This post is part of a series highlighting our chapter members who are professional landscapers
Not everyone who advocates for native plants started out that way. Felicia Brundick, owner of Meramec Native Landscapes LLC, found her calling “through the back door.” In 2008, with a newly minted degree in secondary education, Felicia found the Recession had eliminated her teaching opportunities. Instead, she was hired to run the technical side of the Eureka High School Drama Department.
After four years of “hanging out in the dark,” she was ready for a change. She had found a mentor in the grandfather of her future husband. He lived on a farm and had some acreage not being cultivated, so he began teaching her about crops. It was love from the beginning, vastly interesting to her, and fun as well. She was an apt student, and truly enjoyed working outside, so when she decided to leave education she chose to enter the horticulture program at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
At the college she was she was tasked with caring for the native plant areas on campus, expanding her growing knowledge and gaining hands-on experience. She also worked part-time at a storm water management company where she worked with designing, building, and maintaining rain gardens and working up inspection reports for the Metropolitan Sewer District. In 2015 her home was flooded, which proved a wake-up regarding the importance of native plants, especially their storm water properties.
After school Felicia took a position at the Shaw Nature Reserve as a native plant horticulturist in the Whitmire Wildflower Garden, gathering even more experience with native plants. She learned from Scott Woodbury, who “always talked about maintenance being very important when caring for natives”. The Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) and its Grow Native! program received grant money for the new position of Outreach and Education Coordinator. Allowing Felicia to combine her educational experience with her passion for native plants, this position seemed ideal, so she applied and was hired. The initial phase lasted two years at which point Felicia chose to grow her own company, Meramec Native Landscapes.
Analyzing the growing interest in native plants, Felicia identified the area she fills: that of native garden maintenance. It is a common error to assume that, because a plant is a native, it will thrive on its own in an attractive manner; that, “Native plants don’t require maintenance.” Felicia says people who say they have let their yard go back to nature, have really just quit mowing. In fact, the less space a gardener has the more attention to maintenance is required.
“My passion runs deep for native plants and the benefits they provide our ecosystems. I love the Wild Ones St. Louis group of native plant enthusiasts! Throughout my education at Meramec and time with Shaw and MPF, I have learned a great deal. I am truly grateful to have worked with such knowledgeable and positive people. We are so lucky to have this fantastic group in our city!”
Meramec Native Landscapes LLC
meramecnativelandscapes@gmail.com
Services: Native landscape maintenance: weeding, cutting things back, thinning, etc. Also, working alongside homeowners so they can learn what it takes to care for native plants and how they work together to benefit pollinators, curb stormwater, and beautify yards.
