Home of Sven and Karen Anderson
Wednesday, Sept 9th at 6:00 pm
Saturday, Sept 12th at 9:30 am
Photos and highlights by Donna Short
Marsha Gebhardt, Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter President, kicked off the gathering with a few announcements and a reminder to read your monthly e-mail newsletter Read All About It, which should be in your inbox the 1st of every month and highlights upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, webinars and more. Plant Sharing along the driveway.
Karen and Sven spent 30 years living surrounded by native woodland plants in a birch and oak forest in New York state before moving in 2021 to her current 1/3 acre home site surrounded by lawn and as you can imagine she was determined to make a few changes! She has been a Wild Ones St Louis member for over three years. Karen has faced a number of challenges in her native plant journey, which began in earnest four years ago.
Her first concern with the new house was a soggy yard she labeled a mosquito breeding ground. As she was installing French drains and diverting the downspouts, she discovered MSD Rainscaping grants. She subsequently got a grant for a rain garden and a turf alternative area.
Full disclosure: when the yard was completely torn up for drainage work, Karen and Sven installed an irrigation system. Karen is conflicted about using it on the native beds, but decided that healthy thriving plants do two things: 1) support the wildlife better; and 2) show the neighbors wildflowers don’t have to look weedy.
MSD-funded “turf alternative” project installed in May 2024.
Cacalia Design and Wilding designed the MSD gardens, using a “front yard formal” concept as a guide for the turf alternative. One of her primary goals is to keep the gardens looking as tidy as possible to encourage neighbors to grow native. The MSD gardens were installed in May 2024, so this is their 3rd summer.
Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata), Eastern blue star (Amsonia tabernaemontana), Orange Coneflower(Rudbeckia fulgida), Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), and American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) in the front yard.
In addition to wildflowers and other native plants, Karen has planted a number of native trees and shrubs. Ohio Buckeye was provided by City of Webster Groves, Rusty Haw Viburnum, Bur oak, Spicebush, Ninebark, Button bush, Elderberry, and Shrubby St. John’s Wort.
Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) in the turf alternative area was “Chelsea-chopped” before budding, and Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) in the rear of the photo.
Moving to the shady back and sunny side yards. The back has been mostly experimental, and many plants went in the ground before Karen understood “right plant, right place.” The Blue Sage should have been planted in a sunny place. The Bottle Gentian is quite happy.
Bottle Gentian in the back garden (Gentiana andrewsii). That corner traps water and it’s in medium shade. Bumblebee heaven!
Cedar Sedge (Carex eburnean) – in the back garden. The boulder is also surrounded by Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) and Blue Sage (Salvia azurea).
There is an approximately 200 sq ft area being solarized on a corner of the property. Karen is soliciting ideas about what to plant there. Full midday sun. It has to be short because it sits at an intersection, and Karen wants it to be tidy and no flopping. Prairie Dropseed, Prickly Pear, Cliff Goldenrod, and Pussytoes were suggested.
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Copper Iris, (Iris fulva), Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Missouri Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa), and a newly-transplanted container of Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) surround the year-round bubbling boulder in the back yard. There is a 200-gallon pond liner under the rock, a heater, and an autofill feature.
Time out to watch the critters! Sitting in her screened porch watching robins taking wild baths in the bubbling boulder, hummingbirds visiting the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and squirrels chasing each other through Meadow Anemone (Anemone canadensis) and up the River Birches. Karen craves the peaceful feeling that nature brings. BCH visited in 2023 and left behind a booklet of possibilities. The MSD Small Grant program facilitated the property becoming BCH Certified Silver, and Karen has since planted more areas to achieve the coverage required for gold. Karen periodically reminds herself to consider maintenance requirements and not to go beyond what she has the time and resources to maintain. “Just one more plant,” right?
Rain Garden planted in May 2024 with the assistance of an MSD Grant. Visible are Virginia Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica), Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), Missouri Coneflower (Rudbeckia missouriensis), Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea).
Rose Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) found in the Rain Garden.
With exactly 96 native plant species alive at this time in both sun and shade, Karen is also experimenting with container gardening. Prairie dropseed gets an A+!
Another project is finding the appropriate plants to border the cinderblock foundation to soak up rainwater before it runs into the basement. She welcomed ideas! After planting a False Indigo Tree (Amorpha fruticosa) there, she was warned that their aggressive root system would potentially cause a problem, so out it goes! What to replace it with? There’s a Ninebark just behind this that is doing well.
Rabbits are an ongoing issue and deer have been sighted recently in her neighborhood of Webster Gardens.
Karen had the fans running in her screen room and a slide show on her computer of her yard’s transformation over the last two years.
Many of her neighbors are growing native plants and they have formed a Wild Ones Seedpod.
Lastly, and most important, Karen wants to credit her garden helper, Rose Merton (Wild Ones member), with keeping the beds looking great. She did a fantastic job.
Thank you Karen and Sven for sharing your garden!
