Ecological gardening Services
Waxwing EcoWorks Co. facilitates a personalized process to achieve your gardening for wildlife goals. In valuing collaboration, property owners are invited to garden alongside Elyse, as she teaches you about the native plants and pollinators that will soon visit your newly planted space. This educational approach in restoring your backyard, schoolyard, neighborhood sidewalk strip, etc. ensures proper care and long-term sustainability of your investment, while building your capacity to share the newly acquired skills to friends, family, and neighbors. Select from a variety of services, tailored to fit your specific needs, including; consultation, design, site prep, installation, and co-stewarding.
Please note: all initial 1.5 hr. consultations are $150. Customers that live beyond 10 miles outside of Lancaster City, PA will have an additional mileage fee of $1.50/mile for the round-trip site visit. Thank you for your understanding in compensating for time/fuel costs!
Email elyse@waxwingecoworks.com or click the link below to start your next gardening for wildlife project.
DESIGN
A scaled design of the new envisioned space, provides you with the confidence to move forward with your ecological gardening project. Designs include; a budget friendly hand-drawn scaled drawing, native plant palette, and detailed budget. Colored designs can be made upon client request. Projects that exceed 350 sq.ft. are required to obtain a design for the successful installation of your project.
Site Prep
Site Prep includes manually removing low-functioning plants (lawn grass, etc.), without the use of chemicals. Mending the soil isn’t recommended in most circumstances, given that the native plants chosen are well suited for your ecoregion and soil type. Sheet Mulching, a process of layering cardboard and wood chips, is a budget and eco-friendly approach to transforming lawn to an ecological garden.
INSTALL
Invest in a “Right Plant, Right Place” plant palette that meets your site’s specific soil, sun, and water conditions. Landscape plugs are neonicotinoid free and are an affordable option to create your habitat. Property owners are encouraged to participate in the installation process. Choose to certify your property as a NWF Wildlife Habitat to create ecological corridors and communicate the ecological value of your new space!
STEWARD
Stewarding your garden is a joy! This is when all the inspiring observation arises. With changing climate and invasive species pressure, it is crucial to interact with your garden and to enjoy the birds, butterflies, and bees benefiting from your native garden. Scheduling a monthly co-stewarding visit reduces the stress of solely sustaining the function of the habitat.
♻️ Closing-the-Loop: All landscaping trays used during the installation of your project are reused by local native plant nurseries. A solid solution until biodegradable trays are made available!
Words from Waxwing Customers:
“It has been a joy watching our garden transition into a native habitat. We are learning so much about native species and our garden grows more beautiful every day. Working with Elyse to both create and maintain our garden space has been a great learning experience for us, as well as both easy and fun!”
“Elyse Jurgen is a powerful force equipped with the awesome tools of rake, shovel, intellect, knowledge, vision and skill. Through the seemingly Magic of Elyse, in one fell swoop, an impactful garden abounds with native plants where nature may thrive and life is sustained. ”
“Elyse is not only widely knowledgeable about native plants, but also shared my passion for teaching kids about the world they would soon inherit. She was also very open to listening to my ideas and plans and then developing a design that is functional, beautiful, and within my budget. We worked together, using her sturdy Rebel tools to dig up a large patch of vinca, weeds, and ivy, prepare the beds, and replant a lovely natural garden. I enjoyed being a part of the process of planning and also implementation of my garden. She was even able to incorporate stepping stones, created by my grandchildren, into the space. Elyse is very intuitive, carefully listens, and then develops a plan that is beautiful, easy to care for, and just what I had in mind! I am very glad to have had the opportunity to work with her.”
Year at-a-glance: Ecological Gardening project planning
SPRING
- Native Plant Plug & Tree/Shrub Installs
- Sheet Mulching
- Stewarding
Summer
- Sheet Mulching
- Garden Management
- Design for Future Installs
FALL
- Native Plant Plug & Tree/Shrub Installs
- Sheet Mulching
- Garden Management
WINTER
- Native Tree/Shrub Pruning
- Seeding of Mini-Meadows
- Sheet Mulching
- Design for Future Installs
💧WAXWING is Water Wise! Garden installations only occur in Spring and Fall, when cooler weather and natural rains diminish the need for excessive watering of your newly established garden.
Ideas for Your Next Ecological Gardening Project:
ecological GARDENING is creative and collaborative. please reach out for other inquiries not listed. Thank you!
Design, Install, and Steward Ecological Gardens to include; pollinator native perennial gardens, mini-meadows, wet meadows, Miyawaki plots, native woodland gardens, conservation landscaping, bee-friendly gardens, bird-friendly gardens, medicinal/edible native gardens, schoolyard habitats, manual removal of invasive species in small spaces, native gardens in hard-to-grow places (i.e. curbside gardens)
Property Master Plans for residents in transition to a new home that desire to communicate the ecological value of their habitat to new owners
Seasonal Stewarding Plans simple and basic stewarding steps for all 4 seasons
Native Plant Palette Spreadsheets using matrix mixes to fit your specific micro-habitat’s needs, detailing; native plant ecosystem services, bloom time, bloom color, winter interest, etc.
“Green Mulch” Edits to Existing Garden Beds; wood mulching services only available during installation, customers are encouraged to use native ground covers, in substitution of conventional wood mulch
Sheet Mulching to Convert Lawn into Habitat from collecting large refrigerator boxes to hauling wood chips this is an essential early step
Pruning of Native Shrubs/Small Trees a process that we can collaborate on as part of monthly co-stewarding
Simple Stone Paths for Improved Circulation in your Native Garden a hit among residents that are looking create exploration paths for small children or for ease of access in large beds
Consulting Services for DIY residents, K-12 schools, universities, small business properties, etc.
Please do not inquire Waxwing EcoWorks Co. for the following types of landscaping requests; pruning, weeding, & mulching of non-native/ornamental gardens or hardscaping projects.
Photo Gallery:
To View More Photos From A Selection of Waxwing Ecological Gardening Projects, Please Visit PROJECT GALLERY.
