Plants for Tree Beds

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Rain gardens usually have two to three moisture zones, ranging from wet (lower areas with periodically saturated soils and short periods of standing water) to upland (sloping edges with fast-draining or dry soils). Here are some North American native plants listed according to the conditions in a rain garden in which they thrive: wet, upland, sunny, or shady.

Herbaceous Plants for Sunny Wet Zone Sites

These choices are best beneath newly planted trees.

Flowers
Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)
Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis)
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium maculatum)
Bedstraw (Galium boreale)
Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)
Giant sunflower (Helianthus giganteus)
Oxeye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Blue flag (Iris versicolor)
Spike gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
Great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa)
Virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginiana)
Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
Tall meadow rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum)
Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)
Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Grasses and Sedges
Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
Blue joint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis)
Sedges (Carex, Scirpus, and other species )
Canada wild-rye (Elymus canadensis)
Rushes (Juncus species and others)
Rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides)
Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata)

Herbaceous Plants for Shady Wet Zone Sites

Flowers
Wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)
Spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis)
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata)
False dragonhead (Physostegia virginiana)
Tall meadow rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum)
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Ferns
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia pennsylvanica)
Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana)
Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
Marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris)

Herbaceous Plants for Sunny Upland Zone Sites

Flowers
Giant Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Tickseed ‘Moonbeam’ (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Oxeye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Blazing star ‘Kobold’ (Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’)
Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)
Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa)

Grasses
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Shrubs for Wet Zone Sites

Most of these species do well in sun or shade.
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)
Gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
Red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Red-osier dogwood ‘Isanti’ (Cornus sericea ‘Isanti’)
Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
Dwarf bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica)
Meadowsweet (Spirea alba) (needs sun)
Snowberry (Symphorocarpos alba)
New York aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii)
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago)
American cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
American cranberry ‘Compacta’(Viburnum trilobum ‘Compacta’)

Herbaceous Plants for Shady Upland Zone Sites

Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Coral bells (Heuchera americana)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)
Blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Shrubs for Shady Upland Zone Sites
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)

Ferns
Interrupted fern (Osmunda claytonia)
Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

Native Plant Sources

Never dig up plants that you find in undeveloped areas or on public land. To do so would benefit your garden at nature’s expense—and it is often illegal. Nurseries are beginning to sell more native plants as the demand for them increases, so ask your local nursery to stock them. Here are a few local nurseries that offer natives. Native plants are also widely available via mail order and online. Visit BBG’s Gardener’s Resource Center or bbg.org for more information.

Gowanus Nursery
9 Carroll Street, Brooklyn | 718-852-3116

Fort Pond Native Plants
Montauk, NY | 631-668-6452

HR Talmage
Riverhead, NY | 631-727-3100

Green Belt Native Propagation Center
Staten Island, NY | 718-370-9044

Toad Shade Wildflower Farm
Frenchtown, NJ | 908-996-7500

Bill Kolvek Perennials
Woodcliff, NJ | 845-735-2904]]> GardenersSustainable GardeningUrban GardeningArticleTipsheet 2012-12-20T21:03:39+00:00 http://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/hedge_fun http://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/hedge_fun?utm_source=RSS-Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=hedge_fun&utm_campaign=RSS About eight years ago, when my wife and I were expecting our second child, we moved from a co-op in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to the 1930s Tudor-style bungalow that we live in now, near Green-Wood Cemetery. Garden-wise, it meant graduating from window boxes and a shared plot in front of the building to a backyard, a front yard, and a terrace. Site-wise, though, we went from a quiet brownstone block to a main access road to the Prospect Expressway.

Moving there, I was somewhat surprised by the traffic. The street is often quiet, but at certain times the road is heavily trafficked: Contractors drive SUVs to worksites; a decades-old shuttle bus sputters by en route from Borough Park to Williamsburg; and 18-wheelers take it as a shortcut to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. As I headed out to work on weekday mornings, I’d step through my front door and look down from my stoop to a line of drivers glancing up at me as they waited for the light to change. My house had few curtains, which I saw as an uptight sacrifice of light for privacy, and I had long viewed hedging in the same vein. That attitude changed pretty quickly, however, and I began to look for a horticultural means to keep from being the star of my own reality show.

My first attempt to solve the problem was to buy two yews (Taxus × media ‘Hicksii’) for $25 each from a local garden center. Evergreen, tolerant of the stresses of urban life, forgiving when pruned, ‘Hicksii’ seemed to be the model shrub for my Brooklyn neighborhood.

