This week on the Podcast, Jessie talks with Colleen and Bre from Minnesota Native Landscapes, a full-service ecological restoration company providing services ranging from backyard seeding to large-scale restoration, bioengineering and everything in between. 

The discussion starts by overviewing the benefits of using native plants in the landscape, and that's just the begining. 

MNL offers a wealth of knowledge and resources on their website.

Spring Maintenance for your Native Planting

Why Choose Native Plants

Topics Covered:

• A definition of native plants
• Reasons to plant native plants
• The benefits of native plants
• Considerations when choosing native plants
• A brief discussion about rain gardens, site selection, and plant selection

This week on the Podcast, Jessie talks Aaron, pernnials department team lead and media team contributor. Together, they present garden plans for 4 specific spaces - pollinator gardens, full-sun, part-shade, , and shade, This along with several other resource including care cards and perenial blogs will set you up for success in the garden this year. Make sure to take some time to get to know the LEARN page on our website, specifically the Perennial of the Week section.

Download and print garden plans here!

Topic Covered:

• An overview of our perennial department and how we source plants
• Considerations when planning and planting a perennial garden - soil, light, etc.
• Trends in perennial gardening
• Perennial specific learning resources
• Garden plans
• Native Plant Selections
• New perennials for 2023

This week on the Podcast, Jessie talks with Travis and John, founders of Sol Soils, a premium potting mix company selling hard to find soil components, soil toppers, and soil mixes for all types of plants. They hand-mix their soils with the best ingredients to produce fast-draining, gritty mixes.

We love that their focus on "gritty" mixes which are coarse growing mediums made up largely of inorganic materials that more closely mimic the natural environment that many popular plants like aroids, tropicals, cacti, succulents, or orchids come from.

There are a number of benefits to a chunky mix that make it superior to any standard "specialty" tropical, cactus, or succulent soil you'll find in big-box, or even high-end plant shops.

The extra aeration allows the roots ample room to breathe (Oxygen in + CO2 out) and avoid shrinking, caking, and compaction.

Quick draining means water is able to freely penetrate the soil to get to the plant's roots and drain excess right out the bottom of the container, avoiding the dreaded "wet feet" that leads to root rot.

The mix still stores water well, but allows for the substrate to breathe and dry in a more consistent manner and the moisture it does hold is in the components around the roots instead of trapping and suffocating the roots themselves like a peat base often does.

These types of soil options do not need more frequent watering since they capture moisture and hang onto it for the plant to draw from over time.

Shop Sol Soils here!