Native Plants
‘Terroir’ Brings a Sense of Place to Your Landscape
Species native to and characteristic of your region firmly root your garden and landscape
Think about America’s iconic landscapes. What makes the Pacific Coast unique, the Rocky Mountains spectacular, a prairie look like a prairie or the Blue Ridge Mountains blue? What do you see in your mind’s eye when you conjure up images of the Sonoran Desert, the North Woods or the swampy lowlands of the Southeast?
A grove of quaking aspen surround Marshall Pass road in the Sawatch Range of Colorado.
What would the Rocky Mountains be without the white trunks and rustling green leaves of quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides)? What would they be without mountainsides colored the deep green of conifer forests, or alpine meadows dazzling with summer wildflowers?
Plants are a major part of what defines our characteristic landscapes. Species native to this continent have evolved unique communities adapted to the climate, soils, landforms and natural conditions of each place. For the prairies, it’s the iconic grasses — short and spreading in the windswept western reaches of the Great Plains, tall and swaying at the southern and eastern edges — plus the colorful array of wildflowers that bloom around them in season.
That hazy blue color that gives the Blue Ridge its name comes from the respiration of the forests that clothe their flanks, a glorious diversity of deciduous and evergreen tree species that form their shaded glades, undergirded in many places by the equally diverse shapes and colors of shrubs.
What would the Rocky Mountains be without the white trunks and rustling green leaves of quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides)? What would they be without mountainsides colored the deep green of conifer forests, or alpine meadows dazzling with summer wildflowers?
Plants are a major part of what defines our characteristic landscapes. Species native to this continent have evolved unique communities adapted to the climate, soils, landforms and natural conditions of each place. For the prairies, it’s the iconic grasses — short and spreading in the windswept western reaches of the Great Plains, tall and swaying at the southern and eastern edges — plus the colorful array of wildflowers that bloom around them in season.
That hazy blue color that gives the Blue Ridge its name comes from the respiration of the forests that clothe their flanks, a glorious diversity of deciduous and evergreen tree species that form their shaded glades, undergirded in many places by the equally diverse shapes and colors of shrubs.
A saguaro cactus stands prominently in Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona.
For each region, those native plants create a distinct look and feel that we recognize. As Lady Bird Johnson wrote, native plants give “a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”
In the Sonoran Desert, it’s the iconic saguaro cactuses (Carnegiea gigantea), with their upraised arms, along with their fellow spiny lifeforms, from tiny pincushions to massive barrels, plus the magic of annual wildflowers that sprout from seemingly barren soil after winter and summer rains.
For each region, those native plants create a distinct look and feel that we recognize. As Lady Bird Johnson wrote, native plants give “a sense of where we are in this great land of ours.”
In the Sonoran Desert, it’s the iconic saguaro cactuses (Carnegiea gigantea), with their upraised arms, along with their fellow spiny lifeforms, from tiny pincushions to massive barrels, plus the magic of annual wildflowers that sprout from seemingly barren soil after winter and summer rains.
Naturalized dames rocket (Hesperis matronalis) and cultivated Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) form a meadow-like border in deciduous woods in the Ozarks, at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The Meaning of Terroir
That “sense of where we are” offers an opportunity for gardeners and landscape designers. By integrating native species into our gardens, we can give our landscapes something of that same terroir, or flavor of place, the deep sense of belonging to where we are.
The word terroir comes from France and is used to describe specific wine regions, and how grapes and wines can impart the flavor of the land. The idea is also beginning to be applied to local food to denote the unique tastes derived from specific soils, climates and the whole community of nature characteristic of any particular place or region. Native plants impart the terroir of their place in a similar way — even if we don’t eat them.
The Meaning of Terroir
That “sense of where we are” offers an opportunity for gardeners and landscape designers. By integrating native species into our gardens, we can give our landscapes something of that same terroir, or flavor of place, the deep sense of belonging to where we are.
The word terroir comes from France and is used to describe specific wine regions, and how grapes and wines can impart the flavor of the land. The idea is also beginning to be applied to local food to denote the unique tastes derived from specific soils, climates and the whole community of nature characteristic of any particular place or region. Native plants impart the terroir of their place in a similar way — even if we don’t eat them.
A grove of coast redwood trees reach for the sky at Redwood National Park in Northern California.
Plants are so much more than just an artistic palette gardeners and landscapes work with. These rooted, photosynthesizing beings express the living vocabulary of landscapes, the biological language that lends colors, shapes and structures, which define and give character to gardens or whole regions. Think of the towering coast redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) of the fog-draped Pacific Coast, for instance, or the crimson sugar maples of Northeast forests. Those plants clearly evoke the spirit and particulars of their individual places.
Plants build community, constructing and reviving the relationships that make up nature: Their distinct chemical signatures, aromatic compounds they release into the air and soil, attract the other living beings whose interrelationships weave healthy landscapes, from invisible-to-the-eye microbes to winged pollinators to colorful songbirds.
