Advice for starting a native garden - Ask Extension
Hello! I am writing because I am finally getting around to starting my garden after neglecting my yard for a bit too long.
I am looking to plant a ...
Knowledgebase
Advice for starting a native garden #927064
Asked March 30, 2026, 12:09 PM EDT
Hello! I am writing because I am finally getting around to starting my garden after neglecting my yard for a bit too long.
I am looking to plant a native garden that will attract birds and insects. My ultimate goal is to rid the yard of nonnative plants, but I understand that will be a long term project. For now, I am hoping to get your advice on these topics:
- What are the best things to plant to attract birds
- What will grow well in my yard
- Steps to start prepping and planting beds of native plants
I will list some conditions of my yard, as well as some of the plants that are already present, to give you a sense of what may grow well there:
SIZE: roughly 24x21 feet
SUN: most parts of the yard get at least 5-6 hours full sun. Some up to 9 hours, some less than 4.
SHADE: I have some shade cast from a large tree on the sidewalk, as well as from my neighbor's house.
SOIL: As far as I can tell, we have rather moist, well compacted soil. It seems to drain well enough, as it has a lot of rocks because a previous tenant covered the lawn with gravel at some point in the past. (I am hoping to be able to grow things without having to remove too many rocks)
GROUNDCOVER: The yard is covered almost completely with Lesser Celandine right now. We also have a lot of goosegrass, smartweed, pokeweed, foxtails, chickweed, snakeroot, american plantain, and other weeds. Some plants I have that I would like to keep are a virginia creeper, some small white asters, and common blue violets.
I have done a little research into native flowers, and I was thinking of planting things like goldenrod, milkweed, bergamot, foxglove beardtongue, and more asters. In the future I would like to replace the existing groundcover with native grasses and sedges. I am open to more suggestions, as well as plants that grow well together. I would love to have a yard that is always blooming regardless of the season.
So, my question is, what other things would you suggest I plant (and if you have a favorite nursery to get things from!) and how can I best prepare my lawn for planting? I will probably try to do 2 or more beds along the edges of my yard where I get the most sun. Should I lay down mulch to smother the existing groundcover? Should I pull it out by hand and lay down compost? Will simply sprinkling seeds on bare ground be enough for native plants to grow? Will the soil need to be tilled and disturbed? I am very new to this! Any advice at all is appreciated.
My apologies for the lengthy message, and thank you in advance!
- A.M.
Baltimore City County Maryland
Expert Response
To prepare any site for planting, whenever possible, fully remove any unwanted plants already growing there before you install new plants. This is because it can be much harder to remove the unwanted plants after they are growing among desirable plants, whether you use manual means (pulling or digging them up, cutting them down) or chemical means (herbicide). Lesser Celandine is tedious to control and may take several seasons to fully eradicate, and often requires the use of systemic herbicide (applied in a narrow window of time in spring, around when it flowers) to kill the roots/tubers. Mulch can smother some weeds, but not all, and we would not rely on it to kill Lesser Celandine in particular.
Sprinkling seeds on bare soil can be a cheap way of starting a new garden, but it may not be very reliable. This is because weed seeds may also germinate among the desirable seedlings, compete with them, and be hard to distinguish so they can be removed; often seedlings and more mature plants don't look similar enough to be recognizable while they are easier to take out. Starting seed in containers and then transplanting them into the ground once they're a bit older can be a work-around.
Avoid tilling the soil unless it's the only way to work-in amendments like compost or topsoil. Even then, it may be better to wiggle surface-applied compost into the upper soil layer with a garden fork rather than using a rototiller. Tilling damages soil structure, which takes time to rebuild, and good soil structure helps with drainage and soil aeration for the health of roots.
As for plant choices and design layouts, it may be best to work with a hired professional, such as someone with a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional credential, as they are trained in using sustainable landscaping techniques and may be more familiar with using native plants in the landscape. Local Master Gardener volunteers in your county, like at a plant clinic event, can be a source of advice and tips as well, though they can't create a design with/for someone or make a site visit to look at the property. (You can bring sketches and photos of the site to help them visualize the area to make suggestions, though.)
HGIC has many web pages about native plants, landscaping, and pollinators that can help you get some ideas, and the native plant guide recently published is another good way to explore what native species require certain conditions so you can narrow-down what plants should do best in certain areas (sunny and dry, shady and moist, etc.).
When choosing plants, start with any you like that will mature the largest, and decide where they will fit in the space available. Work your way down to smaller-maturing plants so you can account for enough space so each plant doesn't get too crowded as it matures. For aesthetics beyond wildlife support, consider winter interest (evergreen foliage, colorful bark, interesting growth habits/shapes) as well when deciding what plants to place in certain spots, and build around that framework. As a generalization, any plants that require or tolerate the same conditions (sunlight level, soil moisture/drainage) should grow well together, and those that by nature are more aggressive in spread can be paired with others having the same tendencies, to keep each other in check. It typically takes new plants about three years after planting to really start to come into their own in terms of looking like a lush, mature plant, and some species take more or less time to settle in and start looking full than others.
