Analysis, Plant Selection, and Visualization

At this stage of the project, I explored Midwestern native plants and drew them to scale to see which ones could serve as short ground covers near walkways, tall focal points into the center of plantings, and everything in between.

This project aimed to focus on planting and leaving the hardscape in the Dana Garden largely untouched. As a result, when it came to addressing the northwest corner of the garden where a layer of decomposed granite and a stone wall presented little room for traditional herbaceous plants, I proposed a moss garden. Mosses have a unique advantage in areas of poorly drained hardscape since they absorb water and nutrients directly from their surroundings. Further, this portion of the garden was given a cultural grounding to the University of Michigan’s history by dedicating it to the late Dr. Howard Crum.

Before placing any plants, I made my overall concept of what heights I would idealize for each section of the garden. Near walkways, I wanted short groundcovers in order to increase comfort. Taller plants were assigned to spaces in the center of beds to serve as visual focal points and near seating to provide privacy.

Aralia r acemosa Campanulastru m americanum Carex pen sylvanica Epigaea repens merica n spikena Tall be llfower Pen s edge

Hypnum i mponens Trillium gr andiforum

Ilex ver ticillata Leucobryu m glaucum Maianthemu m racemosum

Winte r berry Pincus h i o n mos alse solo m on s-se

Polystichum a crostichoides Polytrichu m commune

Wild c o l u mbine

Aquilegia canadensis Dicentra cucullaria Erythronium americanum Fragaria virginiana

Creepin g arbutu Yellow t r out lily Wild str a wberry

Shee t moss Blue w o od -aster reat w h i t e trilliu

Jun tchma n s breec

Mertensia virginica Potentilla simplex Solidago f exicaulis Symphyotrich u m cordifolium

M a r c h

S e p .t

Virginia bluebell

Christ m as fern mmon h a ircap m ommon cinquef igzag g oldenro