Native Plant Garden Consultation and Plan

🌿 Native Plant Garden Consulting & Planning:

The goal of this native plant consultation is to spend approximately 90 minutes walking through your property together, carefully observing and evaluating its current features, such as soil conditions, existing vegetation, sun exposure, drainage patterns, and overall layout. During this time, we will also discuss your specific vision, preferences, and long-term objectives for the land. These can be creating a native garden, enhancing wildlife habitat, improving ecological health, or reducing maintenance needs. The consultation aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of both the strengths and limitations of your site, laying the groundwork for thoughtful, sustainable, and personalized landscape planning using native plants.

Together we will transform your outdoor space into a thriving, sustainable haven with native plant expertise. With over a decade of experience in native plant landscaping, habitat restoration, and environmental stewardship, I specialize in creating vibrant, ecologically sound gardens that are both beautiful and functional. Nothing is too big or too small! My experience is in properties of less than an acre to properties that are hundreds of acres.

Whether you're starting from scratch or improving an existing landscape, my services are tailored to support native biodiversity, address site-specific challenges, and meet your aesthetic and environmental goals. I combine technical skill with ecological insight to provide a plan that is beneficial to pollinators, wildlife, water quality, and soil health.

Mulberry Maps is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am happy to travel! If you live outside of the Charlotte metro area, I will reach out for additional coordination when you book a consultation.

🌟 Specialties:

🌼 Pollinator Gardens
Support bees, butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects with carefully selected nectar- and pollen-rich native plants. These gardens not only add seasonal beauty but also contribute to the conservation of declining pollinator populations.

🌧️ Rain Gardens
Rain gardens are both beautiful and functional because they help to filter and slow stormwater runoff while reducing erosion and pollution. I’ll help you design a garden that thrives in wet conditions, captures excessive runoff to reduce flooding, and protects local waterways.

🌾 Erosion Control
In my opinion, the BEST thing about native plants is their deep root systems. They are great for erosion control! These species help anchor soil, improve infiltration, and restore natural vegetation on disturbed land.

🛠️ Services Include:

🌿 Invasive Species Mapping
I will walk your property with you and identify any invasive plant species that pose ecological threats. These locations will be physically marked on-site and followed up with a professional overhead plan view drawing, using satellite imagery, where each invasive species location is clearly labeled for your records for future removal efforts.

🌼 Custom Native Plant List
You’ll receive a site-specific, curated list of native plants best suited to your property’s conditions including: sun/shade exposure, soil type, moisture levels, and aesthetic goals. This can be tailored for pollinator habitat, rain gardens, erosion control, or a combination of all three. The overhead property map will also show proposed planting locations for these native garden areas.

🛒 Trusted Nursery & Source Recommendations
Not sure where to find native plants? I’ll connect you with local nurseries, reputable online retailers, and even native plant Facebook groups to help you source high-quality plants. I personally enjoy ordering native plants online and having them delivered right to my door, and I’ll show you how easy and enjoyable that can be.

📦 What You’ll Receive:

✅ 1.5 hour onsite property evaluation with marked locations on your property of any safety concerns (i.e. poison ivy), invasive species, and proposed native planting areas

✅ A detailed, annotated property map showing locations of invasive species and proposed native plant installations. This will also be georeferenced to use with a free phone app

✅ Property soil report

✅ Essential gardening resources, advice, and tips from me and from North Carolina and South Carolina based organizations

✅ A customized native plant list, matched to your site and gardening goals

✅ Nursery and online source recommendations, including links and groups

✅ My ongoing support, including follow-up consultations as needed

Why Native Plants Matter

Native plants are the foundation of local ecosystems. They require less maintenance, no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and significantly less water once established. I personally water my certified wildlife habitat gardens at home about twice a year. More importantly, they provide critical habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife that ornamental or exotic plants simply can't support.

By choosing native plants, you’re doing more than gardening. You’re restoring ecological balance and giving back to your local environment.

About My Expertise

More than 10 years of hands-on experience in North Carolina and South Carolina, ecosystem specific:

Native plant identification and habitat restoration

Treatment and removal of invasive species

Pollinator habitat creation and long-term management

Rain garden design, installation, and maintenance

Erosion and sedimentation control (E&SC) planning

I bring a strong background in both ecological science and practical landscape solutions. My background is varied, so I have a great blend of resources available to assist you. I previously worked for our local land trust doing environmental stewardship. Before that, I worked almost exclusively in erosion and sediment control planning and threatened/endangered species management.

You’ll receive informed recommendations tailored to your unique property and goals.