Short and Shady 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 Short and Shady Pollinator Garden Kit is a perfect combination of plants for front yard pollinator gardens. We designed this garden with our favorite short, shady woodland plants (see list below). This garden blooms mostly in the spring, with Jacob’s Ladder and Wild Blue Phlox providing a burst of blue in early May. Small Harebells bloom throughout the summer and then Cardinal Flower attracts hummingbirds in late summer.
The sedges form soft grass-like clumps and provide a seamless connection from grass lawns to the garden, while also providing “annual mulch” between flowers and knitting the garden together. Sedges green up right when the snow melts and stay green long into fall, giving the garden a green carpet throughout the year.
Details
Perennials
Sun: Shade, Part Shade
Moisture: Medium
Height: 10 inches - 2.5 feet
Blooms: April - September
Spacing: Plant each plant about 12″ apart
Zones: 3-8
Benefits: Butterflies, Pollinators, Hummingbirds
Great native garden choice for the Minnesota Lawns to Legumes grant program!
Size: 72-plant tray
Plants are 1.6” wide x 3.2” deep “plugs”. There are 72 plugs in a tray 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.
They have a much smaller environmental footprint than pots because they use less soil and greenhouse space.
Plants included:
Flowers:
6 Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)
12 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
6 Bradbury's Monarda (Monarda bradburiana)
12 Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
12 Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Grasses and Sedges:
24 Star Sedge (Carex radiata)
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 day. 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).
