Gardening with Native Plants

Updated 12/2024

Learn about the benefits of growing native plants. In this class you will find out how to identify native plant species and get ideas for using these plants in the landscape, plus information on how to design, install and maintain a native plant garden. This class topic is part of the Plant Biodiversity priority of the Master Gardener program. 

If you enjoyed this class, please join us for another. Current and upcoming classes are posted on our website. 

Class Handouts

• Slide Presentation (Slide print-out)

• Participant Class Handout

Related Handouts

TBD PDF files 

Online Resources

PRO-TIP: Write “site:edu" (or "site:gov") before adding your search term "native plants" to get research-based advice

• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Cultivating Native Plants

• Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, Residential Pollinator Habitat 

• University of Minnnesota Bee Lab, Pollinator Education Toolkit 

• University of Minnesota Extension, Native Plants 

• Xerces Society, Habitat Installation Guide: Upper Midwest

  
  

Native Plant Species and Sources

• Audubon Society, Native Plant Database for Birds

  • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 

• Plant Guide (shoreline focus) 

• Native Plant Encyclopedia 

• Native Plant Suppliers, Landscapers, and Restoration Consultants for Minnesota 

• Minnesota Horticultural Society,  Tips and Tricks for Collecting Native Seed

• Minnesota Wildflowers: a field guide to the native flora of MN 

• National Wildlife Federation, Native Plants Finder

Garden Projects and Design

• Blue Thumb 

• Pocket Plantings

• Container Plantings

• Lynn Steiner, Landscaping With Native Plants of Minnesota

• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Natural Shorelines 

• Missouri Botanical Garden, Container Gardening with Native Plants.

• University of Minnesota Extension

  • Building a Rain Garden 

  • Gardening in the Shade

  • Planting and Maintaining a Bee Lawn

  • Planting and Maintaining a Prairie Garden

    
    

Garden design

• Blue Thumb, Design Templates

• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota’s Native Trees and Best Native Yard Trees for Our Changing Climate

• Wild Ones, Native Garden Plans

  
  

Site preparation

• Lawns to Legumes, A Quick Guide to Site Preparation 

• Xerces Society, Organic Site Preparation for Wildflower Establishment​

Books

• Holm, Heather. Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observer and identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants. Pollination Press LLC, 2014.

• Johnson, Lorraine, and Colla, Sheilal. A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators: Creating Habitat in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Upper Midwest. Island Press, 2023. 

• Rainer, Thomas and West, Claudia. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. Timber Press, 2015

• Steiner, Lynn. Grow Native: Bringing Natural Beauty to Your Garden. Cool Springs Press, 2016.

• Steiner, Lynn M. Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota - 2nd Edition. Voyageur Press, 2011.

• Tallamy, Douglas W. Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press, 2020. 

• Vogt, Benjamin. Prairie up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design. 3 Fields Books, an Imprint of the University of Illinois Press, 2023. 

• Vogt, Benjamin. A New Garden Ethic. New Society Publishers, 2017.

Organizations

• Blue Thumb and Lawns to Legumes grant program

• Wild Ones

• Xerces Society