Welcome to Designing With Plants!

Designing With Plants offers planting plans that are affordable, low maintenance, environmentally responsible and beautiful for residential homes in the Portland, Oregon area. The Earth is experiencing a dreadful amount of trauma due to urbanization, but we can reverse the ecological damage we are causing by reintegrating the natural habitat to our urban landscapes. Designing With Plants stems...

What is Naturescaping?

Naturescaping is a landscape design method using native plants to create wildlife habitat gardens. For example, an ecoregion that was once a forested area will have different layers of succession: large trees, smaller understory trees, shrubs, grasses, and ground covers. Each layer of succession is important for wildlife. The birds will forage for food from insects under decaying logs, berries...

Why do we have to use Native Plants?

Aren't non-native plants that attract pollinators and feed wildlife just as good? Unfortunately, some non-native plants can be more destructive to natural habitats then they are beneficial. The indigenous wildlife co-evolved with the native plants that occur naturally in your ecoregion. For this reason, indigenous species that are selective to native plants cannot live without them, which is why...