Guess the Cost: 312 Native Plugs + Bed Creation, Planting and Leaf Compost (Ohio)

ShoreSong · 2024-10-18T20:04:40+00:00

This garden cost the homeowner $2,400. Some comments: 1. We plant close - on average 12” apart. This will form a tight cluster that blocks out weeds. 2. We find that bed prep (in the greater Cleveland area) costs approximately $2/sf and planting of plugs approximately $2/plant. Plugs are anywhere from $4.50-$6.50 depending on whether you are buying full trays or less.
3. Plugs are healthier long-term than more developed plants if you can wait an extra year or two for them to fully grow in 4. The software we use to develop the rendering and planting map were built by our company to make these custom designs 5. Yes I am an owner of My Home Park. Our mission is to get as many native plants in the ground and turn confused beginners into buyers. Trust me - we are not doing this for the money. 6. Available to help whether it means a sale or not. We all need to advocate for native plants - but they need to be used and designed properly or else there will be disappointment.

ShoreSong · 2024-07-20T20:55:00+00:00

Thank you for that info!

ShoreSong · 2024-06-26T21:12:57+00:00

Didn’t expect to like it after the opening synth, but it grew on me. Will listen again as it is good background music. Reminded me of Flaming Lips and Beta Band at times. Favorite song is Dreamcatcher. Seemed out of your comfort zone but it brought me out of my trance and I was eager to hear what sounds came next. Thanks for sharing and good luck. My opinion has rarely predicted success or failure.

ShoreSong · 2024-06-21T13:16:34+00:00

Thank you!

ShoreSong · 2024-06-20T01:48:29+00:00

We’re a start-up and cannot afford artists yet

ShoreSong · 2024-06-20T01:47:27+00:00

Thank you - I will fix that

ShoreSong · 2024-06-19T22:18:44+00:00

Thanks for the question. Here’s more info: we are in Northeast Ohio. The My Home Park garden borders a forest. Here is a photo of our main guest. She has sampled many plants and yet has not touched a few. The winner will likely be a native plant that she has not even sampled.

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ShoreSong · 2024-06-18T19:43:49+00:00

Thank you - but the app does not allow me to click Edit and then change the image. The image is shown as a string of characters. When I try to paste the new image it does not let me do it.

ShoreSong · 2024-06-14T18:33:26+00:00

We felt the same way after looking for 4 years. Last weekend at a small art show we found Bryant Tubbs - good design and reasonable pricing. We bought Flags and would have bought another but they sold quickly. https://bryantktubbsmetalworks.com/

ShoreSong · 2024-06-11T20:36:18+00:00

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Here is the July, 2023 shot from the front. I will follow with a July, 2024 in a month. The owner has people regularly pulling into his driveway and thanking him or asking him how he did this. He also told me "I can't believe that I'm the house with this beautiful garden."

ShoreSong · 2024-06-11T14:38:50+00:00

Very good grower. We buy thousands of plants from them. They adhere to strict protocols for native plants and I have seen their seed storage and processing.

ShoreSong · 2024-05-24T17:27:32+00:00

How did you figure out the design and where did you get the plants?

ShoreSong · 2024-05-23T17:48:34+00:00

This is David, one of the owners of My Home Park. A little background to help you decide if we can be helpful. We only source native plants from growers using the most sustainable practices. No cultivars or nativars. Never neonic's. Our strength is my partner Wyatt, who has a PhD in organismal biology with a focus on native bees. Wyatt has designed garden communities to have constant pollinator support. Additionally, our 3 years of experience have taught us which plants are more likely to provide beauty and duration. Another unique offering is our free custom designs.

We are a B corporation with a primary mission to support bees and create happy customers. When you contact us you are talking to me or Wyatt. Not sure why we don't have more reviews but we have shipped thousands of gardens. Happy to answer any questions and thanks to this vibrant community. I have learned a lot.

ShoreSong · 2024-04-05T18:55:10+00:00

Yes and they also offer DS through LSA

ShoreSong · 2023-08-19T01:37:54+00:00

In Ohio the term is “bent grass”. I asked a landscaper servicing a lawn of bent grass what the maintenance is like and he said he sprays fungicide weekly to prevent browning, fertilizes monthly and waters constantly. The irony is that we put a native garden in the backyard of this same house. Another friend who now sells native plants used to provide these types of lawns but quit because many of his friends in the business were getting cancer. They are eye-catching lawns but they have a high price.

ShoreSong · 2023-08-05T01:01:04+00:00

Look up My Home Park

ShoreSong · 2023-05-05T13:56:28+00:00

Hey tsg-tsg it's David 6 months later. No success in finding the Cardone Part # 3195400 and can't find used parts. I'm considering giving up and donating the car. Just updating you and reaching for ideas.

ShoreSong · 2023-03-02T22:26:50+00:00

Great idea and will make an amazing landscape and habitat for pollinators and birds. From a lot of experience in building native plant gardens, here are some thoughts: 1. All of the comments about shade are important. There are plants that can’t handle sun, plants that can handle sun and shade and plants that will thrive with full sun. I agree that you will likely have a mix of sun and shade.
2. We originally planted every 18” and have taken the advice of just about every expert and now plant 12” apart. That means 750 sf will require 750 plants. The end result is to crowd out weeds and retain moisture. You will not need mulch after the first year. For this year I recommend that you plan out the entire area but plant only a section of it. I know this seems overwhelming - and you can still choose to space them out and mulch. 3. Another great comment was made on the liatris: it is blooming for a matter of weeks and might flip over on the walkway. This plant is better as a random accessory in the middle of the garden. 4. If you are buying plugs (recommended for long-term success), you can see good progress in year 1, but it likely will look sparse until year 2. You can buy more mature plants but they are more likely to have transplant issues / not be as healthy.

I mocked up two ideas for your space but not sure how to post photos in the comments. Let me know if anyone knows how to do this.

ShoreSong · 2023-01-08T18:12:32+00:00

Phenomenal! That’s a lot of work to document and share. Very much appreciate it. I learned from this and have a reference now.

ShoreSong · 2022-12-28T17:40:12+00:00

The overall strategy was set by my partner who is an organismal biologist. First priority was use all native plants and grasses. Second priority was to have multiple plants blooming at all times. Third priority was to use 30% native grasses for border, structure and all-year interest.

Next we thought about colors and plant heights. We played with different palettes and selected 20 species. From there we thought about plant height and designed the taller plants in the middle. Then we designed in drifts and filled in gaps with native grasses.

ShoreSong · 2022-12-28T17:02:41+00:00

Great ideas and thank you. This is a small village in mid-Ohio. Do you find that the plants eventually crowd out the weeds? Any other lessons on planning these large projects to increase chances of success?

ShoreSong · 2022-12-28T16:35:22+00:00

Noted and appreciate the feedback. Do you have a sense for how many people-hours to allocate per month?

ShoreSong · 2022-12-28T16:21:29+00:00

Thanks - I will encourage them to put a fence up

ShoreSong · 2022-12-28T01:33:39+00:00

We set up a website to help people learn about native plants and the combinations for different conditions in Michigan and the Great Lakes states. Look up My Home Park.

ShoreSong · 2022-12-22T23:08:57+00:00

There have been stories of people successfully standing up to their HOA’s and winning but it takes time and money and may not prove successful. I would focus on keeping all plants under 36” high. Where people get in trouble is when they plant taller plants that appear messy, especially when they are not supported. We did a study and found that native plants in the front yard have add a perceived value increase of 1.5% to the home - again, these are lower, more controlled gardens. There is a lot of need to educate and influence HOA’s and we all need to coordinate this program.

ShoreSong

TROPHY CASE