Vegetable, Herb and Mostly Native Pollinator Garden

Spring
Garden in May 2020 Garden age: 5 Hope Duckworth CC BY 4.0

Plants in this photo:Plants in this photo

*Aster* Aster

*Echinacea purpurea* Coneflower Eastern Purple Coneflower Purple Coneflower

*Hibiscus coccineus* Red Hibiscus Scarlet Rose Mallow Texas Hibiscus

*Monarda fistulosa* Bee Balm Eastern Bergamot Wild Bergamot

*Origanum vulgare* Oregano

*Punica granatum* Pomegranate

*Salvia elegans* Pineapple Sage

*Salvia officinalis* Common Sage Culinary Sage Garden Sage

*Zinnia*

Description

Name: Vegetable, Herb and Mostly Native Pollinator Garden

Open to the public: No

County: Cabarrus

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8a (2023)

Extension Demonstration Garden? No

Approximate year the garden/landscape was established: ca. 2015

What to look for: This garden is a constantly changing, densely planted area filled with practical and beautiful plants. It includes vegetables and herbs, for the family’s consumption, as well as ornamental flowers (mostly native species) for the benefit of pollinators. Attracting pollinators helps ensure that the vegetables are also pollinated.

Horticulture: The vegetable garden began with the installation of a cedar raised bed in 2015. In 2018, we expanded the garden to include pollinator plants. An invasive nandina was removed in 2019, along with an ash tree infested with Emerald Ash Borer. These removals made space for more pollinator plants and herbs.

In 2020, a small fence was added to exclude rabbits. The owner practices an annual rotation of vegetables in the beds to reduce insect and disease pressures. In 2021, Purple-Hull Peas (Vigna unguiculata) were planted to introduce nitrogen into the soil and to give it a rest from being over-planted with the same crop families year after year. The owners allowed kale (planted in 2019) to reseed itself in the garden.

In the summer of 2022, a second cedar bed and a cedar strawberry pyramid were added. A variety of herbs, vegetables, and flowers have been in rotation since. A pomegranate tree on the edge of the garden began blooming in 2024.