If you’re new to gardening for ecological function, or maybe even new to gardening completely, it can seem overwhelming at first. From figuring out your soils and local ecology to selecting the right plants to plant, we’ll guide you through the necessary first steps to bring your landscape to life.
This series of articles will guide you through the steps necessary to establish a solid foundation, starting with the initial homework you’ll need to do to become more aware of your own setting and surroundings. I’ll go through the tools you’ll need and the resources to use, as well as give examples of how we’ve used these principles on our own property.
Just got here? Be sure to read our introductory article, Restore Life to Your Landscape: Introduction.
Along the way, you’ll learn how to identify the native plant communities of your area, and figure out how to use these communities to inspire a designed garden that is both aesthetically pleasing and ecologically functional.
Getting started, the first thing to do is to start learning your site and familiarize yourself with your surroundings.
A little initial groundwork is needed to establish a good base – We will walk you through:
- Getting your bearings by identifying your ecoregion
- Mapping out your site
- Identifying your site soil properties
- Finding local native plant communities you can take inspiration from
Now it’s time to do a little homework!
Step 1: Identify your Ecoregion
Your “Ecoregion” is the region you live in that is marked by similarities in natural characteristics such as the plant communities, soils, land formations and environmental resources.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), a US Governmental Body, describes the concept of an Ecoregion on their website:
Ecoregions are areas where ecosystems (and the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources) are generally similar… Ecoregions are identified by analyzing the patterns and composition of biotic and abiotic phenomena that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity (Omernik 1987, 1995). These phenomena include geology, landforms, soils, vegetation, climate, land use, wildlife, and hydrology.
While this may seem a little “scientific” a definition to the layman, it does form a good basis for classifying regions based on natural characteristics.
Ecoregions are layered in 4 levels of hierarchy. At the broadest level, Level 1 ecoregions define in the broadest terms the natural regions at the continental level. Our location in Central Indiana falls within the Eastern Temperate Forests region, which is the primary region of focus of this website.
The most important ecoregion to focus on are the Level 3 to Level 4 ecoregions. Continuing with our location in Central Indiana, we fall at the southwest edge of the Eastern Corn Belt, a region with rich soils and abundant rainfall that supports a native vegetation of lush forests. Most of the forest has been cleared, as mentioned in the introduction article, to make way for cultivation of corn and soybeans.
Drilling right down to the Level IV ecoregion, I find that Paddle Creek Gardens is in Ecoregion 55b, the “Loamy, High Lime Till Plains.” The EPA description on the Poster view describes this region:
The Loamy, High Lime Till Plains ecoregion contains soils that developed from loamy, limy, glacial deposits of Wisconsinan age; these soils typically have better natural drainage than those of Ecoregion 55a and have more natural fertility than those of Ecoregion 55d. Beech forests, oak-sugar maple forests, and elm-ash swamp forests grew on the nearly level terrain; today, corn, soybean, and livestock production is widespread.
I find this matches well with what I’ve observed locally. The natural areas that are left are usually lush forests, with towering hardwoods that grow to enormous size with the abundant soil nutrients and rainfall.
Now, it’s time to do a little research – Take out your notebook, or note app, and find out what ecoregion you belong in. Go to the EPA’s Ecoregion page, https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/level-iii-and-iv-ecoregions-state, and click your state. Download the Poster view, which has good descriptions of the Level IV ecoregions. Write down your ecoregion name and a brief description – This helps you to start identifying with your ecoregion, helping you to be more in tune with your specific setting as you begin your gardening journey.
Step 2: Initial Site Survey
Whether you are working with the property you live on or a property you own, you’ll want to start writing down the basics. I keep this information in a virtual notebook for myself, I find Microsoft OneNote is a very useful and mobile-friendly tool for this. A physical notebook works well too, but I find OneNote more of a permanent and user-friendly solution.
Map Out Your Site
Now that you’re more familiar with your ecoregion, it’s time to map out your site. This is just to get the general lay of the land, to capture what you’re going to be working with.
The two best tools I’ve found for getting a general layout are Google Maps and Google Earth. You can usually distinguish property boundaries through the satellite view, and then take a screen shot to start making notes on.
I’m going to specifically focus on the roughly half acre around our house – Though our whole lot is 4 acres, I unfortunately don’t have the time and resources to plant it all! The half acre I’ll focus on is more typical of a suburban lot, and you can still accomplish plenty on this plot size as you’ll see.
Identify Your Soil Properties
Now that you’ve mapped your site, it is time to start examining your soil. While you definitely can learn a lot about your soil just by digging in it, there is an extremely useful website by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) that I use frequently when planning a new site.
Go to https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ – This opens the webpage to start the “Web Soil Survey.” Navigate to your site address, and set the Area of Interest to the area you want to focus on. A lot of the available information is more specific to agriculture and don’t have as much bearing on the average gardener, but it is good to at least know your soil PH and drainage class.
Looking into the soil I’ll be working with, I find that I’m dealing with “Crosby” series silt loam. When I run the ratings for PH I get 6.3, which is slightly acidic. I also get “somewhat poorly drained” for the drainage class – Because we are on a relatively flat site except for right next to the house, we have to deal with a seasonally high water table. This will come into consideration with plant selection, which is especially important for long-lived trees and shrubs. On the bright side, I shouldn’t have any issues with moisture-loving plants!
Step 3: Find Local Examples to Draw Inspiration From
After getting your bearings with your location and finding out a little about your specific soils, it’s time to go exploring.
To find inspiration for what to plant, I like to explore local parks and gardens – You’ll get a feel for what grows well in your area. A field guide is extremely helpful if you are at a park, and public gardens will often have ID plaques in their plantings.
For more true-to-nature inspiration, find high-quality natural habitats near you. Nature preserves are great for this, and you can often go on a guided walk with a park member, helping you to learn about the plants native to your area. In our area, Eagle’s Crest Nature Preserve contains excellent examples of maturing second-growth forest as well as restored floodplain forests and meadows.
Further afield, the state parks and state forests are great for inspiration as well, though sometimes the microclimate and microecology can differ influencing species abundance. What grows well in a park or preserve 50 miles away from you may not grow well in your own garden.
While you are visiting your local parks and gardens, be sure to take pictures and write down notes – What captivates you about quality local landscapes? What catches your eye, what draws you back? These notes will eventually coalesce into your own design aesthetic.
Make sure you save your notes in an accessible place, you’ll need them for the next part of our series!
Next Article: Restore Life to Your Landscape -Set the Foundation