Home of Sara and John McClenning
Wednesday May 13th and Saturday May 16th
Photos and highlights by Donna Short
Prior to touring the garden, we gathered under the maple tree in the front yard where Sara plans to add a soft-landing area. Marsha Gebhardt, Wild Ones St Louis President made announcements regarding upcoming events.
Plant and idea sharing at the Gathering!
Sara became involved with native plants while she was searching for a replacement for boxwoods in her previous home. Her future son-in-law’s mother introduced her to native plants and proposed a basic garden design for her yard.
After Sara read The Nature of Oaks by Doug Tallamy she was she sold on native plants and determined to have an oak tree as part of her landscape! Happily, her home search in 2021 resulted in a yard with an oak tree and no landscaping. This gave her a blank slate with an oak tree as the centerpiece to develop her native plant garden. She has been a Wild Ones member since 2023. Sara’s garden has over 60 plant species – primarily shade plants.
The Oak Tree surrounded at the base by a collection of shade plants including Celandine Poppy, Various Ferns, Wild Ginger and Bee Balm.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and Goat’s Beard (Aruncus dioicus) blooming under the Oak Tree
One of her main challenges was learning how to cope with deer grazing. She incorporates grasses and sedges and other plants which are ignored by deer and uses creative planting to “hide” plants they would be tempted to graze on. Also, she uses deer spray and fencing as an added deterrent.
Fringed Sedge (Carex crinita)
Sara faces the invasive honeysuckle challenge which is an ongoing problem.
There is a damp area behind the house – Sara calls it her faux raingarden, where she has planted Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica ), Rose Mallow (Hibiscus lasiocarpos), Rose Turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) and sedges. She feels that here she can see how the native plants have succeeded in returning the natural balance to the area. She sees hummingbirds and butterflies and hawks and foxes control the population of rabbits and chipmunks.
Throughout the garden, plants are in various stages of development. The garden has been a work-in-progress over the last four years.
This area was planted 18 months ago!
Copper Iris (Iris fulva)
Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)
Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
Yellow Honeysuckle (Lonicera flava)
Sara plans to work with her HOA to apply for an MSD grant to develop a raingarden in the common ground where Kiefer Creek runs behind her property. Sara’s garden is certified Gold by Bring Conservation Home. Sara also applied for and received $3,000 in grants to Wild Ones St. Louis from her employer Enterprise Mobility.
Thank you, Sara and John, for sharing your garden with us!