“Before you know it, they’ll be huge,” I told my wife. “We’ll have a little archway to walk under.” I should have known better. After a summer of record rains, the yews had grown barely six inches, to just over two feet tall. At this rate, it would take ten years to get a privacy-size proscenium. And—in a manifestation of that curious phenomenon of reading about a cultural trend in the morning and then witnessing it, repeatedly, all afternoon—the more I struggled with the yews in my front yard, the more I became aware of that particular cultivar planted everywhere: wild and woolly specimens by a playground in Central Park; a row of squat, shaved cupcakes along a driveway a few blocks away; a single aged, malformed specimen outside a corner pizza parlor. When I approached my wife with my misgivings about the time, effort, and payoff with these plants, she said, shockingly, “I never liked them.” I dug them out, chopped them up, and threw them on the compost heap.

Autumn is a more forgiving season than summer to plant shrubs, so I knew the year was not lost. I decided to try something different: pleaching. If ‘Hicksii’ yews are hedging’s lowest common denominator, then pleaching has to be its most elegant prime number. This painstaking horticultural technique of intertwining branches of trees to make a hedge has been practiced since Roman times. Pleaching requires so much time and care that historically it has signaled great wealth, much in the way Park Avenue prewar buildings rotate the ostentatiously crowded plantings in their street tree beds every other month.

Pleaching demands a level of arcane knowledge and exercises a degree of difficulty that greatly appealed to both the nerd and the macho gardener in me. First, the nerd: The best trees to pleach are those that naturally graft, or inosculate, such as lindens, hornbeams, and beeches. Trained along a framework so that the branches form a living fence, the resulting tunnels, fences, or allées were probably grown because they are clearly so difficult to achieve. Next the macho: I could be the first person in my neighborhood—hell, probably in all of Brooklyn!—to pleach.

As with the yews, the moment I was turned on to the art of pleaching, I saw it everywhere: at a chateau in Belgium, where I’d gone for my brother’s wedding; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s room-size panoramic painting of Versailles, for a few seconds in a Merchant Ivory movie. I started by mail-ordering three native American beeches (Fagus grandifolia). Three healthy twigs that set me back about $20 each, the beeches would grow thick, gray trunks and hold their large copper leaves in fall.

When the trees arrived, I planted them along the boundary of my tiny front yard and pulled out my copy of the Royal Horticultural Society Pruning & Training, a Dorling Kindersley guidebook published in London. (For a while I worked in DK’s New York office, “Americanizing” its publications, so my library of gardening books is primarily made up of leftover publicity samples.) The mostly straightforward DK books often include at least one abstruse English gardening practice: how to “blet” medlars (letting the fruits of an unpalatable, hard fruit rot until they can be bitten into) or coppice hazel hedgerows (cutting the trees back into stumps every year so that you can use the whiplike spring branches in basketmaking).

One evening, my wife glanced over my shoulder at the heavy book, scanned the pleaching entry, and read aloud, in her best Miss Marple accent, “A strong and well-constructed framework is needed until the row is fully established.... This may be about 15 years.”

Though at opposite ends of the spectrum of horticultural difficulty, pleaching a row of beeches and plopping a couple of yews in the ground had one thing in common: Both took too much time before they looked good. If I wanted my privacy, I needed results in a season or two.

Winter came and I put the problem aside for a while. In the spring, I was sent to Bologna, Italy, for a trade show. In terms of climate, Bologna is much like Washington, DC, with an enviable early, flowery spring. The smallish city gardens squeezed several plants closely together, often of upward-growing or fastigiate forms: southern magnolia, with huge, brown-felted leaves; redbud, with tiny flowers that grow right on the bark; oleander, notoriously toxic but splendidly tropical in bloom; blue atlas cedar, with gangly evergreen branches. The gardens weren’t tightly shielded by a single species; rather they gave privacy by distracting the viewer through their profusion and variety.

Just when my hunt for the perfect hedge was starting to seem hopeless, I came upon a solution. Every summer, my large extended family goes on a one-week vacation to Long Beach Island, on the Jersey shore. We all cram into a big, dumpy rental house, and by week’s end, vow to do it differently the next year. With my hedge radar working overtime, I saw that many of the beach houses along the busy boulevards had natural hedges of native plants like American holly (Ilex opaca), pitch pine (Pinus rigida), and bayberry (Morella species), alongside naturalized plants like Rosa rugosa. The hedges weren’t very wide and didn’t completely hide the houses, but they were adequate to distract passersby, were easy to maintain, and provided flowers and wildlife habitat. Here was the local adaptation of the approach I had seen in Bologna.

