Stonecrop Design

04/23/2019

Any little pocket of prairie grasses and flowers is a welcome sight and a big help to pollinators and birds. Imagine how we could transform our suburban landscapes from the monoculture of Kentucky Bluegrass into something that truly supports nature. Native plantings don't have to look unruly. *Note: the only thing in this article we take issue with is the suggestion that herbicide is an option to prepare a planting site. There is no such thing as a non persistent Glyphosate (RoundUp). We know that now, and highly recommend not using it.

Urban micro prairies attract native insects and pollinators, including butterflies and bumblebees. Fortunately, native plants are readily available.

03/27/2019

Here is some great advice on spring garden clean up to encourage habitat preservation. First off, don't be in too much of a hurry.

Now that spring is near, many of us are anxious to clean up our gardens. But, a good spring garden clean up should NOT be a destructive process.

09/12/2017

We'd like your help saving frogs and turtles.

Landscape ponds have increased in popularity and many frogs and turtles naturally take advantage of these beautiful waterscapes. We are not talking about creatures introduced by you to the pond, only those who have found your beautiful new space and have taken up residence. (if you introduced something to your pond, skip to the bottom section)

If you do not heat your landscape pond over the winter and it does not have a natural mud bottom, please drain it this week to give the turtles and frogs time to move on to a new winter location before it gets cold.

We know it seems early, but this week's daytime temps are forecast to be warm enough that these critters can move on to a new location. Once day time temps start dropping, they won't move and you'll end up with displaced herptiles.

We cannot overwinter frogs and turtles that have been removed from landscape ponds.

We'll list specifics below for those who do have ponds and want to read more, but we'll ask now that you share this post with your friends and family in the hopes that word will spread and frogs/turtles will have time to find a safe winter habitat. Thank you for helping these animals!

Here are specifics:
1) We want to stress this only applies to naturally occurring frogs/turtles, etc. If you populated your pond with store-bought turtles/frogs, you'll need to overwinter them yourself or contact the Minnesota H**petological Society to see about placement. They cannot be released into the wild.
2) There are many diseases posing a significant threat to our reptiles and amphibians. Please do not manually relocate any of these animals. By draining the pool now, you'll give the frogs and turtles time to move back to their natural habitat - wherever they were prior to discovering your beautiful pond. They may even return next spring when you re-activate your pond.
3) If you found a turtle somewhere and brought it home to your pond, we'll have to hope that it'll find its way back to where you found it. If it doesn’t, and you relocated it, please call the Minnesota H**p Society for help finding placement. Again, we're very concerned about disease spreading so if you did bring someone home with you, please avoid doing that next spring.

Local frogs/turtles will find their way to your pond if it provides a good environment. Just give them time: Time to find it and of equal importance, time to move on to a healthy, natural winter environment.

11/04/2016

A native tree that blooms in late fall! Consider planting Witchhazel as an attractive understory tree or large shrub that will provide color with unusual ribbon-like petals after most of the trees have lost their leaves.

11/13/2015

I've enjoyed evaluating some great Minneapolis gardens for Metro Blooms garden awards for a few years, and want to share this year's winner of the Best Prairie garden. It's in the Bryn-Mawr neighborhood, close to downtown, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Barb, the owner.

She believes that landscaping is just as important as the home, and their house was built with that in mind. She planted prairie in the entire front yard using plugs planted right into 3-4 inches of compost. She used a lot of Rudbeckia for color because it would blossom in the first year, hoping the neighbors would react positively. They have indeed reacted very positively. "I see the impact that a new house can have. With the landscape that we've done, we've improved the look and the experience for everybody in the neighborhood." She loves how it invites people passing by to stop and take a look. "People often come to look at the chickens with their kids. I feel like we've given something back, instead of taking up space." Through careful observation, planning and design, she and husband Hans keep about 90% of their rainwater on site. This is done with rain gardens, swales, rain barrels, and the prairie, with its native grasses and plants that have very deep roots to soak up water. She only had to water it once or twice the first year.

04/29/2015

Check out this list of pollinator-friendly plants from the Xerxes Society. Easily printable to bring with on your next trip to the nursery.

08/18/2014

08/18/2014

Seasonal planters

08/08/2014

08/08/2014