Frequently Asked Questions
What are landscape plugs?
Nurseries grow plants in trays of plugs that are designed to develop a strong, healthy and untangled root system.
Landscape plugs are extra large plugs that provide mature plants robust enough to plant directly into the landscape, an efficient alternative to container plants. This size plug is 2” x 2” across and 5” deep. The roots are substantial.
Native perennials invest in developing robust roots before investing in rich foliage and flowers. The root systems in landscape plugs enable many species to be impressive the first season after planting. There are some species that may still take another year to impress, but it is still a much shorter timeframe than other similar cost approaches.
Landscape plugs are particularly appropriate for native plants, which grow best in native soils and not in enriched soils. The landscape plug’s strong roots reach immediately into the native soils.
North Creek Landscape Plugs ™ vs. Larger Containers
Reduced media volume results in quicker establishment and acclimation to native soils
Landscape Plug™ tray design and growing practices result in greater root mass
Root channels, tapered cells and drainage holes direct roots to one point for air pruning, resulting in dramatically reduced root circling
From the Northcreek Landscape Plug Manual
What results can I expect this year?
These photos show a lawn area in Morristown converted to a pollinator garden using landscape plugs in 2020. These photos are showing the garden's rate of growth from June to September, although in different views. The plugs were planted in late June because the bed was not ready earlier.
Plugs just planted: June 28, 2020
July 17, 2020
September 21, 2020
How does my pollinator garden contribute to the watershed?
Native plant gardens are valuable water managers to the extent that they partially replace lawns. Lawns are green, but not very helpful to the watershed.
Your native plant garden requires no pesticides, herbicides or fertilizer and once their deep roots are established they require no watering. Lawn management uses pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers that migrate into our groundwater, streams and rivers. Mowed lawns have shallow roots that require watering, adding demand on our water supply.
Your native plant garden provides the same same stormwater absorption as a rain garden, the difference being that a rain garden includes a depression to store water beyond what is being absorbed. Lawns are not very effective at helping the soil absorb rainfall, allowing heavy rainfall to quickly become stormwater runoff. In contrast deeply rooted native plant gardens and woodlots with dense ground plants and leaf litter blankets make the ground dramatically more permeable and thus materially reduce stormwater runoff-- some people call this a "sponge soil". Some infiltration tests have shown typical turf to absorb about 1" of rain per hour and healthy meadows and woodlands to absorb up to 16" of rain per hour. This sponge soil permeability is why native herbaceous and woody plants are used in rain gardens.
Lastly, native plants establish extensively interwoven networks of roots that will retain the soil on slopes that are otherwise at risk of erosion.
Will deer eat my plants?
We are only offering plants that are considered “deer resistant”. Unfortunately no plants are “deer proof”-- deer in different areas develop different tastes, and a “deer resistant” plant in one town may be a “deer snack” in another.
Plants seem to be most vulnerable in the spring when they are small and also when new fauns start to learn to feed themselves.
Our recommendation is to monitor your young plants. If you see nibbling or if deer have been a problem, use deer repellent in spring and early summer to train the deer to try someplace else.
Where were the plant plugs in this sale grown and sourced?
All of these landscape plugs are sourced from wholesale native plant nurseries in New Jersey or eastern Pennsylvania. They are “ecotypes” suitable for our area.
The wholesale native plant nurseries for our Spring 2021 sale are New Moon Nursery in Woodstock, NJ and Kind Earth Growers in Ottsville, PA. We are grateful for their commitment to local ecotype native plants.
Do any of the suppliers use neonicotinoids ?
None of our suppliers use neonicotinoids, which are systemic pesticides whose residuals can remain toxic to pollinators for months and sometimes years.
Is there an easy way to identify my new plants?
Recognizing plants is not always easy, especially when they are sprouting back up in the spring. There are two smartphone apps that can make identification a lot easier, although neither is flawless.
https://www.picturethisai.com/