Returning to my small front yard in Brooklyn, I was inspired. I built my first layer of screening with a series of native plants: a sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), which has lemon-scented flowers in spring; two Hamamelis shrubs, a vernal witch hazel and a common witch hazel, which have curious crinkled, fragrant flowers in spring and fall, respectively; a hawthorn, Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’, a cultivar famous for its persistent, bright red fruit; my nod to Bologna, a fastigiate red maple (Acer rubrum ‘Red Rocket’), which has tiny, elegant red flowers in early spring that are invisible unless you look for them; and the accurately named ‘Ruby Spice’ summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), a fragrant, late-summer bloomer that is beloved by butterflies. Not only are these plants native, but they’re what gardeners like to call hard-working—flowering at an unusual time or with special fragrance. Hypothetically, people could peer through the tangle of branches in winter, but they just don’t, so I didn’t have to resort to a triffid-like curtain of Leyland cypresses.

Where the yard meets the sidewalk, I put in a few rambling and climbing roses, which get compliments from my neighbors for about two weeks each June before turning into a green veil. Between the sidewalk and the street, the city planted a hybrid elm. It wouldn’t have been my first choice of tree—it’s little more than a giant weed, having grown taller than our house in less than ten years, but it’s our front line against expressway-bound traffic, and it’s become a home for sparrows.

The last thing I planted, which I stuck into the ground right next to the elm, was a forsythia. A friend offered a piece to me, and although forsythia is nonnative, sprawling, and common as weeds, I love this trashy interloper with its bright yellow April bells because it reminds me of the very first hedge I ever planted. I was 11 years old, and my dad and I dug holes for about a dozen two-foot twigs, which came wrapped in skinny cellophane bags from a discount store. It seems that I waited for years for those sticks to grow, to look like more than a gap-toothed picket fence, to flower more densely and outrageously yellow. And then one day they did.

So now my hedge is complete, and although it doesn’t follow a consistent plan—with natives for the wildlife, ornamentals for my neighbors, and one very sentimental plant for my dad—I like it that way. And so, at last, does my wife.

Sarracenia psittacina (parrot pitcher plant)

Though most pitcher plants grow in the Southeast, the purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) is a striking New York native that can be easily grown in the right conditions. Pitcher plants are usually found growing in areas with damp or wet, nutrientpoor soils such as peat bogs. They have adapted to obtain the nutrients necessary for their growth from prey that fall into their traps and are subsequently digested via special enzymes. Pitcher plants are sometimes referred to as insectivorous—and insects do make up the majority of a pitcher plant’s “diet”—but the more accurate term is carnivorous, because any small creature, insect or otherwise, that gets lured into a trap and can’t escape will eventually be consumed by the plant. The skeletal remains of small rodents, birds, frogs, and other animals have been found inside the tubes of pitcher plants!

The funnel-shaped tubes, or pitchers, of these plants make them conspicuous as carnivores: These are leaves modified over millions of years to form pitfall traps for prey attracted by the plant’s nectar and likely also by the highly decorative red-colored venation of the pitcher’s hood or lid. On the external surface of the pitchers are numerous glands that secrete insect-attracting nectar. Higher concentrations of nectar are secreted around the outward-curved margin at the opening of the tube as well as across the inner surface of the hood and within the trap itself. The cells that make up the hood have rigid, downward-protruding filaments that direct insects toward the opening of the pitcher.

An insect drawn to the opening will often hang from its hind legs in an attempt to access nectar far inside the pitcher. The downward-pointing hairs make it difficult for the insect to maintain stable footing, often resulting in a fatal slip and plunge into the depths of the trap. Just below the line of hairs arranged around the opening, the inner wall of the pitcher has a waxy smooth surface that makes it nearly impossible for an insect to climb out of the trap. Specialized glands within the tube release digestive enzymes that intoxicate and anesthetize the prey as they break down its body to release precious nutrients that are then absorbed by the plant. For successful cultivation, pitcher plants require full sun exposure and a nutrient-poor soil that is highly moisture retentive, such as a 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 mix of peat moss and coarse sand.

Containers should be placed in deep drainage saucers and watered at least every other day so that the soil is never allowed to dry out completely. Pitcher plants are best grown outdoors, where they can receive adequate sunlight and attract prey. All species of Sarracenia are highly ornamental and fascinating to grow by children and adults alike. Specimens should not be collected from the wild, because many pitcher plants plants, like their habitats, are delicate and endangered. Many species and hybrids are available for purchase online or at specialized nurseries, and some can even be grown from seed. Cultivating a pitcher plant of your own can be quite gratifying and helps to ensure the success and survival of this wonderful native plant.

Plants for dry low-light areas

Photo courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant)

• Tolerates low light conditions
• Very drought tolerant
• Does not like to be kept wet or in standing water
• Member of the Arum family although it resembles Cycads, evolutionary dinosaurs in the plant world
• It grows slowly like most houseplants in low light conditions

Photo courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder.

