In the concrete jungles of urban areas, it’s easy to feel disconnected from nature. But what if you could transform your small patch of land into an oasis filled with wildflowers and native grasses? Urban Wildflower gardening in urban areas is a growing trend that not only adds a touch of natural beauty to our surroundings but also provides essential habitats for pollinators and other wildlife, including insects. Downtown Knoxville is buoyed by the success of the Urban Wilderness initiative where large areas have been saved from further development by becoming walking/mountain biking trails for public use. As successful as this program has been, we need to take it a step further and allow our downtown to mimic the wilderness around it. In this blog entry, we will explore the benefits of wildflower gardening in urban areas and provide some tips to help you get started on your own urban wildflower garden.
1. The Benefits of Urban Wildflower Gardening:
– Enhancing Biodiversity: Urban areas often lack natural habitats. By planting wildflowers, you can create a welcoming space for bees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinators, promoting biodiversity and helping to sustain local ecosystems.
– Improving Air Quality: Wildflowers absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, helping to improve air quality in urban environments and combatting the effects of pollution. We can not see what we are breathing in downtown areas, many times it is a mixture of car pollution – ambient (outdoor) fine particle air pollution (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which can be filtered and minimized with the presence of a proper urban landscape. Sometimes I wish we could see the benefit of plants in our environment, actually see plants taking in carbon dioxide (bad) and releasing oxygen (good) right before our very eyes. This would at least convince some of the skeptics of the value that plants bring to our world and that without them we could not exist. Unfortunately, many people have to see something with their own eyes before they believe it or understand its importance.
– Creating Beauty and Serenity: Wildflowers bring a burst of color and beauty to urban landscapes, transforming dull spaces into vibrant and visually appealing areas. They also provide a sense of serenity and tranquility, offering a respite from the hustle and bustle of city life. Studies have been done that confirm the fact that we are genuinely happier and more productive if we have trees and green scape readily available. Whether this means trees outside of your office window or a quiet, landscaped courtyard where you can eat lunch, the benefits of outdoor spaces filled with plants is immense when it comes to good mental health.
2. Choosing the Right Wildflowers for Urban Gardens:
– Native Species: Selecting native wildflowers is crucial as they are well-adapted to the local climate and soil conditions. They also play a vital role in supporting indigenous wildlife. We have talked about this in previous articles – native wildflowers and shrubs attract native species and insects that have no use for plants like nandina or the ornamental garden juniper we used for groundcover. In most cases, native species will eat the plants they are familiar with or what they have traditionally eaten.
– Low-Maintenance Varieties: Opt for wildflowers that are low-maintenance and require minimal watering or fertilization. This will make it easier to maintain your urban garden without compromising its aesthetics. Drought tolerance should be the number one factor when choosing your plants because most urban landscapes do not have the ability to draw water from far away. These plants usually only have a small plot of soil with minimal depth to survive in so the ability to go long periods without water is key.
– Long Bloom Periods: Look for wildflowers that have extended bloom periods, ensuring that your garden will have a continuous display of flowers throughout the season. This is important in any landscape design but particularly in urban landscapes because of the limited space that you have as a designer to make a visual impact. These factors make designing these spaces more challenging but also rewarding when you can produce an attractive urban setting with limited space and plant choices.
3. Designing and Maintaining Your Urban Wildflower Garden:
– Assess your Space: Determine the available space for your garden, whether it’s a small balcony, rooftop, or a tiny backyard. Consider factors like sunlight exposure and soil quality to ensure the success of your garden. The design process can be as simple as determining what native plants will work in the space, purchasing plants and then arranging them before installation. Being able to arrange in a way that maximizes the bloom time/seasonal interest in each plant while also spreading the blooms through all four seasons is easier said than done and can challenge the most experienced landscape designer.
If this is your first time designing and things do not go as planned, don’t worry, this is not a permanent planting. Gardening is truly a trial and error endeavor that is never completely mastered so run quickly away from anyone that says they have it all figured out. By using native plants you greatly increase your chances for success since they have a much better survival rate than the plant you buy from the big box store.
– Soil Preparation: Wildflowers generally prefer well-drained soil. Prepare the soil by removing any weeds or debris and add organic matter to improve its fertility and drainage. Keep in mind that most native wildflowers and the grasses that naturally accompany them are not accustom to rich, fertile soils but poor, nutrient deficient soils that contain rock and other unwanted material. Try to match this soil quality and do not use fluffy potting soils that you would use to plant your annual container garden.
– Planting Techniques: Follow the instructions on the seed packets for optimal planting depth and spacing. Scatter the seeds evenly or create small clusters or ‘drifts’ to accentuate the groupings of certain plants. Piet Oudolf, a Dutch garden designer, is an expert at this method, he creates wild spaces that have a loose structure to them that allows the viewer to appreciate the highlighted groups of plants that the designer wants to draw attention to. Lurie Garden in downtown Chicago is an Oudolf masterpiece that brings the beauty of the prairie to one of the busiest cities in the world.
– Maintenance: The beauty of using native wildflowers and grasses is that your garden will only get so big. There will not be a whole lot of trimming or work to do on your space from year to year. Mainly it will be keeping the garden confined to the space for which it was intended and not spilling out onto walkways or driveways. Once a year, early February, the space will need to be cut down 3-4 inches from ground level to allow for new growth. Simply cut everything back and remove the waste, some finer clippings can be left behind to decompose into fertilizer. This is for wildflower/grass areas only, shrubs and trees will be trimmed according to their individual needs in the years that follow. A good tip to follow is shaping your trees/shrubs before they get to optimal size. Waiting until something is overgrown and then aggressively trimming it back stresses the plant out and may result in unwanted die off. When the plant is 2/3 its eventual size trim it back ever so slightly to slow down the growth rate. Then wait a season or two until the plant is close to optimal size and trim it again. This patient approach allows your plant to be “trained” to be the size you want instead of trying to force it.
In previous articles Taproot Eco Design has talked about the significance of wild space in our environment and hopefully some good advice on how to incorporate them at your house. Taproot deeply believes in this ideology and hopes to successfully promote this idea in the Knoxville area in the future. As with anything else we need the help and involvement of the community in this endeavor and hope we can humbly add to the growing movement we see going on around us. Progress is slow, but if you take the time to notice and no where to look, it is easy to see. To participate you can do nothing – just let your lawn grow, without cutting it, until Memorial Day and see what happens… Some wildflowers may appear, the existing grass you have will get taller and form seed heads, when long enough the grass will move with the wind and create a sound you probably have never heard while standing in your lawn. Imagine your own landscape providing you with peace and serenity that is hard to find sometimes in an urban setting and the benefit over time that could bring.