Building a landscape full of native plants is a beautiful way to make a better environment for wildlife and reduce your storm water footprint. And it doesn’t have to be hard. To make it easier, we are offering four great talks in our Spring Native Plant Lecture Series. Each two-hour session costs just $10 and…
When it comes to native plant gardening, a little planning goes a long way. At Herring Run Nursery, one of the first planning questions we ask our customers is “when do you want to plant?” And the truth is that trees and shrubs can, with the right precautions, be planted almost year-round but different types…
A native plant garden full of healthy, well-chosen plants is a joyous place: beautiful and full of wildlife. Too often, though, native plant gardens end up being something less than joyous. One the primary reasons that people are disappointed with their native plant gardens, even if they are not fully aware of the reason, is that…
Having just returned from the very exciting New Directions in the American Landscape conference, I posted on the Herring Run Nursery Facebok page a quote famously attributed to Jack Ward Thomas – the controversial chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1993 to 1996. The problem is, the quote actually belongs to Frank Edwin Egler. Egler…
The most popular native plants at Herring Run Nursery are ones that offer beauty year-round. The beauty of a native plant that shines in winter is that they help preserve the sense of seasonality. Winter in Maryland has its own special character, and one of the native plants that helps define that character is redosier dogwood (Cornus…
Rain gardens are often the best solution for reducing the amount of polluted runoff your property generates. They capture the stormwater before it leaves your land, allowing it to soak gently back into the earth. This process helps the water cycle, reducing stream flooding during storms and recharging ground water, and also traps pollutants so…
Fall is a great time for tree planting: the soil is still warm enough to help roots grow, but lower air temperatures are less stressful on newly transplanted trees. And there are lots of reasons to plant a tree: Trees help reduce polluted storm water runoff Trees provide cooling shade and lower electric bills Trees are…
Few of our native plants shine in September and October like asters do. At Herring Run Nursery we are big fans of asters: they add fantastic color to the Fall garden, provide crucial late-season nectar to pollinators (including the migrating Monarch butterfly), and are important host plants for all sorts of important caterpillars. We rounded up…
We often hear that one reason to plant native plants is that they are easier to grow than non-native plants. While there is a grain of truth behind this legend, the truth is that plants of any type need the right kind of maintenance regimen. It is true that properly selected native plants are, in…
We highlight three purple native plants you can use to support wildlife, reduce stormwater runoff, and show your pride for the Baltimore Ravens.