Sansevieria cylindrica (African Spear)

• Very drought tolerant; during winter months can be watered once month; every two weeks during the growing season
• Grows in a fan shape, its cylindrical leaves give it an unusual shape and texture
• Tolerates being root bound
• Native to Angola
• If ever there was a bulletproof plant, this is it!

Photo courtesy of Agri-Starts Inc.

Alocasia lauterbachiana (baroque sword, alocasia)

• Dull green to purple leaves with burgundy undersides
• Thin leaved and upright in habit
• Low light tolerant
• Great focal point for container arrangements
• Prefers even moisture but will tolerate periods of drought

Plants for dry sunny areas

Photo courtesy of Alison Weeks.

Euphorbia milii (dwarf apache, crown of thorns)

• Great choice for small spaces as it only grows to be 12–24 inches tall
• Flowers freely through out the year
• Very drought tolerant
• Native to Madagascar

Photo courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder.

Haworthia sp.

• Endemic to South Africa
• Small and compact, an excellent choice for sunny windowsill
• Needs to be watered only once a month
• There are many different species that have beautiful spiral or geometric rosettes
• Thrives on neglect

For more information and ideas on indoor gardening, visit BBG's Indoor Gardening Article Index.

It’s always a good idea to test your soil, particularly if you are gardening in a new site. It’s the best way to learn what nutrients are in your soil and what you need to add to grow healthy plants. In urban areas, soil testing is especially important because toxic metals like lead may have contaminated the soil. Pregnant women and children are especially at risk from soil with high concentrations of lead.

Testing Your Soil

Download this tipsheet to print at home. (PDF)

When should I test my soil?

You can collect samples at any time, but the fall season is best. The soil is dry, and if you correct any deficiencies in fall and winter, those nutrients should be available to your plants by spring. Ideally, soil should be retested every few years.

How do I collect soil samples?

You will need to collect a separate sample of soil from each area of your garden you want tested. For example, if you want to test soil in your vegetable garden and the soil around some shrubs, you will need to collect separate soil samples from the two areas and have two separate tests run. In each area, use a clean trowel to dig several scoops of soil—at least one cup. Always take soil from two to ten inches below the surface. Put the soil you have collected in a clean container or zip-lock bag. Seal it tightly and label the sample on the outside of the container. Repeat this process in each area you want tested, making sure each sample is clearly marked.

Then what?

Kits are available in many hardware stores and garden centers for testing the soil pH. To test for nutrients, organic matter, and heavy metals, your soil needs to be tested in a lab. The lab should send a list of recommendations along with the testing results. Sometimes the results are hard to decipher, so contact GreenBridge if you need help decoding the information.

Visit the lab’s website or contact it directly (see following page) for more detailed sampling instructions and up-to-date services and prices.

Plants for Tree Beds

Download this tipsheet to print at home. (PDF)

Here are some tips:

• Never raise the soil level when you install new plants—this can rot the bark at the base of the tree.
• Use small plants and bulbs—large plants require deeper holes that can damage tree roots and often have large root systems that compete with the tree for water and nutrients.
• Choose plants with low water requirements. Plant tags and catalog descriptions that say “drought tolerant” and “good for xeriscaping” tell you that a plant doesn’t need much water.
• Select plants that can take abuse. A tree bed is a harsh environment: Choose tough plants that can survive and thrive.
• Install a tree guard to protect the bed.

Plants for Sun

Plants for Shade

Spring Bulbs

Street Tree Bed Care

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Here’s how you can give street trees a fighting chance:

Improve the Soil

The soil in an average tree bed is sad to behold: compacted, infertile, tainted with salt, and often very alkaline. Follow these steps to amend the soil:

• In spring, flush the tree bed with lots of water to help remove salt deposits in the soil. Scattering salt to deice sidewalks can severely damage trees; use sand instead.
• With a hand cultivator (a tool that looks like a three-pronged claw), loosen the soil gently ½ to 1 inch deep.Most of a tree’s roots lie within the top 18 inches of soil, so be very gentle!
• Mix in a thin layer of compost (no more than ½ inch) every year.
• Add a layer of mulch 2 to 3 inches deep, being careful to keep it at least 6 inches away from the tree trunk. Mulch smothers weeds, helps retain moisture, and makes good compost when it decomposes. Replenish the mulch as it breaks down, and replace it every spring to remove toxic salts from winter snow removal.

