City of Frontenac native rain garden Photo by: Carol Davit
Grow Native! Toolkit for Municipal Professionals
We don’t experience natural environments enough to realize how restored they can make us feel, nor are we aware that studies also show they make us healthier, more creative, more empathetic and more apt to engage with the world and with each other. Nature, it turns out, is good for civilization. —Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix
Jump to Making the Case
Jump to Commitment to Native Landscape Timelines
Jump to Before Breaking Ground
Jump to Plant Installation, Seeding, Landscape Establishment, & Signage
Jump to Keeping your Native Landscapes Looking Great: Consistent and Long-term Stewardship/Maintenance
Jump to Case Studies: Outstanding Examples of Native Landscapes in Communities
Native plants are critically important components of healthy cities and other communities. Native plants are foundational to nature’s web of life—in rural areas and in urban ones. Native plants provide food and habitat for butterflies, bees, songbirds, and other cherished wildlife, keeping nature near to people in cities. They also help abate air pollution, manage stormwater, and store carbon. Both beautiful and functional, native plants are great choices for community landscaping needs. We invite you to use this Grow Native! toolkit to guide your community’s native landscaping projects.
I. Making the Case: Winning Over Communities to the Benefits of Native Plants
When integrated into the fabric of a city, native plants play an important role in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of residents. They increase resilience to natural disasters. They reduce pollutant-loading and flash flooding of urban streams following rain events. Native trees and other plants reduce the heat island effect. They help replenish groundwater and protect soil health. Economic development enterprises—from commercial districts to tourism—attract more visitors when landscaped with well-maintained native plants. And, people also benefit through opportunities for recreational activities such as bird watching, nature play, spiritual renewal, and cultural connections to the community at large.
Just like conventional landscaping, native landscaping requires planning, up-front investment in plants or seeds and their installation, regular watering until plants are established, and ongoing maintenance including weeding. Another way to think about native landscaping maintenance is stewardship. Because these are permanent, living landscapes, horticultural and land stewardship practices like selective trimming of dormant vegetation, or, in some cases, prescribed fire, optimize the appearance and ecological functionality of native landscapes over time. Conventional landscapes—including large areas of turf and beds of annuals that are planted every year—also require these inputs. However, unlike those examples of conventional landscaping, native plants give back to your community—in benefits to pollinators, other wildlife, stormwater management, carbon storage, and beautiful and resilient landscapes. Additionally, when native perennials are used in landscaping, costs of installing beds of non-native annuals every year are no longer incurred.
If your community currently does not have a native landscaping ordinance, creating one can clarify your commitment to sustainable landscapes, and establish ground rules for their establishment and maintenance/stewardship. See the Grow Native! Model Native Landscaping Ordinance that can serve as a guide for your community.
There are other benefits to your community as well: your city, town, or neighborhood association can receive recognition for its commitment to native landscaping, such as SITES Certification, inclusion in the national Homegrown National Park, or recognition as a certified National Wildlife Federation Community Wildlife Habitat. The mayor of your town or city can also take the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge. If your community has a plan in place to control invasive plants, it can take the “Stop the Spread” pledge, and signal its commitment to native biodiversity.
Making the Case Resources
A. What Makes a Plant Native and Why Use Native Plants?
Source: Information from the Grow Native! website
Source: Article by Scott Woodbury about the benefits of native plants, published in the Missouri Prairie Journal
Source: Article by Scott Woodbury about the cumulative benefits of native plantings throughout communities, published in the Missouri Prairie Journal
D. Native Plants and Pollinators
Source: Grow Native! webpage
E. Native Plants and Songbirds
Source: Grow Native! webpage
F. Native plantings as part of Nature Play planning and design
Source: National Wildlife Federation
G. Cost savings associated with native plantings
H. Beautifying your surroundings with native plants
Source: Grow Native! Webpage
I. Grow Native! Model Native Landscaping Ordinance
Source: Grow Native! webpage
Source: Grow Native! & partners
II. Commitment to Native Landscape Timelines
Forethought, planning, and patience pay off when creating nativescapes from seed, seedlings, and/or small containers. Unlike turf lawns installed by rolling out pre-cut sod or a bed planted with petunias already in full bloom, native plantings take time to become established. Time can be thought of as a principle of design or an art element that changes the appearance of plants not only during each season of the year, but also as they grow from seed to maturity.
Be aware that when native grass and wildflower seeds are sown, they invest their energy primarily into root development for years before transitioning focus to above-ground plant growth and flowering. These plants may not reach their mature size or bloom proficiently until three or more years after seeding. Also, canopy trees, such as bald cypress or native oaks, can take decades to grow 60 to 70 feet tall, but with the potential to grow up to two feet a year, their growth can be apparent within just a few years after planting.
