Do it right the first time!

This landscape design approach enables you and I to work together on the landscaping concepts and details which are specific to your site and preferences. You will help create your landscape design at your own pace, in the privacy of your home.

You'll plan and visualize your new landscaping before any work begins, and before any money is spent for plants or materials.

Your investment in landscape planning will pay for itself with increased cost efficiency, less wasted labor and the right plant in the right place. You'll enjoy the fun of being involved in the design process and benefit from a design based on your unique site and personal preferences.

Explore all your landscaping ideas - plant selection, pond and waterfall construction, hardscapes and landscape lighting - with the interactive design process...

You're an essential part of the design team.

My design goal is to help you plan, plant and grow a successful, low maintenance"Natural" landscape with only positive effects on our environment.

By designing in the interests of soil health, sustainability and environmental responsibility, your gardens will provide years of beauty, color, tranquility and privacy.

You're in complete control of the design process. View the ongoing development of your design...your input will then initiate prompt revisions to concepts and details...

RollingAcres Native Landscape Nursery! Approach to Garden Design with Prairie Natives

There are a number of reasons people unaccustomed to native plants might object to their proposed use in a landscape planting. The most frequent objection stems from the perception that prairie flowers and grasses are messy and unruly. Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are several basic design tools you can use in urban and suburban settings to get excellent results with native plants.

The following practices apply to plantings where some degree of control is desired. That is, these design elements will help produce a garden that looks as though it was thoughtfully designed and planned as opposed to a naturalistic meadow or recreated prairie where plants grow more randomly.

1. Use borders and paths to define the planting area.
   While a field converted to a meadow or prairie certainly is appropriate in some cases, native gardens gain definition (and public acceptance) when they have definite shape, borders and walkways.
2. Develop a focal point.
   Good garden design starts with a focal point. Bold-textured plants, appropriate statuary or a structure such as a viewing arbor can serve as a focal point.
3. Plant two to four species in broad sweeping masses or drifts that repeat throughout the planting area.
   While large masses of a single species can be quite striking, it is generally easier to control weeds when you include a grass along with flowering plants. Native grasses develop dense fibrous roots that prevent weeds from getting established.
4. Use a mixture of bold and fine textures.
   Too many native plantings for sunny areas lack bold textured foliage and appear "messy" as a result. This is an easy mistake to make because most of the grasses and many of our flowering plants are fine textured. Good candidates for beefing up a design with bold foliage include: Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum), Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum), Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinacem), Indigos (Baptisia ssp.), Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum), Rose Mallow (Hibiscus lasiocarpus), Shining Blue Star (Amsonia illustris), Pale Indian Plantain (Cacalia atriplicifolia)
5. Post signs to tell passers-by that your project is indeed planned.
   Post a planting plan and plant list, if possible.

We can supply all of the necessary supplies including the pond kit, rock and stone and landscaping plants along with instruction and design help for the do-it-yourself homeowner. Give us a call to discuss your landscaping project.

Ways to Use Native Plants in the Landscape

"A thing is right if it tends to preserve the beauty, integrity and stability of the biotic community; it is wrong when it tends otherwise."

~Aldo Leopold,
"The Land Ethic" A Sand County Almanac

Native plants are a good choice for landscaping whether you have one-fourth acre in the city, four acres at the edge of town or 40 acres in the country. Increasing environmental awareness, a desire to connect with nature on a personal level and limited time to devote to home landscape and land management projects are reason to turn to natural landscapes for inspiration. A close look at the plants and patterns occurring in our awesome prairies, majestic forests, sun baked glades, shimmering savannas and shifting wetlands provide excellent landscape models.

There are many benefits associated with a well-planned, diverse native landscape. Unfortunately, we often simplify our natural environment by planting a limited number of plant species, and too often, selecting non-natives. A diverse landscape with many naturally occurring plant species supports abundant animal life, reduces maintenance and offers year 'round interest. Such plantings are also less vulnerable to destructive insects and diseases and seldom need additional inputs such as fertilizer or chemical pesticides.