The Brandywine Conservancy has launched a new website for home gardeners, the Brandywine Native Garden Hub. It’s designed for people who want to get into using native plants in their home gardens.
Stephanie Armpriester, the director of Conservation and Stewardship at the Brandywine Conservancy said, "Our main goal with this new website is to break down barriers for those interested in getting started with native plants and to provide them with all the tools they need to begin their garden journeys.”
Armpriester describes the site as “an online resource that will inspire gardeners of all levels and skill sets.”
The site is designed to offer an educational guide for anyone who wants to get into gardening using native plants and shrubs. It’s especially geared toward people new to using native species and want to break away from the usual perennials.
She explained the importance of using native flora to provide a more ecological landscape.
“It’s going to take more than just a few people to implement these environmentally friendly practices. We want to inspire people to join us in our mission-related work to implement native gardens in their own backyards,” Armpriester said.
In speaking of the barriers to such a garden, she said people can find using native plants intimidating.
“Understanding what to plant and how to maintain them is a different approach than your normal annual flower plantings.”
In using the new site, gardeners can begin to understand what native plants are and how they function in our landscape, they’ll know what the benefits are, she said.
Among the benefits of using native plants is that they’re low maintenance and can help provide a pollinator habitat. Providing that type of habitat is one of the goals. It could help bring back some endangered species, especially bees and monarch butterflies.
“Planting native plant gardens is key to bringing back our endangered species that are supposed to be in this landscape.”
The Native Garden Hub provides those resources, she said.
“It’s a one-stop shop to learn about native plants and gardening.”
The site includes 250 plants that are native to this region. Each plant has a profile listing, and each profile includes everything from growing conditions to plant attributes and wildlife benefits — along with photos that show different growth stages.
By signing into the site — which is free — users can personalize their searches and preserve their preferences based on attributes and benefits, plant type, height and width, peak bloom time, bloom color, deer resistance, fragrance, and more.
In what may be considered coincidental timing, the launch of the site comes less than a month before Mother’s Day weekend and the conservancy’s annual native plant sale.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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