Water

Even without a drought, tree beds are so small that not enough rain falls onto their soil to adequately irrigate the trees. You can help by watering new trees with about 15 to 20 gallons of water a week. A mature tree needs 8 to 10 gallons a week during the hot season. The key is to water slowly: Set up a hose to trickle into the bed for an hour; or prick a few holes on one side of a clean garbage can, set it next to the tree bed, and fill it with water. A layer of mulch also helps conserve moisture, so always mulch your tree beds.

Keep the Tree Bed Clean

Regularly removing trash and animal waste from the tree bed tells passersby, “Someone cares!” It’s true, picking up trash isn’t as glamorous as planting flowers, but your tree will love you for it. Consider posting a small sign in the tree bed asking people to curb their dogs and not litter.

Install a Tree Guard

Guards help protect your tree from animals, foot traffic, and car and bicycle abuse. Even the simplest guard creates a psychological space around the tree that alerts passersby that the tree is important to the block. An easy, do-it-yourself way is to drive four sturdy wooden stakes or lengths of pipe in each corner of the bed. Make sure the tops of the stakes are at least 18 inches high and rounded so pedestrians can’t be hurt by them. Drill holes through the stakes or pipes, then loop rope or chain through them. If you hire a metalworker to create a guard around the tree bed, make sure the guard is on the edge of the bed and doesn’t touch the tree. Also make sure the guard allows rainwater to flow from the sidewalk into the bed. Note: Installing a guard around any city tree requires a permit. Visit nycparks.org for information about tree guards.

To Plant or Not to Plant

When there’s barely any ground to garden, it’s natural to want to garden in a tree bed. Annuals, perennials, and bulbs can be beautiful additions to a tree bed, as long as you remember that the tree’s health comes first. Flowers let passersby know you are taking care of your street tree. Wilting flowers in the tree bed are also a good reminder to water; as you water the flowers, the tree will also get a drink.

If you’re not careful, though, planting in tree beds can do more harm than good! How? Overcultivating the soil to plant flowers damages the tree’s roots, as does raising the level of the soil in a tree bed. It may not become apparent for several years, but such damage will shorten the life of your tree. Roots need oxygen, which they get from air bubbles trapped in soil. When too much soil is piled up, the air is pressed out. Without oxygen, roots die, and without a strong, healthy root system, the tree will die.

In addition, moist soil or mulch mounded up against the base of the tree can cause the bark to rot, providing entry for pests and diseases, and create a home for rodents to eat away at the tree base. Rotten or damaged bark at the base of the trunk can also “girdle” a tree, or strangle it to death. When a girdled tree dies, it can topple over from the base, often causing a lot of damage.

Here’s how you can plant in the tree bed without harming your street tree:

• Don’t raise the level of the soil. Use a hand cultivator to gently loosen the soil to a depth of ½ to 1 inch. Mix in a ½-inch layer of compost.
• Plant flowers or groundcovers with shallow root systems to avoid disturbing the tree’s roots to a great depth. Try small annuals like impatiens or a perennial groundcover like periwinkle (Vinca minor).
• Avoid ivy, which can climb and thus damage trees; it’s also a water hog and a favorite habitat for rats.
• Small bulbs are good; try crocuses (Crocus species), miniature daffodils (Narcissus species), and glory-of-the-snow (Chinodoxa species).
• Stay clear of large shrubs and water-hungry plants.

Hints for Newly Planted Trees

Immediately remove the burlap wrapped around the trunk and any tape or wire used to hold it in place. Left in place, the burlap could keep the trunk wet and cause rot, and tape or wire could girdle the tree. After a year, remove any guylines and stakes so the tree can grow and move freely, which improves tree strength.

Take care of street trees—for a healthier city and a healthier you!

Creating a Three Sisters Garden

Download this tipsheet to print at home. (PDF)

Three sisters gardening—a term coined by the Haudenosawnee (Iroquois) and a widespread practice throughout North America—is an example of companion planting. The traditional native crops of corn, beans, and squash (along with sunflowers) are considered sisters (to each other, as well as to all creation), because each is part of a cooperative, symbiotic plant community. Each crop is part of a circle of interdependence, giving and receiving.

Here’s how it works: Sister Bean “fixes” nitrogen in the soil by absorbing and converting nitrogen from the air, making this vital nutrient available to plants. (To get the maximum benefit from your beans, allow their roots to decompose in the soil over the winter.) Sister Corn’s stalks support the beans’ vines. Sister Squash’s spiny stems deter animal invaders while blanketing the soil with a protective “living mulch.” A fourth sister, Sunflower, supports the beans, lures birds away from the corn with her seeds, and attracts insect pollinators.

For the Algonquian peoples of what is now the northeastern United States, gardening was fundamental to their lives. They and many other native peoples cultivated gardens in mounds rather than straight rows. The planting guide here is based on the traditional Wampanoag method, but feel free to adapt this approach to the space you have available—whether a backyard garden plot, small raised bed, or whiskey barrel container.