Once the timeline for establishing native plant landscapes is understood, a community’s appreciation and support for such investments should increase. Educational signage posted by seeded landscapes and new tree plantings can help create a conservation ethic amongst community members by informing them of establishment timelines, the benefits of native plants, and the stewardship commitment the community has made to the long-term success of each new landscape (planting, bed, etc.).
In addition to new, designed plantings, communities can manage native plants already growing in local natural areas, such as intact tracts of woodland or forest, rocky outcrops with native glade plants, or even remnant prairie. Management plans written for these areas will provide guidance on stewardship practices to protect their health or improve places that have been degraded by, for example, soil erosion or invasive plants. Natural resources utilized as green infrastructure, such as local streams and urban forests, provide a third opportunity for communities to manage and invest in native plants. Amongst other benefits, the ecological services provided by green infrastructure can connect people to nature, enhance the quality of our lives, and make our communities as ecologically sustainable as possible.
In Missouri, community conservationists with the Missouri Department of Conservation can help your community protect and enhance these features. Other states in the lower Midwest may offer similar services through state agencies.
Commitment to Native Landscape Timelines Resources
A. Native tree growth information
For more information about the growing conditions of each tree species, please visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Tree Growth Information.
The foliage of native shrubs and trees provides vital food for caterpillars of hundreds of species of butterflies and moths. The caterpillars in turn provide food for baby birds and other wildlife. The fruits and nuts of many native shrubs and trees also sustain wildlife. Learn about the importance of shrubs, grasses, wildflowers, and sedges as “host plants” for insects and, in turn, other animals at this Grow Native! Native Plants Support Songbirds page. You can also find host plant information for the species listed above by clicking on the tree common names.
C. Native grass and wildflower planting growth graphic
D. Missouri Department of Conservation Community Conservationists. Other states in the lower Midwest may offer similar services through state agencies.
E. Tree Equity Score- Trees are critical urban infrastructure that are essential to public health and well-being. Tree Equity Score was created to help address damaging environmental inequities by prioritizing human-centered investment in areas with the greatest need.
F. Vibrant Cities Lab- Vibrant cities put people first to cultivate thriving trees and equitable urban forests that boost public health, safety, and sustainability. Resources include information about monitoring and maintaing your urban forest.
G. The American Society of Landscape Architects Fund: Designing our Future: Sustainable Landscapes, with video resources, including Urban Forests = Cleaner, Cooler Air and more.
H. Enjoy your urban forest. Be whimsical! For example, in Melbourne, Australia, trees were given email addresses.
III. Before Breaking Ground: Site Evaluation, Design, Selecting & Sourcing Plants/Seed, and Securing Labor
As with any intentional landscaping, native landscapes require planning before they are installed. The right plants for the right locations and purposes must be selected and sourced. In addition, staff, contractors, and/or volunteers must be knowledgeable or, if not, trained in native landscape installation, and long-term maintenance/stewardship.
Before Breaking Ground Resources
A. Conservation Planning Tools for Missouri Communities: A Reference Manual
C. Grow Native! Native Plant Database- With more than 300 species of wildflowers, grasses, sedges, shrubs, and trees, this database is equipped with filters for choosing plants for specific purposes.
D. Grow Native! Resource Guide
E. Grow Native! Native Plant Installation Best Management Practices- This comprehensive document provides information on site assessment, planning, site preparation, plant installation, stewardship, evaluation, and more.
F. Grow Native! Native Garden Plans- These relatively small-scale garden plans may be helpful inspiration to communities. For instance, they can be added next to the welcome sign at the entry gateway to the town, a shopping district, or a school campus. Or, they can be used as templates for schools, libraries, and other locations interested in adding an educational native garden to their grounds.
G. Plant This, Not That!- These graphics illustrate the attributes of native tree species recommended as an alternative to invasive ornamental pear trees. This list provides native alternatives to a variety of other invasive trees and flowering plants.
I. Salt-tolerant Native Plants
J. Kansas Master Naturalist Program, Missouri Master Naturalist Program, Illinois Master Naturalist Program, Arkansas Master Naturalist Program- State-based Master Naturalist programs train individuals in conservation concepts, and they give back in volunteerism. They may be able to assist with establishing and stewarding/maintaining native landscapes in your community.
IV. Plant Installation, Seeding, Landscape Establishment, & Signage
Use the media in the resources tab to help your community get plants, shrubs, trees, and seeds in the ground to establish your native landscape.
