Installing a Native Landscape: Member-to-Member Garden Tour and Planting Guide Members Only
Home of Dina Lehmann-Kim, Ann Arbor, MI
Members Only Free Event Home/Private Garden Tour Free Public Parking
Join us for a tour of the backyard of Wild Ones Ann Arbor Area member Dina Lehmann-Kim, led by William Kirst of Adapt Landscapes, who designed and installed the native landscape.
Dina Lehmann-Kim on Her Native Garden
Last year, when we first moved into our new home, there was nothing in our garden beyond sandy soil and various weeds. Our single-family home is one of the first to be completed in a new development that operates as a condo association (CA). The CA allows owners to have their own gardens in the back of the home but specifies that the garden dimensions must be no bigger than 30 feet long and no wider than the length of the house. In our case, the garden is a little over 1,500 square feet, which was too large for my husband and me to fill in one growing season (another requirement of the CA was that the garden could not be a blank space for longer than one season). Our goal was to fill the space to the greatest extent possible with native plants. We also wanted the garden to have hedgerow to provide shelter for local birds. A related goal was to showcase the beauty of native plants for future homeowners while demonstrating the ecological function that even a relatively small space can offer.
We contracted with Adapt Landscapes for the design and plant installation. Adapt is an ecological landscaping company specializing in creating native plant and perennial food landscapes that are both beautiful and functional—spaces that support biodiversity, reduce maintenance, and connect people more closely with the land around them. Visitors will walk on fescue paths to view over 20 native plants, trees, and shrubs and will have copies of the garden design and a plant key to guide them.
About Wlliam Kirst, Adapt Landscapes
William Kirst is the founder of Adapt Landscapes and Adapt Community Supported Ecology, bringing over 20 years of experience as an ecologist to his work. At Adapt, William co-leads full-service landscape design, stewardship and maintenance planning, installation, and care for homeowners, businesses, and organizations across Southeast Michigan. He combines ecological knowledge with hands-on experience to create landscapes that are beautiful and naturally resilient.