About Us

        Marshall Native Gardens Initiative (MNGI),  is an all volunteer group informally organized as part of the Friends of the Madison County Public Library -- located in Marshall, North Carolina.  We  welcome  everyone  who is interested in learning about native plants, sustainable mountain agriculture, and/or would enjoy getting their hands in the dirt to help improve the Marshall Library's grounds (also referred to as the Marshall Native Gardens).  Give us a call or just drop in at one of our monthly work day & meetings. 

     We love native plants and teaching folks to identify and appreciate native plants !  You may ask "why bother about native vs. nonnative plants?"  Well, there are a lot of reasons to go native... but the short answer is because non-natives take the place of native plants without sustaining the environment.  Our native plants create a sense of place and the variety of native plant and animal species is truly impressive.  Without native plants there are fewer insects, native pollinators, and native birds and wildlife.  Our native populations of birds have plummeted, which I'm sure you've noticed.  We are so fortunate to live in western North Carolina, with one of the richest variety of native plants in the world to help sustain us and our natural heritage.

       We’ve have been working on landscape garden plans and related projects to transform the library grounds into native plant demonstration gardens and educational gardens.  We started this process by removing invasive plants and replacing them with a variety of diverse native plants.  We have build walking paths, aesthetic fencing,  deck siting areas, and many themed demonstration gardens to allow visitors to see and identify native plants in a variety of environments. The hope is that folks will get and understanding of why native plants are so important and fall in love with them and plant them in their own gardens.