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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.
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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 Zigzag g oldenro