Union Landscape Design

Field Notes

Landscape design tips and inspiration.

Native plants, seasons, budgets, and design decisions — written from the field across Philadelphia and the Main Line.

Plant notes · July 2026

After a Wild Week, It's the Perfect Time to Reimagine Your Landscape — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

After a Wild Week, It's the Perfect Time to Reimagine Your Landscape

After last week's storms and smoky skies, many homeowners are taking a fresh look at their landscapes. Summer is the perfect time to evaluate what’s thriving, identify opportunities for improvement, and create a plan for fall planting. Discover why late summer and fall are ideal for installing native plants that provide year-round beauty, support birds and pollinators, and create a welcoming landscape you'll enjoy next spring.

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Plant notes · July 2026

Native Landscape Design - Wild but not crazy: Beautiful Gardens for the Main Line — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Native Landscape Design - Wild but not crazy: Beautiful Gardens for the Main Line

The recent storms across Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood, and the surrounding Main Line changed many landscapes overnight. Mature trees were lost, sunny gardens appeared where shade once dominated, and homeowners are now deciding how to rebuild. Learn how thoughtful native landscape design can transform storm-damaged properties into beautiful, organized, low-maintenance gardens that enhance your home while supporting birds, butterflies, and pollinators.

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Plant notes · March 2026

Native Plant Landscape Design on the Main Line: Beautiful, Structured, and Designed with Intention — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Native Plant Landscape Design on the Main Line: Beautiful, Structured, and Designed with Intention

Native landscape design for Main Line homes. Beautiful, structured gardens that support wildlife without looking messy or out of control. At Union Landscape Design , we’ve designed landscapes throughout the Main Line — including Merion Station, Narberth, Bala Cynwyd, and surrounding communities. We understand how to create landscapes that complement your home’s architecture while incorporating native plants in a way that feels intentional, refined, and cohesive.

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Plant notes · October 2025

Why Fall is the Best Time to install Native landscapes along the Main Line — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Why Fall is the Best Time to install Native landscapes along the Main Line

Fall is the perfect time to plant native perennials, shrubs, and trees in Philadelphia and the Main Line. Fall allows roots to establish before the heat of summer, resulting in stronger, more resilient plants. Union Landscape Design specializes in creating native landscapes that thrive locally, support pollinators, and look beautiful year after year. Start your fall planting now for a stunning spring garden.

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Plant notes · July 2025

Low-Maintenance Meadow Gardens for Philadelphia and main line Landscapes — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Low-Maintenance Meadow Gardens for Philadelphia and main line Landscapes

If you're searching for landscape design ideas for the Main Line that are low maintenance, eco-friendly, and full of life, a native meadow-inspired garden might be the perfect fit. These plants aren’t just beautiful — they’re resilient, pollinator-approved, and sustainably suited to our climate. We’d love to help you bring this style home — whether it’s a front yard refresh, a backyard habitat garden, or a full design build.

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Plant notes · July 2025

Native All‑Stars: 9 Plants That Help Pollinators and Landscapes Thrive — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Native All‑Stars: 9 Plants That Help Pollinators and Landscapes Thrive

If you’ve been thinking about planting for pollinators, you’re on the right track. Healthy landscapes depend on bees, butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects. The best news? Supporting them doesn’t require a wild meadow…just a few smart native plant choices. Below are three of our favorite native trees, shrubs, and perennials to add real ecological value and year‑round beauty to your yard. Doug Tallamy’s research on keystone species that support pollinators and serve as host plants for caterpillars is a massive aid in selecting plants that are not only beautiful, but provide real ecological value in supporting the food web from the ground up. Below are some of our favorite plants and the wildlife they support.

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Plant notes · July 2025

Summer Stars: 5 Native Perennials That Shine All Season Long — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Summer Stars: 5 Native Perennials That Shine All Season Long

Summer in the Mid-Atlantic can be hot, humid, and occasionally accented with deer and drought. But designing with the the right combination of native perennials will create a landscape that doesn’t just survive, but thrives. These five native perennials are your landscape’s best defense against summer burnout bringing bold color, beautiful texture, and serious pollinator appeal from early summer well into fall. They’re low-maintenance, deer-resistant, and drought-tolerant, which is perfect for landscapes along the Main Line of Philadelphia and at the beach. Here are our top picks for keeping your garden gorgeous all summer long:

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Plant notes · July 2025

Summer in the Native Landscape Along the Main Line — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Summer in the Native Landscape Along the Main Line

If you live along the Main Line of Philadelphia, you know the challenges: deer, hot summers, unpredictable rain, and a desire for beauty without endless upkeep. The good news? A thoughtfully designed native landscape can be both low- maintenance and visually stunning—while standing up to our region’s conditions. Why Choose Native Plants? Native plants are uniquely adapted to our local soils and climate. Once established, they require less water, fewer inputs, and minimal fuss. Better yet, many native species are unpalatable to deer, tolerant of heat and drought, and provide vital food and shelter for pollinators and birds.

