Native Landscaping

Written in Gratitude to Robin Wall Kimmerer Mother Yards Six years ago, I bought into a landscape that was overrun with invasive plants. I was daunted when I pondered their removal, but certitude slowly withered the pondering and I began removing them, sometimes by bits, …

Legacy My Flintstone, Georgia, house was built in 1951 by Martha and Jack Pinion. Almost everyone in this small community knew them, and everyone knew the Pinions’ house. That’s in part because Martha worked but a short walk from here, just past the end of …

Three clear intentions initiated and guided my landscape restoration: to remove invasive and other undesirable plants, to replace them with native plants, and, always, to return the land’s organic matter to the soil. I am carrying out these intentions, no doubt, but other intentions, fashioned …

Building a house or a community lacerates the land. Often the damage is severe, but even with great planning and care, some damage is certain. No matter the extent, this damage is an earth wound. It’s a ground layer scalping that initiates a response from …

In the fall of 2016, after the meadow plugs were planted and the drought finally ended, I thought I had something going.  The following spring, I cleared more space, planted more native plants, and the garden began to take shape.  The lawn was receding, the …