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Creating Your Habitat, Where to Begin
Thinking of your outdoor space as 'habitat' rather than 'garden' or 'yard' helps to emphasize the need to focus not only on what you plant, but also on how the space is maintained with a focus on supporting lots of life.
Use the resources below to begin planning your space. There is a lot of information on this page and it can be at bit overwhelming at first. But, spending the time to research plants will ultimately bring you the most success! No one can do the work for you. Being a (successful) DIY gardener means putting in the time to learn your site conditions, study plants, and dig deep on the fundamentals of nature based gardening principles. If that doesn't sound like it is for you then you may want to hire a professional to work for or with you. Contact us for recommendations for your area or to discuss ways to go about finding and hiring a professional to help you.
Ready to Get Searching?
Click on the images below to access great, searchable plant databases!
Our preferred perennial grower, Glover Perennials has a wonderful searchable plant database on their websites. You can search by your special growing conditions, by plant height, bloom time and even bloom color to find the right plant for your place! Be sure to include "Northeast Native" in your search criteria. We also sell the very popular American Beauties line of native plants grown by Pride's Corner Farms in nearby Connecticut. American Beauties has many very helpful tools and resources on their website to make the process of including native plants in your gardens easier. We encourage you to use these resources and make good plans! If you have your heart set on a specific plant or need large quantities of any varieties be sure to outreach to us to discuss special order options - note that all of the fabulous growers that we source from are wholesale only, they do not sell to the general public.
Visit Plant Libraries
Glover Grown Perennials
American Beauties from Pride’s Corner Farm
American Beauties from Pride’s Corner Farm
Click the image to explore the plant library.
American Beauties from Pride’s Corner Farm
American Beauties from Pride’s Corner Farm
American Beauties from Pride’s Corner Farm
Click on the image to explore the tools available on the American Beauties website.
Use These Additional Resources to Continue Your Plant Search
National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Database
Use this site to search by zip code to find plants that host the highest numbers of butterflies and moths to feed birds and other wildlife where you live.
The Audubon Society Native Plant Database
Enter your 5-digit zip into Audubon’s native plants database and explore the best plants for birds in your area, as well as local resources and links to more information. By entering your email address, you'll receive an emailed list of the native plants you've selected and get additional tips on creating your bird-friendly habitat.
University of Rhode Island Native Plant List
The Rhode Island Native Plant Guide was developed by the URI Cooperative Extension in collaboration with the Rhode Island Natural History Survey and their Rhody Native Initiative.
Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Pollinator Friendly Garden Guide
At this site you will find a series of tools for developing pollinator friendly landscapes. This includes a searchable and printable list of native plants readily available in MA.
Jersey Friendly Yards Curated Plant List & Planting Guide - Northern NJ
Explore this great starter list for your growing native plant garden. The resource also includes a planting guide. Though developed for Northern New Jersey, nearly all plants are well suited and native to our region as well. The majority of plants on the list are regularly stocked at Prickly Ed’s.
Jersey Friendly Yards Curated Plant List & Planting Guide - Coastal Areas
This is a very helpful resource that includes great native plant lists and planting guides. Written for coastal NJ but nearly all plants are well suited to our region and most are native here as well. Nearly all plants on the list are regularly in stock at Prickly Ed’s!
Native Plant Finder for MA Pollinator Species at Risk
The plant list resources at this site are based on years of research at the Gegear Lab at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Use these lists to help support specific species of at risk pollinators in your garden.
Grow Native Massachusetts Plant Lists and Landscape Guides
Grow Native Massachusetts offers a wonderful array of plant lists and landscape guides designed for homeowners in our region on their website. Visit and dig in!
Jersey Friendly Yards
Jersey Friendly Yards is a remarkable website filled with user-friendly interactive tools to help you plan an environmentally friendly, bay sensitive outdoor space. Although focused on New Jersey, our similar coastal location, population density and climate make this toolkit perfect for our location as well.
Pollinator Pathway Favorite Plant Lists
The team at the Pollinator Pathway has compiled their favorite plant lists and guides into one place. We think you’ll find these resources to be very helpful in planning your buzzing space and picking beneficial plants.
Massachusetts Audubon Society Plants for Pollinators
The Massachusetts Audubon Society has published a list of beneficial plants for birds & other wildlife. Explore the resource at the link below.
The Xerces Society Pollinator Plant List for the Northeast
Providing wildflower-rich habitat is the most significant action you can take to support pollinators. Adult bees, butterflies, and other pollinators require nectar as their primary food source, and female bees collect pollen as food for their offspring. Native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climates, are usually the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators. Incorporating native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees into any landscape promotes local biological diversity and provides shelter and food for a diversity of wildlife. Most natives require minimal irrigation, flourish without fertilizers, and are unlikely to become weedy. The Xerces fact sheet features regionally native plants that are highly attractive to pollinators and are well-suited for small-scale plantings in gardens, urban greenspaces, and farm field borders, and on business and school campuses.
Explore the Mt Cuba Center
Explore the amazing plant trials, research studies and educational resources from the Mt. Cuba Center. Learn more about the horticultural and ecological benefits of a wide variety of native plants and their cultivars.
Check Out These Amazing Resources for Veggie Gardeners!
Wildflowers to attract beneficial insects 🐞
All native plants play an important role in ecosystem building, but some do a better job than others of attracting the beneficial bugs that are essential to effective organic vegetable gardening. Click on the image to explore more.