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Plant notes · May 2025

Designing with Native Plants: Creating Elegant Landscapes along the Main Line — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Designing with Native Plants: Creating Elegant Landscapes along the Main Line

There's a common misconception that using native plants means your garden will look wild, overgrown and stick out rather than blend into a more traditionally landscaped neighborhood. The truth is, native plants can be used just as effectively and beautifully in thoughtfully designed landscapes that complement and enhance homes and neighborhoods along the Main Line and at the Beach. Native plants are not just for meadows, wetlands and forests. When selected and arranged in the landscape with intention, native plants can bring structure, color, and year-round appeal to your home in any garden style. Whether your home leans classic or contemporary, you can use native species to create a landscape that looks polished, inviting, and perfectly suited to your neighborhood.

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Plant notes · May 2025

Garden Goals: Low-Maintenance Native Perennials That Steal the Show — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Garden Goals: Low-Maintenance Native Perennials That Steal the Show

If your dream for the garden includes enjoying color and texture with less time weeding, this season is packed with powerhouse perennials that are native, gorgeous, and low-maintenance. Bluestar Amsonia, Baptisia Blue False Indigo, Penstemon Eastern Beardtongue, and Blue-Eyed grass are a few of our favorite colorful, low-maintenance native perennials to look our for this season as spring stretches into summer.

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Plant notes · May 2025

Warm Weather and Rain……Spring is HERE! — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Warm Weather and Rain……Spring is HERE!

Spring is hands-down the best time to begin a landscape project. The ground is workable, nurseries are stocked with healthy native plants, and there’s enough growing season ahead for your new landscape to establish and show off by summer. If you’ve been toying with the idea of transforming your landscape, even if you’re not sure exactly what you want yet, this is your gentle nudge. Now’s a wonderful time to start. We can walk your property together, talk about how you use your outdoor space, dream up and develop something that feels right for you and your home.

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Plant notes · March 2025

Spring Has Sprung: Time to Reimagine Outdoor Spaces — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Spring Has Sprung: Time to Reimagine Outdoor Spaces

The key to any landscape looking attractive is thoughtful design. Strategic plant placement, defined edges, and seasonal maintenance can keep a native garden looking cohesive and attractive year-round. One simple way to create a tidy appearance is by using lower-growing plants along the front edges of garden beds.Want to do something truly beneficial for the environment? Consider planting species that support our native butterflies and moths.

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Plant notes · February 2025

Native Landscapes: Beautiful, Not Messy — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Native Landscapes: Beautiful, Not Messy

The key to any landscape looking attractive is thoughtful design. Strategic plant placement, defined edges, and seasonal maintenance can keep a native garden looking cohesive and attractive year-round. One simple way to create a tidy appearance is by using lower-growing plants along the front edges of garden beds.Want to do something truly beneficial for the environment? Consider planting species that support our native butterflies and moths.

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Plant notes · February 2025

Beat the Winter Blues: Plan Your Spring Landscape Now! — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Beat the Winter Blues: Plan Your Spring Landscape Now!

Well, here we are—another snow day. Winter can be exhausting! But here’s the good news: spring is coming. And while the world outside might be frozen this week, now is actually the perfect time to use those indoor days to start planning your dream landscape. By designing your landscape now, you’ll be ready to welcome warmer days by planting a yard full of vibrant native trees shrubs and perennials that attract birds and butterflies. Want to do something truly beneficial for the environment? Consider planting species that support our native butterflies and moths.