Preparing to Plant

Choose a site that receives at least six hours of sunlight per day. Select corn, bean, and squash (as well as sunflower) varieties suited to the length of your growing season; traditional varieties include drying corn (for grinding or popping), shell and dry beans (for soups), and winter squash (enjoyed both for its easily dried flesh and its edible seeds). Soak all your seeds in water for 24 hours before planting.

Planting

1. Mark the center of each mound site with a stick. If creating more than one three sisters grouping, space the sticks three to four feet apart.
2. Sculpting the soil with your hands, build a flat-topped mound around the stick about 1½ feet across and a few inches high (see diagram). If you’d like, create a ridge or narrow berm around the top of the mound to slow water runoff.

3. Plant four corn seeds, each about six inches apart, toward the center of the mound. Follow the seed packet instructions for planting depth.
   Note: At this time, feel free to add Sister Sunflower to the garden. Along the northern edge of the garden site, make smaller mounds about a foot apart and plant one to three sunflower seeds per mound.
4. Water well, especially as young seedlings are getting established.
5. When the cornstalks are about six inches tall (roughly two weeks later), plant four bean seeds six inches away from the corn seedlings, on the slope of the mound.
6. Now is also the time to plant squash seeds. Around your central mound, create four mounds, each one foot wide. Plant four squash seeds in each of these mounds, about eight inches apart from each other.
7. Once the cornstalks are two to three feet tall, build the mound a few inches higher around the stalks with compost or seasoned manure. This provides fertilizer as well as support for the growing corn.
8. Consider mulching with straw or chopped leaves between the mounds. This is not traditional but will help keep weeds down and conserve water.
   Note: For a whiskey barrel–size container, plant four corn seeds, two to three beans, one dwarf sunflower, and one squash to trail over the edge.

Further Reading

• The Three Sisters: Exploring an Iroquois Garden, Cornell Garden-Based Learning
• The Welikia Project: Beyond Manahatta
• In the Three Sisters Garden, by JoAnne Dennee (Food Works, 1995)
• Native American Gardening, by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac (Fulcrum Publishing, 1996)
• Brother Crow, Sister Corn, by Carol Buchanan (Ten Speed Press, 1997)
• Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden, by Gilbert L Wilson (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987 [1917])
• Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots, by Sharon Lovejoy (Workman Publishing, 1999)
• Gardening with Children (Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2007)

Native Heirloom Seed Sources

• Seeds of Change
• Seeds Trust
• Seed Savers Exchange
• Tierra Madre Farm
• Fedco Seeds
• Monticello Catalog
• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Updated 5/21/12

Buffalograss is usually dioecious, meaning male and female flowers occur on separate plants. The inflorescences on male plants are one-sided spikelets on stems that rise 3 to 8 inches above the leaves. Female plants produce one or more burrlike inflorescences that remain partially hidden among the leaves near ground level; each burr contains one or more seeds.

The homeowners liked the softness of this buffalograss and blue grama so much they stopped mowing. (Photo: Judith Phillips)

Buffalograss starts growing in early May and begins to go dormant in early fall in the Central Plains. Leaves are blue-green during the growing season, although there is great variation not only in leaf color but also leaf width and internode length (the distance between leaves on the stem). Buffalograss does not tolerate excessive shade and is not well adapted to sandy soils. Once established, it can survive in saturated soils for short periods of time. Its extensive, deep root system and relatively low water use make it highly resistant to drought stress. Monthly irrigation in summer normally will prevent the plant from going dormant. Buffalograss, especially the new cultivars developed for use as a lawn, makes it possible for many Americans, particularly those in the prairie and plains states where it is native, to have high-quality turf that requires very little work and vastly less water and fertilizer than the widely cultivated, nonnative, cool-season turfgrasses. Buffalograss is particularly well suited to the transition zone of the United States. This is the zone where often it is too hot for cool-season turfgrasses and too cold for warm-season species.

Establishing a Buffalograss Lawn

There are three ways to start a buffalograss lawn: with seed, plugs, or sod. Seed of several improved turf-type cultivars is available in bulk. Be sure to specify primed seed, which has been soaked or treated with KNO3, a relatively nontoxic salt, to help soften the seed coat and break dormancy. Plugs are helpful when immediate soil stabilization is important. Using sod, although expensive, will vastly decrease the time required to cover the planted area.

No matter which method you use, it is important to properly prepare the site to get the lawn off to a good start.

