Plan your garden

Before starting your garden, identify and remove any invasive species. You can consult the Ontario Invasive Plant Council, and use apps such as iNaturalist or Seek, so that your data is used to support environmental research.

A good practice is to select trees and shrubs first, then plants. To ensure continuous blooms throughout the seasons, you can make a table with three columns with the headings spring, summer and fall blooms, then ensure you have at least three different types of plants under each category. This will help you have continuous blooms throughout the seasons.

To choose the right plants, you can use the Gardening Calendar from J&S Calendars Ltd. and the Lady Bird Wildflower Center Find Plants database under the combination search.

According to Lorraine Johnson, it is best to:

• Plant a minimum of 3-5 plants of each species in cluster
• Plant a diversity of species (colours, flowers, shapes etc.) that bloom from spring to fall
• Leave some bare ground and cavities for nesting bees
• Include old logs
• Not use pesticides

To learn more, we also encourage you to consult:

• Container Gardening, Canadian Wildlife Federation
• Create your Own Native Garden: A Guide to Creating Beautiful Home Landscapes, Wild Ones National Office & Wild Center
• Creating Backyard Habitats for Wildlife, PBS
• Design Elements & Principles, Canadian Wildlife Federation
• Design Templates, Halton Master Gardeners
• Designing Age-Friendly Landscapes, Sensory Trust
• Designing and Planting with Native Plants webinar, New York - New Jersey Trail Conference
• Designing with Common Nursery Plants,  
  Benjamin Vogt 
• DIY Garden Designs, Audubon Pennsylvania
• Everything you need to know about climbing plants and how to choose them, CBC
• Garden Design in Under 2 Minutes, Benjamin Vogt
• Grow Native! Designing with Native Plants with Ronda Burnett, Missouri Prairie
• Host plants for butterflies, CCE-Monroe Pollinator Friendly Garden Certification
• How to Design a Dementia-Friendly Garden, Sensory Trust
• How to Design a Sensory Garden, Sensory Trust
• How to Grow a Meadow, Wildflower Farm
• How to Pass Weed Inspection, Monarch Gard
• Keystone Native Plants - Northern Forests, National Wildlife Federation
• Low-growing Native  Shrubs for Ontario Gardens, In Our Nature
• How to Show Weedy Purpose and Avoid Fines, Monarch Gard
• Native Gardens, City of Guelph
• Native Plant Database, North American Native Plant Society
• Native Plant Gardening and Design, Land Conservancy of McHenry County
• Native Plant Gardening on Your Balcony, North American Native Plant Society
• Native Garden Templates, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
• Native Plants, Natural Landscaping with Native Plants, Wild Ones
• Native Plants that are Host Plants for Butterfly and Moth Caterpillars, Peterborough Master Gardeners
• Plant Paradise Toolkit, Hamilton Pollinator Paradise Project
• Planting for Pollinators, Northeast Pollinator Plants
• Planting Guide for your Native Pollinator Garden, Pollinator Partnership
• Pollinator Plants, River Berry Farm
• Selecting Plants for Pollinators,  Pollinator Partnership Canada
• Sustainable Landscaping Basics, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia

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