THE NEW NATURAL

Grow a thriving oasis filled with life.

- James A. Baggett

THE NEW NATURAL

Kelly Norris is on a mission to reconnect human beings to nature. He knows that in the past few decades, gardeners have become more environmentally aware, realizing that gardens are more than just botanical accessories to our homes. He calls this fresh approach to growing an ecologically complex garden “the new naturalism,” where a layered design mimics the structure of wild habitats as perennials ebb and flow through the seasons.

1❘ The garden in spring By late spring, Kelly's front-yard meadow is punctuated with stands of showy vignette plants like penstemon and bee balm that bloom in drifts of pastel colors.

An award-winning author and plantsman, Kelly is the founder of The Public Horticulture Company, and his latest book is Your Natural Garden. He dubbed his naturalistic home garden in Des Moines, Iowa, Three Oaks. It is a repository of ideas, a canvas for personal expression and a planting field in a clearing atop an oak-covered hill overlooking the Des Moines River. “While my journey to ecological horticulture started in the prairies and gardens of my youth and continues into my professional practice, Three Oaks is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to take control of a landscape on my own terms,” he says.