Preparing the Bed

If the soil has been compacted by vehicles or extensive foot traffic, rotary till to promote deep rooting. If you are planting seed, work the soil to a gardenlike but firm condition; in other words, the seedbed should be firm enough to walk on without sinking more than 1/2 inch into the soil. This can be accomplished mechanically with a light lawn roller or by irrigating the soil before seeding. If you use plugs or sod, a gardenlike condition is preferable but not as important, provided the plug or sod has good contact with the soil.

Eradicate all vegetation in the planting area by tilling or applying herbicide. Control early-season weeds by tilling before seeding. An application of a nonselective herbicide, such as Roundup, is recommended before establishing plugs. Follow all instructions and restrictions on the label when applying herbicides.

Fertilizing

Although adapted to a wide range of soil types, buffalograss is best suited for naturally fertile, clay and loam upland soils. It will establish and grow in areas with eroded soils, and often does well in infertile or poorly drained soils. Apply a starter fertilizer high in phosphorus when seeding to enhance seedling root development and stolon growth. Nitrogen is also important for early growth.

Seeding

For large areas, use a depth-limiting drill, which plants burrs at a depth of 1/2 inch or less. Use a 1- to 2-inch row spacing. For smaller areas, broadcast seed by hand. Assure proper soil-seed contact by using a harrow or by hand raking, first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction. Rolling the area before watering is helpful.

Late spring is the optimum time to seed. If you seed at this time, you should have a full stand by September. Seeds will not germinate until soil temperatures reach 60°F. This is usually around May 15 in the central plains, but may differ in your particular climate. It is important to control early-season weeds before spring seeding (see "Preparing the Bed"). Irrigation during germination and throughout the first growing season will greatly increase your chances for success.

For best results, don't sow buffalograss after August 15; unirrigated fall seedings of buffalograss when soil temperatures are greater than 50°F often fail because young seedlings are susceptible to frost damage and winter drying. Areas that cannot be irrigated can be seeded in the fall or winter, after soil temperatures fall below 50°F.

The amount of seed required depends on many factors. Trials conducted in Nebraska indicate that rates of 1 to 3 pounds of burrs per 1,000 square feet, seeded in early June, produce fully covered stands by mid-September. A good rule of thumb is 2 pounds of burrs per 1,000 square feet.

Planting Plugs

Plugs should be 2 inches or more in diameter with a minimum depth of 21/2 inches. Spacing can vary, depending upon how quickly you want full coverage, but should be no farther than 24 inches on center. During the first year when the lawn is becoming established, it is important to keep weeds to a minimum. Periodic mowing at a height of 2 to 3 inches will help minimize weed competition.

Plugs are available either prerooted or not prerooted. Prerooted plugs have been harvested from an established field, placed in trays, fertilized, and watered in a greenhouse or under clear plastic for 4 to 8 weeks. For early spring and summer planting, they have been shown to establish more quickly than those that have not been prerooted. Plugs harvested in March, prerooted, and planted in May will, under proper growing conditions, establish an acceptable stand by fall.

Plugs that are not prerooted need 3 to 4 weeks to initiate growth and may not provide complete cover by fall. Newly harvested plugs may "go brown" after planting due to transplant shock. It is possible to minimize this off-color period and ensure good rooting by applying a starter fertilizer at 1 pound phosphorus and 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet at planting time and irrigating while the plugs are becoming established.

Planting Sod

Irrigation and fertilization requirements for sod are the same as for a plug planting. Sod, like newly harvested plugs, may exhibit an off-color appearance during the first few weeks after planting.

Selecting Plugs and Sod

When selecting plugs or sod you will have a choice of cultivar and either male or female plants. A single-cultivar lawn will be more uniform than one that includes several varieties. However, as when selecting any turfgrass, it is important to choose a cultivar that is resistant to pests and diseases.

Another important decision is whether to select a cultivar with one or both genders. In unmowed lawns, the male flowers, which generally extend above the leaf blades, are visible, and so some people consider them undesirable. By contrast, female flowers remain close to the ground and are not as visible. To have all-female plants, you must start your lawn with plugs or sod, not seed. If you're planning on mowing, the choice of using either a female cultivar or a male/female cultivar is moot because the flowerheads will be trimmed off.

Irrigation

After seeding, water lightly (1/4 to 1/2 inch), depending on present soil moisture and natural precipitation. Subsequently, water only to maintain a slightly moist surface and adequate subsoil moisture. This also helps reduce weed competition. With treated seed, seedlings emerge in 10 to 14 days. Water plugs and sod every other day for the first week, and every third day the second week. Water once a week the third through the fifth weeks, if there has been less than 1/4 inch of rainfall since the previous irrigation. Do not let water puddle or run off. Establishment will take longer without watering.