Plants are the pioneers in forming those communities. As soon as their roots stretch into the soil and their stems reach upward, they “call in” pollinators and birds and all the other lives that sustain them — and life on Earth.
Native plants provide the core of that biological language. They bring their characteristic beauty through the seasons, their durability and their adaptation to specific environments to contribute to local terroir, or dialect.
Plants are so much more than just an artistic palette gardeners and landscapes work with. These rooted, photosynthesizing beings express the living vocabulary of landscapes, the biological language that lends colors, shapes and structures, which define and give character to gardens or whole regions. Think of the towering coast redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) of the fog-draped Pacific Coast, for instance, or the crimson sugar maples of Northeast forests. Those plants clearly evoke the spirit and particulars of their individual places.
Plants build community, constructing and reviving the relationships that make up nature: Their distinct chemical signatures, aromatic compounds they release into the air and soil, attract the other living beings whose interrelationships weave healthy landscapes, from invisible-to-the-eye microbes to winged pollinators to colorful songbirds.
Plants are the pioneers in forming those communities. As soon as their roots stretch into the soil and their stems reach upward, they “call in” pollinators and birds and all the other lives that sustain them — and life on Earth.
Native plants provide the core of that biological language. They bring their characteristic beauty through the seasons, their durability and their adaptation to specific environments to contribute to local terroir, or dialect.
Prickly pears (Opuntia sp.), entireleaf Indian paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa), prairie lily (Cooperia pedunculata) and a native yellow composite flower (Asteraceae) bloom at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in spring.
Designing for Terroir
Designing for terroir doesn’t have to be hard. Whether your design aesthetic leans toward formal or naturalistic, look to nearby natural landscapes for cues.
First, identify the overall structure — layers or architecture — of the natural plant community. Is it a forest, with an overstory of tall trees and an understory of smaller trees, shrubs, wildflowers and ground covers? Is it a woodland, with lower trees and a sparser understory below? Is it prairie or shrubland, with trees only in the sheltered places, and grasses, shrubs and wildflowers dominating the view? Is it desert, and if so, what are the characteristic plants?
Second, look at the pattern and spacing of the plants. Is the overstory — whether trees, shrubs, grasses or cactuses — evenly spaced? Do the dominant plants grow in clumps or clusters?
Designing for Terroir
Designing for terroir doesn’t have to be hard. Whether your design aesthetic leans toward formal or naturalistic, look to nearby natural landscapes for cues.
First, identify the overall structure — layers or architecture — of the natural plant community. Is it a forest, with an overstory of tall trees and an understory of smaller trees, shrubs, wildflowers and ground covers? Is it a woodland, with lower trees and a sparser understory below? Is it prairie or shrubland, with trees only in the sheltered places, and grasses, shrubs and wildflowers dominating the view? Is it desert, and if so, what are the characteristic plants?
Second, look at the pattern and spacing of the plants. Is the overstory — whether trees, shrubs, grasses or cactuses — evenly spaced? Do the dominant plants grow in clumps or clusters?
An Emory’s barrel cactus (Ferocactus emoryi) flowers in Saguaro National Park, near Tucson.
Third, identify the most characteristic species in the various layers. Then, identify a few of the other plants that particularly appeal to you.
Those are the basics of designing with terroir in mind. No matter whether your plan is formal or informal, a riot of cottage-style beds or more minimalist, you can mimic the overall structure of the natural landscape in your garden, planting those native species you have identified to gift your place with local flavor.
Third, identify the most characteristic species in the various layers. Then, identify a few of the other plants that particularly appeal to you.
Those are the basics of designing with terroir in mind. No matter whether your plan is formal or informal, a riot of cottage-style beds or more minimalist, you can mimic the overall structure of the natural landscape in your garden, planting those native species you have identified to gift your place with local flavor.
A mountain prairie garden in Salida, Colorado, supports threadleaf giant hyssop (Agastache rupestris), blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis), blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata), rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) and Bigelow’s tansyaster (Dieteria bigelovii) for pollinators and songbirds.
Why should we design for terroir, integrating native plants into our landscapes? In sum: Native plants provide the vernacular, the dialect and the flavor of our unique bioregions. In our gardens and landscaping, these most local of voices reconnect humanity — breath, cell and soul — to this singular, living planet. They bring us home.
More: 3 Ways Native Plants Make Gardening So Much Better
Why should we design for terroir, integrating native plants into our landscapes? In sum: Native plants provide the vernacular, the dialect and the flavor of our unique bioregions. In our gardens and landscaping, these most local of voices reconnect humanity — breath, cell and soul — to this singular, living planet. They bring us home.
More: 3 Ways Native Plants Make Gardening So Much Better
“Wherever I go in America, I like it when the land speaks its own language in its own regional accent,” said Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady of the United States and founder of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Texas.