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Plant notes · February 2025

Top 10 Native Plants to Brighten Your Main Line Landscape This Spring — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Top 10 Native Plants to Brighten Your Main Line Landscape This Spring

Spring is just around the corner and there's no better way to celebrate the season than by enhancing your garden with beautiful, low-maintenance native plants. Not only do these plants thrive in our area and blend in with the architecture of the Main Line of Philadelphia, but they also support pollinators and wildlife, making your landscape both vibrant and supportive of the local environment. Here’s our list of the top 10 native plants to install and enjoy this spring:

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Pricing & planning · February 2025

Phased Installation: A Smart Approach for Main Line Homes — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Phased Installation: A Smart Approach for Main Line Homes

As a landscape designer along the Main Line, one of my favorite challenges is creating cohesive, beautiful native landscapes that enhance curb appeal, support local wildlife and matches client goals and budgets. When thoughtfully designed, a landscape incorporating native plants can be stunning in bloom, have lower maintenance needs and be a budget friendly improvement to your home. A major consideration for any project is the budget and deciding what is feasible for homeowners who are trying to move forward with projects while also planning and leaving a cushion for the unexpected. Drafting a cohesive landscape design for your entire property and then phasing the installation for prioritized areas is an awesome option for beginning the process of transforming your landscape without feeling overwhelmed.

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Plant notes · February 2025

Main LIne Landscape Design — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Main LIne Landscape Design

When you think about designing your dream home, you likely focus on interior spaces. Kitchens, living rooms, and living rooms that reflect your style and bring you joy. But what about your outdoor spaces? How do the outdoor areas serve to welcome guests to your home? The landscape surrounding your home is a powerful first impression and can be just as important in creating a beautiful, cohesive environment and is worth considering along with the interior spaces. Designing a low-maintenance landscape with native plants offers the perfect opportunity to elevate your home’s exterior appeal. In addition to inviting and supporting the local ecosystem, landscapes that require less maintenance can lead to major savings of time and effort.

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Plant notes · January 2025

Right of Way — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Right of Way

Gardening along train tracks might not be the most traditional setting , but it’s one of the most impactful projects I’ve undertaken. It’s proof that beauty and biodiversity can thrive in unexpected places. Even a narrow strip of land that would otherwise be ignored can become a landscape that wildlife and people passing by can enjoy. Next time you’re riding the train through the Main Line, look out the window on the southwest side of Merion Station and you might see our plantings. Hydrangeas, Butterfly Milkweed, Baptisia, and Black Eyed Susans are some of the colorful plants that bloom and support visiting butterflies, bees and birds. It’s a fun space and opportunity to reintroduce native plants and wildlife, giving them space and a shared “right of way.”

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Plant notes · January 2025

Spring Flowers — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Spring Flowers

Whether you are dreaming of a calming backyard retreat, a pollinator-friendly cottage garden, a meadow-style landscape, or a stylized ‘formal’ garden to match the architecture of a Main Line home, planning in winter ensures your landscape will be ready for installation in spring. Planning and designing your dream outdoor space can turn your property into a captivating and seamless environment, both outdoors and inside, that you can enjoy this season and year after year.

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Seasons · January 2025

Gardening in winter…? — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Gardening in winter…?

As the days remain crisp and quiet, winter offers a unique opportunity to dream, plan, and design the perfect landscape for your home. I get it. It’s counterintuitive to think about lush, flowering gardens and during the dormant season when it’s below freezing outside. It feels impossible to believe that spring and summer are coming…but they are and now is the ideal time to imagine a thoughtful, well-designed outdoor space. By beginning your planning process now, you have time to work through iterations and revisions of the plan and be ready to bring your vision to life in early spring.

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Plant notes · February 2024

Roots to Flowers in 6 weeks — Union Landscape Design, Philadelphia Main Line

Roots to Flowers in 6 weeks

Amsonia are some of my favorite native perennials. Amsonia hubrechtii is the most commonly seen species along the Main Line and it is primarily grown for its fine leaves that take on a shaggy yellow appearance at the end of the season and look awesome paired with grasses. ‘Grande’ is an incredible selection of another species called Amsonia tabernamontani. It has broad leaves and beautiful clusters of blue flowers from late April through May. The foliage adds an elegant green texture to the landscape once flowers have faded. Grande isn’t the easiest selection to find, so I gathered 2 clumps from a generous client in Villanova in December and now have 40 plugs and dozens of larger plants ready for potting and planting this spring. Working with the plants used in landscape designs from roots to flowers keeps you connected to how the plants develop over time and function in the field. There are beautiful varieties of native plants that have been carefully tested and selected and can be used in a garden setting to support wildlife and provide a beautiful aesthetic without looking out of control. Many, like this Amsonia have drought and deer resistant qualities that are hard to beat in addition to the gorgeous flowers. Looking forward to bringing these perennials back out into the landscape as part of several new designs in just a few weeks.

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