Wild Ones expands free Native Garden Design Program

Wild Ones, a national nonprofit with more than 138 chapters across 36 states, is expanding its Garden Design Program with four new free regional plans, including Richmond, Virginia, and Lexington, Kentucky, with Albany, New York, and San Diego, California coming soon.

The program features a growing library of regionally tailored native garden designs for 25 cities across 23 ecoregions. Each plan helps communities transform conventional lawns into climate-resilient, wildlife-supporting landscapes by offering detailed layouts, regional plant lists and step-by-step installation guidance.

Interactive tools on the native garden design website guide people through each step, from a click-through getting started guide, downloadable design PDFs, videos, a native nursery finder, and an ecoregion lookup tool, all freely available at nativegardendesigns.wildones.org.

"In 2024, this program was featured in The New York Times, underscoring its role in making native gardening more accessible nationwide," said Wild Ones Executive Director Jen Ainsworth. "These designs remove barriers and empower anyone, anywhere, to create habitat that matters."

To find a Wild Ones local chapter, visit join.wildones.org.