Serving Nanaimo & Area
250.210.0895
Experience the naturalistic design aesthetic that North Arrow Nursery & Landscapes specializes in.
North Arrow Nursery & Landscapes specializes in a naturalistic design methodology. Naturalistic gardens are highly biodiversive and consist of dense plantings that visually mimic natural plant communities.
However, we don't rely solely on native species for our installations. We design with a huge variety of both native and (non-invasive) exotic plant species that originate from similar environments that thrive on Vancouver Island.
Naturalistic landscapes are emotive and spontaneous outdoor spaces. We strive to bring joy, curiosity, relaxation, and wonder into the lives of those who interact with them.
But the naturalistic approach is about much more than lush beauty: it also provides ecological benefits that help our community at large and ecosystems at large. The end result is a more sustainable, resilient, ultimately gorgeous, and largely self-supporting garden.
NOT YOUR STYLE? We can help you achieve any design aesthetic for your own gardens, not only the naturalistic style shown here.
Explore the key features of a successfully designed and executed naturalistic garden.
A naturalistic approach to landscape design ensures that the maintenance requirements and material inputs of your garden are kept to a minimum. This leaves you with more time to enjoy your garden, and less time spent restocking at the local landscape mart. Learn more about maintaining your naturalistic landscape.
Blending species that originate from similar or harsher climates around the world creates a resilient garden. Naturalistic landscapes can better withstand our increasingly challenging environmental conditions, such as changing climate and the influx of exotic pests and diseases.
Our motivations to perform this work are not only aesthetic and
creative in nature. Naturalistic gardens work hard to alleviate stress
and scarcity on our plant, insect, and bird communities by reintroducing
year-round pollinator plant species and safe shelter for our bird and
insect populations.
Ambient temperature at ground level in a naturalistic garden is significantly lower than the surrounding air temperature, and drastically lower
than landscapes built using gravel or concrete elements. This helps
cool nearby structures and residences, and provides a comfortable
outdoor retreat to relax in.
We design our gardens, schedule our irrigation systems, and teach our clients how to rely less on water in the landscape without compromising the health or beauty of the garden. By selecting the right plants and maintaining a manageable level of plant stress, we can encourage strong, resilient gardens that won’t need to be doted on.
Growing your garden or meadow from seed provides considerable price savings when compared to installing potted plants purchased from a nursery. Depending on the budget or aesthetic of the project, naturalistic landscapes can be planted from pot, designed from seed, or a combination of the two.
By design, each of our natural landscapes are completely unique.
However, they do share some common elements and themes, which are
explained here.
Naturalistic landscapes are dominated by grasses and flowering perennials. They offer long bloom times from spring to autumn, with each season bearing a new palette as different species come in and out of bloom.
Though our landscapes are full of grasses and perennials, we also include carefully-selected trees and shrubs in our naturalistic designs. These elements bring structure, permanence, and shade to your garden; perches and shelter for the birds; and year-round visual interest for you!
The dense planting style found in our naturalistic designs out-competes weeds, and protects the soil and soil organisms from wind, sun, and rain.
THE MORE THE MERRIER: One of the biggest misconceptions is that the naturalistic habitat must be large to be effective. More to the point it must be abundant, as every flower in every garden contributes to this critical mass. As more homes and businesses get on board, we will see an ever greater benefit to our local ecology.
Loving a perennial garden in winter requires a paradigm shift in the way we think about landscapes. We encourage our clients to fully embrace the winter beauty of tans and browns found in dead foliage and mature seed heads. We choose our plants carefully so that sturdy grasses and strong stems persist through the coldest, wettest months and even under heavy snow loads. This unique plant architecture is an important part of the naturalistic garden aesthetic, but also part of the winter diet for our birds.
Climate change, urban sprawl, and heavy industry all pose threats to available resources and our plant, insect, and bird communities. Here are three key areas where naturalistic gardens help to alleviate these stresses.
