About Shelterwood Gardens


Shelterwood is part growing native plants, part education, and partly a way to experience the world. What I love about native plants is the surprise they bring to the landscape -a community of plants that is ever changing. Of course, native plant communities are also the best way to support all the wildlife that inhabit our spaces. 
 
Due to wild swings between drought and flood, we've arrived at an inflection point in the design of home landscapes at the intersection of High Plains, Northern Boreal and Eastern Deciduous Forest. The years 2021 through 2023 have been especially drought-stressed, and that after several years of above average rainfall. Lawns have gone brown, for good, in a short period of time. 

The home building industry creates lawns because they are easy to install on scraped home sites. This is a matter of mastery and efficiency -in other words, contractors do not need to acquire new knowledge to accomplish their economic tasks. New home buyers are okay with it because the lawn is ubiquitous, they know it well, and it so thoroughly represents order in the social universe that there is little need to question the practice. 
 
If you are reading this far, maybe you have crossed the threshold into the uncertainty and learning that is the world of native plant gardens and landscapes. Maybe you have questions or maybe you've eagerly prepared yourself for a new garden adventure. Either way, at Shelterwood, you'll not only find mature species for a variety of Minnesota conditions, you'll also find me ready to offer observations on the growing of over 200 species.

Thank you for visiting.
Frank
Owner, Shelterwood Gardens

Early spring in the woods of Shelterwood.