2022 Garden Tour

Jean Najjar—a board member of the PA Native Plant Society and advisor to the planning of this year’s tour—has been shrinking her lawn and adding natives to her State College Borough property since 2001. Though she works each season to add more natives to her yard, she is not a purist and her yard has made room for a few favorites like the little leaf lilac in the front. Jean says she use to move tons of mulch each spring to keep weeds down and maintain soil moisture. After attending a Native Plant Conference, she gave up that practice much to the delight of her back. Now she spaces plants close together and mulches in the fall with leaf litter. 

She uses her biodiverse lawn as pathways to connect several distinct spaces in the landscape. Her sunny front yard features a long rain garden that drains water from the driveway and roof so it can percolate more slowly into the ground water instead running into the sewer. The rain garden is buffered from the sidewalk by a mowed edge. This good neighbor practice keeps the sidewalk clear of plants and provides a visual cue to the intentional nature of the planting. The raingarden also serves to create a semi-private space on one side of the front yard where the family often hangs out. The hanging swing is a favorite spot.

Beds spanning her shaded backyard are anchored by two graceful birch trees, and layered with natives including flowering raspberry, American spikenard, and a variety of spring ephemerals.  There is a patio under a pergola of trumpet creeper for dining on one side of the yard and a place to hang laundry on the other. She is working on developing a path through the understory at the back with smaller spaces for forest bathing. “It’s a work in progress”.

Download a printer-friendly list of plants at the Najjar property.

Jen Rand and her husband, Chris, purchased their 5/8th-acre property in 2009, which at the time was heavily planted with non-native selections. As Jen worked the gardens over the next several years, she would periodically find hiding plants unfamiliar to her. Research on those plants led Jen to better understand the intentions of the property’s original owner, who clearly had filled the gardens with native species. The first plant she found and identified – and has since moved several times – was a small patch of bloodroot. This particular plant still serves as the source of inspiration to native gardening.

Jen’s father, whose volunteer work propagating native plants for local stream-bank restoration projects led to his own foray into native-plant landscaping in his (also local) garden, is a substantial source of inspiration (and plants). About five years ago, with his help, Jen began removing invasive species from her lot, while also starting to incorporate some natives. At this time, Jen and Chris also made the important decision to forgo any lawn treatments and passively allow non-grasses to start to populate their lawn.

In spring of 2021, with the overhaul of the first of two substantial garden beds, Jen began to explore native planting. With the help of a local landscape architect, she installed a bed in the rear of the house with native grasses, cranesbill, blue false indigo, red sprite holly, Rudbeckia hirta, and Solomon’s seal.  By the end of the summer, the garden was a mix of native species and cultivars. This year, determined to focus on truly native planting, she incorporated Red Osier Dogwood, added two Pawpaw trees (on replacing a recently removed Bradford pear), Dutchman’s breeches, gray-headed coneflower (to replace the Purple Coneflower that is especially desired by the local groundhogs) and several others in the garden. As with many of the gardens throughout this property, the mix of species evidences the transition to natives this property is undergoing.

This year’s work has included removing the last of the invasive shrubs on the property – the burning bush lining the driveway. This area has now been replaced with a fully native perennial garden, with many of the species sourced locally. This garden was inspired by this list of plants published by Penn State Extension and more specifically, the garden design for “house and fence corner” for a dry, sunny area in this guide.  

A visit to the Rand gardens will give you a glimpse into the nascent stages of native gardens tended by a newcomer to the field. The gardens here demonstrate ways in which homeowners can incorporate natives into their own garden designs, and provide a realistic picture of what one can expect when getting started with native-plant landscaping projects.

Download a printer-friendly list of plants at the Rand Property. 

As a Tennessee native, Jean Yeatman was a relative newcomer to Pennsylvania native plants when she acquired her property in 1998. But with the help of the PA Native Plant Society and local nurseries, she’s now something of an expert, maintaining more than 89 species of natives in her 1/8th acre corner lot, which has been certified as pollinator-friendly by the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners and bird-friendly by the Audubon Society. Jean embraces “organized chaos” in the garden by following nature’s cues: “I’m working alongside Nature in my ever-evolving garden design. It’s usually easier to let Nature lead the way, spreading plants where they do well. Then I just have to edit,” said Jean. Jean and her husband, Claude dePamphilis, have also installed a rainwater management system that includes three rain barrels, drip lines and soaker hose, Ollas, and a trenching system to retain runoff. Be sure to check out their inspired use of Downy Skullcap (Scutellaria incana) as a living fence and sound barrier!

Download the printer-friendly list of plants at the Yeatman-dePahmphilis property. 

Despite living within the rules of a homeowners’ association, the Ziegler’s property checks most, if not all, the boxes of ecologically friendly landscaping, and is sure to inspire even the most experienced of ecological gardeners. Since acquiring the property as a “blank slate” in 2004, Greg and Renee have been adding plants and reducing lawn and have been certified "pollinator friendly" by Penn State Extension Master Gardeners. Greg now mows only a small patch of grass, “leaves the leaves,” provides decaying wood for insect habitat, and has fit more native plants than you might think possible in a half-acre lot, due to skillful layering of shrubs, understory trees, perennials, and ground covers. His native plantings include uncommon selections such as native wisteria, bladdernut, American persimmon, ninebark, and many more. Greg was very intentional about his tree selection, choosing trees that are slow-growing enough so as not to outgrow the property, yet they provide ample protection from winter wind and summer sun, resulting in significant energy savings. Be sure to check out the oak stumps he rescued from a nearby tree removal to provide decaying wood for insect habitat!