Plant Installation, Seeding, Landscape Establishment & Signage Resources
A. Grow Native! Native Plant Installation Best Management Practices- This comprehensive document provides information on site assessment, planning, site preparation, plant installation, stewardship/maintenance, evaluation, and more.
B. Prairie and Native Grassland Reconstructions- This article in the Missouri Prairie Journal, by Missouri Prairie Foundation Director of Prairie Management Jerod Huebner, is a comprehensive overview to establishing and stewarding/maintaining prairie plantings from seed.
C. Recorded webinar with Jerod Huebner on establishing and maintaining prairie plantings from seed.
D. Grow Native! Native garden/landscape signage – Purchase and display in native landscaping to identify native plantings to community stakeholders
E. Lists of plants that commonly bloom in years 1, 2, and 3 in seeded landscapes. Sharing this information with community stakeholders helps them understand the investment of time needed to establish native landscapes.
V. Keeping your Native Landscapes Looking Great: Consistent and Long-term Stewardship/Maintenance
Just like turf lawns and beds of annuals, native landscapes require ongoing stewardship/maintenance. This stewardship/maintenance includes regular watering of landscapes installed with plants (as opposed to seeds) until established, regular weeding, and, if desired, “editing” of assertive natives, and replacement of plants, if needed, to steward/maintain original design intent. In addition, those who perform stewardship/maintenance need to be knowledgeable in identification of both native plants and invasive plants and other weeds.
Keeping Your Native Landscapes Looking Great Resources
A. Native Landscape Maintenance Calendar- This year-round calendar provides an overview of work involved in stewarding/maintaining native gardens and landscapes in all seasons. It includes ecological tips to consider such as the importance of leaving standing dead vegetation in winter to benefit many insects in landscaping beds where this is feasible.
B. Weed identification — coming soon!
C. Native seedling identification
D. Missouri Invasive Plant Council website- Find many invasive plant identification and control resources that are applicable to Missouri and other parts of the lower Midwest.
E. In Missouri, Missouri Department of Conservation Community Conservationists may be able to assist invasive plant control efforts with small grants or technical expertise.
VI. Case Studies: Outstanding Examples of Native Landscapes in Communities
From award-winning to nationally certified wildlife-friendly native gardens, there are a plethora of individuals, communities, and organizations whose work can be researched during the planning process.
Case Studies Resources
A. Grow Native! Native Gardens of Excellence program- This program features designed and well-maintained native gardens and other landscaping in the lower Midwest
B. The entire City of Chesterfield, MO is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Community Wildlife Habitat
C. The Annie O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape in St. Louis’ Forest Park
D. The Landscape Performance Case Studies
VII. Is Your Community an Overachiever?
Here are more ways to use native plants in your community, encourage citizen science, and network with like-minded groups.
Is Your Community an Overachiever Resources
A. Wild Ones chapters in the lower Midwest work to increase native plantings in a variety of settings.
B. In the City of St. Louis, your community can become involved in the Milkweed for Monarchs project.
C. In the greater St. Louis area, your community can become involved in, Operation Brightside, St. Louis Audubon’s Bring Conservation Home program, and BiodiverseCi
D. In Columbia, Missouri, learn about community conservation programs, including the CoMo Wild Yards program.
E. In the Kansas City area, your community can connect with Deep Roots KC.
F. In Johnson County, Kansas, learn about the Contain the Rain sustainable landscape solutions reimbursement program.
G. In the City of Springfield, Missouri, learn about the Yard Ethic program.
H. In Alton, Illinois, the Piasa Palisades Chapter of the Sierra Club is involved in many community conservation programs, including native landscaping projects.
I. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, the Watershed Conservation Resource Center offers many technical and planning services for watershed protection, which may include native landscaping projects.
J. No matter where your community is, it can enroll its native landscaping in the Homegrown National Park endeavor.
K. State-based Master Naturalist programs train individuals in conservation concepts, and they give back in volunteerism, including citizen science projects. Kansas Master Naturalist Program, Missouri Master Naturalist Program, Illinois Master Naturalist Program, Arkansas Master Naturalist Program.
L. You may find this Roadside Monarch and Pollinator Habitat: A Guide for Communities document from the National Wildlife Federation useful.
M. Native Plant Green Roofs– This paper from Landscape and Urban Planning discusses prairie plants used on green roofs.
VIII. Your Community Can Become a Grow Native! Professional Member: Signal Your Community’s Commitment to Native Landscaping
Join these communities that are Grow Native! professional members:
City of Maryland Heights, Missouri