To attract birds, think of attracting insects, as the majority of songbirds rely on insects as a major part of their diet (especially when they are feeding nestlings). Plants that support caterpillars are a big part of that, but flowers attracting pollinators (such as moths) can also be a buffet for birds and other wildlife. Plants producing seed or fruit/berries that birds enjoy can also be a direct source of food, though some of the berry producers are shrubs that are not small in stature, so they take up a decent amount of space in a limited area. (For instance, native Viburnums are popular with birds, but they usually mature in the 5 to 8 foot range for height, and are at least 4 to 5 feet wide. Additionally, some berry-producing shrubs require cross-pollination with another member of their species, so you'd need to account for at least two of those shrubs to meet those needs, which uses even more garden space.) Perennials whose flowers produce seeds that birds enjoy eating in winter need to be kept uncut all fall and winter so the birds can forage on seeds all winter long, so bear that in mind in case any HOA rules or other landscape restrictions require a "tidy" aspect to the yard that would otherwise encourage cutting those dormant plants back.
One first step can be to have a laboratory soil test performed, if you're curious about soil traits like nutrient levels (admittedly less important for this type of planting than, say, lawn care or vegetable gardening), acidity (pH), and organic matter content. Soil testing in this instance wouldn't be so much about determining what to add to the soil, since you generally don't want it very fertile for native plants, but knowing the pH can help you decide later what species prefer those conditions without having to make adjustments. It's always going to be easier to choose plants that fit the existing site conditions rather than try to change those conditions to meet the needs of specific plants.
Miri
Sprinkling seeds on bare soil can be a cheap way of starting a new garden, but it may not be very reliable. This is because weed seeds may also germinate among the desirable seedlings, compete with them, and be hard to distinguish so they can be removed; often seedlings and more mature plants don't look similar enough to be recognizable while they are easier to take out. Starting seed in containers and then transplanting them into the ground once they're a bit older can be a work-around.
Avoid tilling the soil unless it's the only way to work-in amendments like compost or topsoil. Even then, it may be better to wiggle surface-applied compost into the upper soil layer with a garden fork rather than using a rototiller. Tilling damages soil structure, which takes time to rebuild, and good soil structure helps with drainage and soil aeration for the health of roots.
As for plant choices and design layouts, it may be best to work with a hired professional, such as someone with a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional credential, as they are trained in using sustainable landscaping techniques and may be more familiar with using native plants in the landscape. Local Master Gardener volunteers in your county, like at a plant clinic event, can be a source of advice and tips as well, though they can't create a design with/for someone or make a site visit to look at the property. (You can bring sketches and photos of the site to help them visualize the area to make suggestions, though.)
HGIC has many web pages about native plants, landscaping, and pollinators that can help you get some ideas, and the native plant guide recently published is another good way to explore what native species require certain conditions so you can narrow-down what plants should do best in certain areas (sunny and dry, shady and moist, etc.).
When choosing plants, start with any you like that will mature the largest, and decide where they will fit in the space available. Work your way down to smaller-maturing plants so you can account for enough space so each plant doesn't get too crowded as it matures. For aesthetics beyond wildlife support, consider winter interest (evergreen foliage, colorful bark, interesting growth habits/shapes) as well when deciding what plants to place in certain spots, and build around that framework. As a generalization, any plants that require or tolerate the same conditions (sunlight level, soil moisture/drainage) should grow well together, and those that by nature are more aggressive in spread can be paired with others having the same tendencies, to keep each other in check. It typically takes new plants about three years after planting to really start to come into their own in terms of looking like a lush, mature plant, and some species take more or less time to settle in and start looking full than others.
To attract birds, think of attracting insects, as the majority of songbirds rely on insects as a major part of their diet (especially when they are feeding nestlings). Plants that support caterpillars are a big part of that, but flowers attracting pollinators (such as moths) can also be a buffet for birds and other wildlife. Plants producing seed or fruit/berries that birds enjoy can also be a direct source of food, though some of the berry producers are shrubs that are not small in stature, so they take up a decent amount of space in a limited area. (For instance, native Viburnums are popular with birds, but they usually mature in the 5 to 8 foot range for height, and are at least 4 to 5 feet wide. Additionally, some berry-producing shrubs require cross-pollination with another member of their species, so you'd need to account for at least two of those shrubs to meet those needs, which uses even more garden space.) Perennials whose flowers produce seeds that birds enjoy eating in winter need to be kept uncut all fall and winter so the birds can forage on seeds all winter long, so bear that in mind in case any HOA rules or other landscape restrictions require a "tidy" aspect to the yard that would otherwise encourage cutting those dormant plants back.
One first step can be to have a laboratory soil test performed, if you're curious about soil traits like nutrient levels (admittedly less important for this type of planting than, say, lawn care or vegetable gardening), acidity (pH), and organic matter content. Soil testing in this instance wouldn't be so much about determining what to add to the soil, since you generally don't want it very fertile for native plants, but knowing the pH can help you decide later what species prefer those conditions without having to make adjustments. It's always going to be easier to choose plants that fit the existing site conditions rather than try to change those conditions to meet the needs of specific plants.
Miri
