Ladue Native Garden
Behind Ladue City Hall, sits the Ladue Native Garden, an important project the Ladue Garden Club has supported for several years. In addition to providing beauty and a relaxing space for residents and City Hall employees, the garden also serves as a resource for Ladue residents. It is an opportunity to educate the community about native plants and how they may be used effectively in home gardens.
Why native plants? They are historically adapted to our soil and weather, so they require no pesticides or fertilizer. Once established, they need less irrigation and upkeep than many nonnative plants. In addition, they are a vital source of food and shelter for shrinking populations of pollinators and other wildlife.
There are over two dozen plants in the garden, all native to Missouri. Each plant was chosen to provide a variety of color, height, texture and pollinator benefits throughout different seasons. These are non-aggressive, native plants well suited for the size, sunlight and water conditions of the garden. The garden is in bloom spring, summer and fall. In the winter, plant seed heads and stems are left untouched to provide shelter for wildlife. Some of the native plants currently in the garden are:
- aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
- beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
- blue false indigo (Baptisia australis)
- butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- cliff goldenrod (Solidago drummondii)
- downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana)
- fall glade onion (Allium stellatum)
- golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
- prairie dropseed grass (Sporobolus heterolepis)
- purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
- rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
Nonnative plants and aggressive natives, such as Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis) and common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), are removed from the garden during growing seasons. Desirable native plants are kept in specific sections of the garden and labeled with plant tags. Presenting the native plants in a somewhat tailored setting helps make the garden a better resource for novice native gardeners.
Next to the native garden is a lending library-style box containing growing information on all the plants in the garden including a key for identifying each plant. This box also serves as a Seed Bank. For part of the year, and when available, free seeds harvested from the garden are in the box for the Ladue community to take and use in their own home gardens.
The Ladue Native Garden was created in 2016 by a Ladue couple in conjunction with the St. Louis Audubon Society’s Bring Conservation Home program. In 2017, the garden was adopted as a club project by the Ladue Garden Club and is now a club committee. It is cared for through funds and volunteers from the Ladue Garden Club. The Ladue Public Works Department has helped by providing stonework, supplying mulch and hauling away debris.
To maintain the garden, Native Garden Committee and other Ladue Garden Club volunteers generally meet weekly in the spring and early summer and as needed throughout the rest of the year.