Tall and Sunny Pollinator Garden Kit - 72 plants
Can be shipped.
This Garden Kit includes 72 plants, a garden design, and instructions for planting and maintenance. The design and instructions are available here. We recommend reading the instructions page before purchasing.
The Tall and Sunny Garden Kit was specifically created with low-maintenance pollinator gardens in mind. We included our favorite tall prairie plants that spread a little too much in shorter gardens but can duke it out with each other in this one (see list below). The result is a combination of plants that attract a ton of pollinators while spreading enough to compete with weeds. Many of these plants get over 5ft tall!
This garden does look really nice during the summer. There are many complimentary blooms with yellows/pinks in the summer and purples/yellows in the fall. There is no shortage of pollinator or visual interest in this garden. Birds will even be seen eating the Blazing Star seeds in the fall and winter. The grasses and sedges provide a connection with grass lawns while also providing annual mulch between flowers and knitting the garden together.
This is a great back yard garden to watch from the porch. It will be packed with colors during the summer and then look like a brown jungle in late fall—after the birds are down eating the flowers seeds in November, we usually trim it down to 1ft high and leave the trimmings in place to provide insulation for overwinter insects. Trimming to 1ft high leaves hollow stems sticking up for bees to nest in the next growing season.
Details
Perennials
Sun: Full Sun, Part Shade
Moisture: Medium
Height: 2 feet - 8 feet
Blooms: May - October
Spacing: Plant each plant about 18″ apart
Zones: 3-8
Benefits: Butterflies, Pollinators, Birds
Great native garden choice for the Minnesota Lawns to Legumes grant program!
Size: One tray of 72 plants
Plants are 1.6” wide x 3.2” deep “plugs”. These 72 plugs come in a single tray that’s 11” x 21” long.
They are small but grow surprisingly big the 1st year and are large, flowering plants the 2nd year.
We use these plugs for our own projects because they are budget friendly and very easy to plant.
Plants included:
Flowers:
6 Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
6 New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae)
3 Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis)
6 Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
6 Meadow Blazing Star (Liatris ligulistylis)
3 Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
6 Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
6 Grey Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
6 Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Grasses and Sedges:
6 Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
6 Prairie Sedge (Carex brevior)
6 Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparius)
6 Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Note on Species: Depending on germination and greenhouse success we may have to substitute a species or two, but usually this list is spot on.
Installation Tips:
This Garden Kit will plant an area from 10ft x 10ft up to 10ft x 15ft, depending on how you like to space the plants.
It’s important to remove any grass or weed roots before planting. If you remove grass with a shovel, it can take a few hours. If you want to smother it with paper or cardboard, it can take 2-3 months. Plan ahead of time.
We recommend adding 3” of wood mulch (not included). Wood mulch reduces weeds, reduces watering to just 3-5 times the first year, and nearly doubles plant growth—well worth the extra work and cost (about $50 for a 10ft x 10ft area).
We recommend adding edging to prevent grass or weeds from creeping into the garden (not included).
