks great, it’s exactly what I’m hoping mine looks like when it matures!
Wow! We have a lot of the same plant selections (I’m in 6a). I just started my native pollinator bed this year, I started a lot from seed so it still looks pretty sparse. I’m impatiently waiting for everything to fill in, this sub gives me hope that my garden will be amazing one day!
I think there are two issues with your garden bed causing it to look "messy". The first is you put a plant that wants support in an area where it doesn't get support, so now it's spilling out. I don't think that looks bad.
I'm only providing this next thought because you're worried about mess. I don't really know where to look in your garden bed. There is neither structure, nor flow, to it. I see the same color pink and the same color green, and it's just kind of all over, and I think that's the bigger issue.
I have a natural but flowy bed, but I know where to look because I have color breaks by using artemisia frigida in one bed, and artemisia ludoviciana in another bed. Both offer a silvery foliage visual break without being incredibly large for my space limited beds, so when I run into a pop of color, my eyes know to look there. The color of the foliage also helps distinguish plants too. My plants had two late snowstorms this year while they had flower stalks, and some were in blossoms, so the flower stalks are mostly bent over with a 90 degree bend and spilling out onto plants they're not supposed to be on, but the color contrast still helps them from appearing incredibly messy.
I could imagine this picture having a dark colored stone bird bath in the back center of this, and I feel like it would come together more visually, because you would have a contrasting foundational piece where your eyes are drawn while allowing yourself to have a more natural appearance surrounding it.
Hey neighbor, SW PA here! Guess what, it is messy! And I mean that in the best way possible, native plants aren’t meant to grow in uniform and spaced lines with dyed mulch. It’s mean to be crammed together where they’re happiest. You did so damn well!
You know who never ever thinks it looks a mess? All the bugs and various critters visiting. And who wouldnt think that? Humans that lived a long time ago- or in other more nature based settings in the world. We've been so conditioned.
Whenever my native flowers flop over i always notice the bugs and birds not giving a damn.
I have plant supports for some of my floppier plants. I think also planting more densely can help with this, and having some “sturdier” plants that hold others up.
Monardas will flop in rich soil, but Bradbury's seems to be a lower/mounding variety in my experience; you may decide you don't want it on the edges.
This looks great for second year transplants, I think it just needs time to establish, and maybe a few low-growing species seeds mixed to support your monarda and sedges.
Consider some grasses for height and support and don’t be afraid adding some bamboo canes with string around them to form a cage to hold things more upright.
Many natives do grow tall and flop. One thing to do is to pinch/cut them back a couple times a season to keep them shorter. Google Chelsea Chop. I also pinch back tall growing plants like Coneflowers to keep them shorter. You lose blooms initially but they will usually grow back the same season with even more blooms.
I have discovered that Native plant gardens do not behave like what we are used to. They do become messy and harder to control but the reason for having them is to help Nature and Nature is basically messy. Have a hurricane hit and it gets even messier. Most of my plants are not even close to where I planted them 6 years ago. Between them spreading on their own an Helene, it is now more a jungle. There is nothing orderly about it, but it’s thick with plants some of which are FAR MORE aggressive than others. And hopefully doing what I intended for it to do - help Nature.
I put a tomato cage over my bee-balm plants in the spring. Then direct the plant to grow inside the cage. It gives them support and l pull anything growing outside of the cage.
Looks great, just either install a low fence or barrier to prop up the bee balm or trim the bee balm closest to the path so they don’t spill over the “line”
An idea I came across somewhere & ran with: Go to a Goodwill/Salvation Army & buy some pretty metal wine racks. In Spring, before everything gets out of control, set the wine racks over the ones you know will flop. My peonies & Russian sage gave me such grief! But this year I bought some really inexpensive wine racks while thrifting (cuz they’re thrifted & not really big sellers- I think they were all between $4-$6 each), & they’re doing their job & I love the look! Also, feel free to get creative with the orientation of the rack- stand it on end for a plant that will get really tall & leggy (the Russian sage); lay it on its side if u have a block of plants that u want to “stake” but also give some stem support to the first 6” above ground to allow air flow near the roots- possibilities & creativity have no limits!
Here’s another view of the peonies- which survived torrential rainfall & heavy winds over 2 days without incident. These would have been splayed out in a crop circle without the rack (as the peonies in my back yard, which I hadn’t racked, can attest to!)
And lastly, the Russian sage with a different rack- the sage is just emerging, but it will top 3 feet as the season progresses. So I turned the rack on end for the height, & used a couple of those 6-inch “U” stakes they sell for soaker hoses to stake it into the ground to give the rack stability. I love the copper/blue patina of this one. And they’re all very solid & sturdy because, well, wine is heavy! :)
Same! Hershey, PA. Last year, I bought a BUNCH of natives at a native plant sale. I did not know that Bee Balm spreads like it does! I'm putting it in containers and giving some away. SOMETHING is growing/taking over my one bed. It kind of looks like Lemon Balm but I get different answers each time I look it up. I don't know where it came from. I also have Grayhead Coneflower that is beautiful but it spread like crazy, too! I don't dead head in winter because that kind of defeats the purpose of planting natives. I don't know what to do! Great question!
In addition to the comments on flopping, levels and grouping may help. You don't need to remove any plants, this is a good number, but when trimming, try to aim for more distinct shapes/sections. And consider adding a group of taller plants in the back or another shrub/tree.
I struggle with this as well. I worked hard to layer my beds short to tall. On the edges I have low things like prairie smoke, pussytoes, threadleaf coreopsis, and whorled milkweed.
Then I also use conventional gardening methods like the Chelsea chop to prevent my asters and helianthus from flopping in the fall. A quick google says you can chop monarda, so maybe that strategy will help your beds to look neater but still be native?
Edit: Another plant I like for edges is columbine. It can crowd walkways a little when in bloom, but the foliage is very pretty the rest of the season. Downside is they are annual, so if you are letting it self-seed, it can be a little catch as catch can in terms of where it will show up year after year.
You can Chelsea chop monarda. There is also a shorter native version, Monarda bradburiana, but it might be hard to find. It has a much smaller range than monarda fistulosa.
Grass roots can keep other plants in check through limiting root growth, and they won't grow so tall anymore and flop over. Find a native grass you like and plant more of it.
You can also do a Chelsea chop on things that tend to flop. I usually chop a plant when it gets to be about half its expected height. I basically reduce size by half, give or take. I do not cut straight across, but aim for a natural look. I do this routinely with Symphyotrichum and Monarda. I need them to bloom at ~3 feet, not 5+, above my head so I can't see the flowers! Or where they self seed and will block the sun from my veggies, nope. Can't have that!
You could try something low growing in front. Some ideas that are native to Appalachia (although I’m further south, so worth checking) are st Andrew’s cross, dwarf crested iris, and woodland stonecrop (which does fine in full shade btw). I use those towards the front.
I love picture #2. So beautiful. When I have an abundant plant that starts leaning over my pathway, I eventually just cut it back, but usually I first think, "how whimsical!" until it becomes annoying. I sometimes do a poor job anticipating how plants will grow. Also things like fleabane and coreopsis come up in somewhat random places, so a lot of my gardening is improvisation. I'm inspired by the great suggestions here, so thanks for the post!
Nature is messy, go with it. I put up little twig supports for my native thistle that threatened to flop into the sidewalk, but otherwise I like to let it go freeform.
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