On hot days, light watering (syringing) in the late morning or early afternoon will improve stolon growth and rooting in plants established from all methods. Syringing is a light application of water (1/8 inch or less) to prevent wilt and to cool the turf.

Weed Control

Your greatest challenge in establishing a buffalograss lawn will be weed control. Remove weeds from the bed before planting. Eliminate as quickly as possible any weeds that develop after the buffalograss has been seeded. Weeds taller than buffalograss seedlings should be mowed at a height of 2 to 3 inches. Hand weeding is effective for smaller areas.

Insects

In general, buffalograss is relatively free of insect and mite pests. This may be because established buffalograss usually harbors many beneficial insects—big-eyed bugs, syrphid flies, lady beetles, predatory mites, and several species of parasitic wasps—that naturally control pest populations.

The most potentially serious buffalograss pests identified so far are a tiny, grass-infesting mealybug, the buffalograss webworm, and a short-winged species of chinch bug. However, there are no insecticides registered to control these pests on buffalograss. Control them with proper maintenance and cultural practices.

Diseases

Buffalograss is relatively disease free. Isolated cases of diseases have been reported, but little research has been done in this area. Proper maintenance of buffalograss should reduce the likelihood of disease.

Maintaining a Buffalograss Lawn

Irrigation

After the first year, buffalograss lawns in Nebraska usually can be maintained with no irrigation beyond rain, though the quality of the lawn may be enhanced with some timely irrigation. During especially dry springs, irrigation when the turf begins to green up will insure a vigorous, dense lawn that can outcompete weeds.

Supplemental water is most beneficial in late July through August, the period of active stolon growth. Irrigation at this time helps stolons develop roots at the nodes, thus establishing new plants. Unfortunately, it also promotes weed growth. The lawn's green color can be somewhat extended in the fall with additional water, before freezing temperatures arrive.

Fertilizing

For best results, fertilize between June 15 and 30. Nitrogen levels should not exceed 1 to 3 pounds per 1,000 square feet per year, depending on the length of the growing season in your area. Buffalograss will provide a good quality turf with up to 1 pound per 1,000 square feet of nitrogen annually.

Mowing

Because buffalograss is naturally short, no mowing is required. You can mow to a height of 3 to 4 inches to remove the slender male flower stalks that rise above the leaves. This may require regular mowing, since the male flowers are continually produced. Female selections require less mowing.

For a uniform appearance, mow at a height of 21/2 inches at 3- to 4-week intervals in late spring and 2- to 3-week intervals later in the season.

The more you mow, the more supplemental water will be required to maintain a thick, green turf. Minimal mowing and higher cutting heights promote a vigorous root system. Removal of more than one-third of the leaf will reduce root activity and growth, making plants more susceptible to moisture stress near the soil surface. Do not cut the grass by more than one-third its total height at any one mowing.

Terrance P. Riordan is a professor of horticulture at the University of Nebraska, where he teaches a graduate course in turfgrass management. He received his Ph.D. in agronomy from Purdue University in 1970. In 1997, he received the Fred V. Grau Turfgrass Science Award. His work with buffalograss for the past 15 years has led to the release of eight improved turf-type cultivars.

When I planted my first window box, the only thing that grew was my embarrassment. But my experiments provided fodder for conversation with more knowledgeable neighbors. Before we knew it, a trend began, and our block’s window boxes helped us reach the finals in the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest.

Window Box Gardening Tips

If you and your neighbors are ready to tackle window box gardening, keep a few things in mind:

• Safety first. Don’t take any chances—always fasten boxes securely so they cannot tip or slide off the sill (eye hooks and strong wire can do the trick).
• Choose the right container. Whenever possible, bigger is better. Boxes of terra-cotta and wood are more porous and therefore require more watering than plastic, cement, or metal. Be sure your box has drainage holes.
• Right plant, right place. Consider the amount of light, shade, wind, and heat in the location and choose accordingly. Drought-tolerant plants are a forgiving choice.
• Mix it up. Combine colors, textures, shapes, and heights. Don’t be afraid to mix perennials and annuals, or flowering plants with ones that provide gorgeous foliage.
• Be water wise. Even heavy rains may not reach your plants on a windowsill, so check daily that the soil is moist. Water thoroughly—mornings or evenings are best.
• Fertilize and “deadhead.” Containers leach nutrients quickly, so regularly add a liquid fertilizer like fish or kelp emulsion. Top dressing with a layer of compost also gives your plants a nutrient boost. Keep your plants looking tidy and flowering steadily by removing dead leaves and spent flowers.

For More Information

To learn more about the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest, visit bbg.org/greenbridge/greenestblock.