Beneficial Insects for Vegetable Gardens
Planting native flowering plants near vegetable gardens provides two essential services, beneficial pest control and pollination. Click on the image to learn more about the beneficial bugs you want in your yard.
Edible Native Plants!
Edible Native Plants!
When we think of growing food it is often the non-native agricultural crops that we have become accustomed to. But many of our wonderful and beneficial native plants have a rich history of culinary uses. Explore more in this 14-page guide.
Pollinator Planting Guide
Selecting Plants for your Pollinator Garden
Dig in to this fantastic pollinator planting guide specific to our region. It includes helpful charts of bloom times for beneficial plants and matches host plants to our native butterflies.
Native Garden Design for Small Spaces
Have a small space? Looking to start small? This book is full of great ideas.
Native plants have developed something of a bad rap among some homeowners and even garden professionals as messy and hard to manage plants that do not fit in with the neighborhood. We vehemently disagree! But, we are also sensitive to the fact that some people are not fully ready to embrace their wild side and want a more subtle transition. Fortunately there are many beautiful native plants that not only fit well into a residential yard, but also provide multiple benefits. The book "Native Plants for Small Yards" features ideas and recommendations for these native plants that will work well in a flower garden or home landscaping project, especially for the resident with the small yard. Just click on the button below to download and start reading.
Planting in a Hellstrip
Planting in a hellstrip has unique challenges and opportunities. It also requires some special considerations. If you are planning a transformation of the space along your street, visit this article for guidance and inspiration and make use of their plant suggestions for this uniquely challenging environment.
Storm water Management & Rain Garden Resources ☔️
How to Build Your Rain Garden
Click on the image above for a step by step guide to finding the right spot for and then building your rain garden.
Native Plants for New England Rain Gardens from UNH
So many of our native plants are well suited to rain gardens. To get you started with your plant list click the image above to explore this resource from the University of New Hampshire.
Storm Water Solutions - Rain Gardens from the State of MA
Detailed guidance on creating a rain garden to manage storm water - includes good plant lists. Click the image above to download the guide.
There’s an App for That! 🌧
Click on the image above To explore this free, a fun app from the University of Connecticut. From video tutorials to searchable plant databases this app Offers a fun way to get your rain garden project off the ground.
Stormwater Management for Homeowners
You can help manage stormwater runoff right at home. Explore this helpful resource from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Rain Garden Manual for Homeowners from Vermont
An amazing how-to guide filled with easy to understand and implement instructions for building your rain garden. Includes a fantastic plant list. From Vermont but not just for Vermont.
Native Plant Solutions for Salt Prone Sites
Edges of Your Property Plagued By Road Salt?
Edges of Your Property Plagued By Road Salt?
Edges of Your Property Plagued By Road Salt?
Bordering properties with deep rooted native plants is a fantastic way to mitigate storm water run off and to block pollutants. But plants near roadways are subject to exposure to road salt. Focus on salt tolerant native plantings for these spaces.
Backyard Prone to Coastal Flooding?
Edges of Your Property Plagued By Road Salt?
Edges of Your Property Plagued By Road Salt?
Rising sea levels, heavy rains and moon tides converged on Barrington this year leaving some backyards flooded by nearby waterways. Focus on deep rooted native plants with high salt tolerance for maximum resiliency in these areas.
Deer Resistant Plantings
In our experience here at the Barneyville All You Can Eat Buffet, a hungry deer will snack on nearly anything, though some plants are clearly not preferred. We don't advocate the growing trend to spray plants with products that alter the smell and taste of the plant since the science is not clear on what deleterious effects this might have on the pollinators we are working to help. Deer have become a challenge in residential landscapes because of habitat loss so our real suggestion is that we need to conserve the last available wild spaces we have and build back habitat at home so there are more suitable places for wildlife to be wild. In the meantime we have found that the more aromatic a plant is the less likely a deer is to be interested and by planting densely (lots of plants) damage will be minimized. As shrubs and trees mature they also become less palatable.
Need Help and Inspiration Designing Your Space?
Be sure to visit our "Life in the Garden" Blog and explore articles on garden habitat design and maintenance.
Note that our articles also run monthly in East Bay Life, a regional publication here in East Bay, Rhode Island.
Maintaining Your Yard and Gardens
#LeaveTheLeaves
Now that you have planted the perfect pollinator paradise be sure to nurture your new habitat in a way that also nurtures life. Learn more about Leaving the Leaves and Saving the Stems from the Xerces Society at the link below.
Skip the Pesticides
Learn more about the harmful effects of pesticides at the link below. Many of these pesticides are lurking in commonly used lawn and garden products, please use extra caution when caring for your pollinator patch.
Dig even deeper on nature based gardening.
Prairie Up
This is the website of Benjamin Vogt ("Milk the Weed" / "New Garden Ethic"). The site is full of how to guides, online courses, tools and resources to help you plan an ecologically sound garden. Click on the image above to visit the site.
New Directions in the American Landscape
New Directions in the American Landscape was founded by Larry Weaner, a talented, well known ecological landscape designer. Throughout the year you can sign up for workshops and courses to help you up your resilient landscaping game. Click on the image above to visit the site.
Dear Avant Gardener
Dear Avant Gardener
Many of you may know Bristol resident Heather Evans who created Dear Avant Gardener. Through the website which can be accessed by clicking the image above you can sign up for her informative and inspirational newsletters, read articles, explore resources and sign up for DIY courses.