Transitioning Your Existing Garden

Learn strategies for incorporating native plants into your existing landscape.

How to transition your garden from non-natives to native plants was our most requested topic in 2025, so this year we have created this class to cover different approaches you might take to build a sustainable, native plant garden. From starting with a blank slate to replacing one plant at a time and approaches in between, we will cover important considerations for creating a long-term plan for your space.  This class will look at how to choose plants to remove and what you can replace them with, as well as how to choose plants that will grow next to existing plants or how you can create microclimates to accommodate something different.  Finally this class will briefly cover local resources that can help you with your transition.  This course is taught by Rick Martinson, PhD, who has been designing and building native plant landscapes in Central Oregon for over 25 years, and Rachael Relph, HDHC’s Community Engagement Coordinator.