Plants for Soft Landings

“Soft landings are diverse native plantings under keystone trees (or any other regionally appropriate native tree). These plantings provide critical shelter and habitat for one or more life cycle stages of moths, butterflies, and beneficial insects.

 Keystone plants are native plants that support a significant number of caterpillars (butterfly and moth larvae).  Planting keystone plants helps build complex food webs by forming the essential foundation – native plants and insects – that provide food for other organisms, directly and indirectly. 

After feeding on native tree foliage, many moth and butterfly caterpillars spend their next life cycle stage (pupae) in the leaf litter or in the soil below the tree.  Regularly mowed turf grass under trees lacks the necessary habitat for these important insects to complete their life cycles.  Frequent mowing also leads to compacted soil. 

Planting intentional soft landings under keystone trees (or any regionally appropriate native tree) builds healthy soil, provides food for songbirds and pollinators, sequesters more carbon than turf grass, and reduces time spent mowing.”

Information provided by Heather Holm

  The following native plant list includes plants that thrive in part shade under native trees.

NOTE:  Not all plants listed are available at all times.

Aquilegia canadensis               Wild Columbine

Asarum canadensis                  Wild Ginger

Mertemsia virginica                   Virginia Bluebells

Phlox divacarta                         Wild Blue  Phlox

Podophyllium  peltatum             May Apple

Polemonium reptans                 Jacob’s Ladder

Polygonatum biflorum               Solomon’s Seal

Sanguinana canadensis           Bloodroot

Adiantum pedatum                   Maidenhair Fern

Anthyrium filix-femina              Lady Fern

Dryopteris ludoviciana              Southern Wood Fern

Osmunda regalis                      Royal Fern

Osmunda cinnamomea            Cinnamon Fern

Polystichum acrostichoides      Christmas Fern

 

Previous
Previous

Partial to Full Sun Perennials

Next
Next

Muscadines & Figs - Great Edibles For Your Garden