Category: Ecological Services

Connecting Native Plant Gardening and Rain Gardening

Posted on | Colorado Native Plants, Ecological Services, Native Landscape Planning & Design, Sustainability, Uncategorized

By Kristine Johnson I’ve written a series of articles for Wild Ones Front Range on precipitation harvesting, and I’ve recently interviewed Brad Lancaster, Jace Lankow and Luis Salgado­­­–all water harvesting practitioners in Tucson, Arizona–for insights into the connections between native plant gardening and rain gardening. Look for that article in the national Wild Ones Journal […] Continue reading "Connecting Native Plant Gardening and Rain Gardening"

Ecological Gardening Best Principles

Posted on | Ecological Services, Native Landscape Planning & Design, Sustainability

 By Deborah Lebow Aal Wild Ones isn’t only about native plants. Yes, plant choice is critical, but your overall gardening techniques and what you do before, during and after the planting of these native plants can have an equally large impact on your home ecosystem. So, here are our top ten tips for caring for […] Continue reading "Ecological Gardening Best Principles"

Ask CSU Extension Anything: Colorado Keystone Species

Posted on | Colorado Native Insects, Colorado Native Plants, Ecological Services

Question: Is there a list of Colorado keystone species? And, what do you think of the concept of Keystone species? Many organizations have developed lists of keystone species for Colorado and the wider region. Perhaps one of the most thorough (and most flexible, because it is focused on the genus level) is from the National Wildlife […] Continue reading "Ask CSU Extension Anything: Colorado Keystone Species"

Grasses are the Foundation

Posted on | Colorado Native Plants, Ecological Services

By Jan Midgley In dry lands with few woody plants, grasses are the foundation of the landscape both functionally and aesthetically. But why should we include them in public and private designed landscapes? The small, wind-pollinated flowers are not as showy as the flowers of forbs (flowering herbaceous plants that are not a graminoid – […] Continue reading "Grasses are the Foundation"

Multi-Stem Native Trees and Large Shrubs for Colorado Landscapes

Posted on | Colorado Native Plants, Colorado Native Trees and Shrubs, Ecological Services

By Paul Alaback and Kristine Johnson Why Use Multi-Stemmed Trees?   When we think of creating a native garden or landscape in the semi-arid West, we often conjure up an image of a dry prairie with many wildflowers and grasses, all adapted to hot dry conditions. While some places were historically prairie, all around Colorado we […] Continue reading "Multi-Stem Native Trees and Large Shrubs for Colorado Landscapes"

Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Plants

Posted on | Colorado Native Insects, Ecological Services

By Karim Gharbi While I appreciate the advances in horticulture that have allowed us to feed 8 billion people, that appreciation does not extend to the pesticide industry. This idea that we can dominate nature with “quick fixes” like insecticides or herbicides is hubris. Mother Nature developed the tools to self-regulate long ago, we need […] Continue reading "Attracting Beneficial Insects with Native Plants"

Compost and the Native Plant Garden

Posted on | Colorado Native Plants, Ecological Services, Maintenance, Sustainability

By Kristine Johnson What is compost? Compost is the “managed, aerobic (oxygen-requiring) biological decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms.” While we know that everything living eventually breaks down and returns nutrients to the earth, the process of composting can speed up decomposition, benefit certain decomposers, conserve nutrients, and yield a uniform product useful in gardening.   […] Continue reading "Compost and the Native Plant Garden"