Inside this edition of Natural Garden News
- Drying Miss Daisy
- If you want a Grounded garden…
- How shrubs create living landscapes
- Shifting baselines: the legacy we leave
- New here? Start with these articles
- Project catch-ups
- Check out our new native plant database
- Power plants
- Today’s recommended reading
- Brown is a colour, too
- Today’s VIP (Very Important Plant)
- Je l’adore!
I hope you enjoy the newsletter! If you have any questions or feedback, please reply to this email.
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Simon Payn
Grounded
Email: hello@groundedgardens.ca
Web: groundedgardens.ca
Drying Miss Daisy
Native plants are not magic beans.
Despite what you might read on Facebook, they don’t necessarily have longer roots than cultivated plants. And they won’t naturally thrive in a drought just because they’re native.
So when people think native plants are some cure-all, they’re going to be set up for disappointment.
That’s particularly the case in this kiln of a summer, when our landscape is browned with scorched ferns and trees.
If you’ve done the right thing and planted a moist-loving plant in a moist site, but then the site dries up and gets baked in the sun for weeks and the plant goes brown and crispy… well, it’s not your fault and it’s not the fault of the plant.
The good news is, plants can survive. Those ferns will come back after a good drink.
But it’s something to be aware of in a changing climate: will that reliably moist patch be forever reliability moist?
It’s one reason I try to choose plants that are easy-going and cope with a variety of conditions. But it’s also why I look at the weather forecast (and scientists’ climate change predictions) with open eyes.
Simon
If you want a Grounded garden…
I’m currently booking garden and shoreline installs (and management services) for 2026.
We start by having a quick call to see if it makes sense for me to come look at your site.
To see some of my recent work, please see this page.
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How shrubs create living landscapes
Perennials get all the attention, but shrubs are the workhorses, providing structure, creating habitat and solving problems. Read more.
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Shifting baselines: the legacy we leave
We’ve forgotten how much nature we’ve lost. Now ‘lake legacy leaders’ are bringing it back and leaving something for our children. Read more.
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