By Tom Kaye, Ph.D 

“When current events are looming so large above me, I feel this is a real, tangible difference I can make in the world.” — survey respondent

Last winter, we asked people who garden with native plants to tell us what works, what challenges them, and what they get out of it. We expected a few hundred replies. We got 1,274, from small city lots to rural acreage, across the United States and southern Canada.

Today we’re releasing the results as The Gardening for Nature Survey, a free report from the Institute for Applied Ecology, prepared with Design Native Northwest. Here’s what gardeners told us (and this just scratches the surface!).

It works, and fast. More than 80% saw pollinators and birds in their new native gardens within a year, and more than 95% within three years.

People love it. 58% are “extremely satisfied.” Nearly half of the people who wrote about meaning described their garden as a source of joy, calm or hope.

Neighbors come around. More than 85% get positive feedback from neighbors and passersby. Many said neighbors started native gardens of their own.

Start where you are. Most projects began as lawn (69%) or weedy ground (50%) on ordinary house lots, but some people start in pots.

Learn from their mistakes. The top lesson, from 62%: learn how big each plant gets and where it thrives before you plant. Others wish they’d tackled weeds sooner and laid paths first.

Climate change is already here. Most gardeners expect climate change to affect their gardens, and a third already see natives struggling. Many are changing what and where they plant.

These comments together illustrate the arc of engagement with nature in home naturescapes, from an interest in plants and wildlife to the process of converting lawns to habitat, and from gardening to connect with nature to the garden giving joy and solace.

Over the next several weeks we’ll explore each part of the survey in depth, from killing a lawn to choosing plants for a hotter future. Read the full report, and sign up for our newsletter to get each post.

Thank you to every gardener who shared their experience!