Wild Ones Prairie Edge Native Plant Tours
Throughout the growing season, we sponsor native plant landscape tours to inspire and educate our members. Unless otherwise indicated, they are free and open to the public. We are looking for gardens or demonstration sites that are 60% or more natives. If you are willing to have your yard on tour or know of someone that would be willing to share their project, please contact: [email protected]
2026 Garden Tours
Save the Date: Join us Saturday, July 18th, from 9 am – 12 pm, for Lawns to Legumes Garden Tour Day!
Lawns to Legumes coaches, previous participants, and other DIY wildlife gardeners can host neighborhood native garden tours across Minnesota. Get inspired and connect with folks who are planting for pollinators in your area! For a list of gardens on the tour, click here. Tour locations include co-residents Marilynn Torkelson in Eden Prairie and Rochelle Arviso in Maple Plain.
Tour of Timber Lakes Commons and The Nehl's Yard
July 23 at 6:30 pm
meet at: The Nehl's residence
8011 Island Rd. Eden Prairie
Nehl's Yard
After seeing the success at Timber Lakes Commons, the Nehls decided to take on a similar project at their own property. Over several years, they’ve worked to restore their lakeshore and create a healthier, more natural landscape.
Habitat Restoration: The project started with removing nearly an acre of invasive buckthorn. From there, turf and traditional garden beds were replaced with native plantings that support birds, pollinators, and other wildlife.
Water Management: To help keep runoff out of the lake, the Nehls installed drain tile and rain gardens. Along with native plant buffers, these features slow down, soak in, and filter stormwater before it reaches the shoreline.
Ongoing Support: This work has been supported by cost-share grants in 2009 (DNR) and again in 2024 through the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District (RPBCWD) and the City of Eden Prairie—showing how long-term care and support make a difference in private land stewardship.
After seeing the success at Timber Lakes Commons, the Nehls decided to take on a similar project at their own property. Over several years, they’ve worked to restore their lakeshore and create a healthier, more natural landscape.
Habitat Restoration: The project started with removing nearly an acre of invasive buckthorn. From there, turf and traditional garden beds were replaced with native plantings that support birds, pollinators, and other wildlife.
Water Management: To help keep runoff out of the lake, the Nehls installed drain tile and rain gardens. Along with native plant buffers, these features slow down, soak in, and filter stormwater before it reaches the shoreline.
Ongoing Support: This work has been supported by cost-share grants in 2009 (DNR) and again in 2024 through the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District (RPBCWD) and the City of Eden Prairie—showing how long-term care and support make a difference in private land stewardship.
Timber Lakes Commons is a great example of what can happen when neighbors work together to care for their shared lakeshore. In 2006, the Mitchell Lake Association (MLA) formed to improve lake health and chose this site as a demonstration project. At the time, more than 160 feet of “lawn-to-lake” shoreline contributed to runoff and offered little habitat. Restoration: With support from a 2008 DNR grant, volunteers replaced mowed turf with native plantings, creating a shoreland buffer. These deep-rooted plants help soak up and filter stormwater, hold soil in place, reduce runoff, and provide habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Recovery: After severe flooding in 2014, the site needed additional work. Restoration and stabilization were supported by funding from the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District (RPBCWD) and the City of Eden Prairie, with project management by Natural Shores Technologies. Outcome: Today, the native plantings are well established and thriving. The shoreline is more stable, wildlife has returned, and the site continues to serve as a practical example of what an HOA-led project can achieve.
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SAVE THE DATE!!!
Tour of Natasha's Garden
Plymouth
August 4th at 6:30 pm
It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that Natasha’s life changed in 2018 when she read A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future by Benjamin Vogt. Natasha has always been a gardener of vegetables and annual flowers. Still, with inspiration from this book and a continued journey through similar literature, she launched into a passion for native plants and gardening for wildlife. In 2021, she left her desk job to work in the greenhouse for native plant purveyor and ecological restoration company Natural Shore Technologies. In January of 2026, Natasha became a Minnesota Master Naturalist.
Natasha’s personal gardens continue to grow and change. A third-of-an-acre lot in a 1970s neighborhood in Plymouth is not a popular location for a native planting. Yet, Natasha has worked to add nature in a method that is also palatable to the human neighbors. She has multiple garden beds with native plants ranging in age from 6 months to 6 years. Inherited gardens are enhanced by adding natives, while newer gardens are predominantly native.
The challenges are also worth discussing. Natasha continues to work on honeysuckle, buckthorn, and other aggressive introduced species. Removal and conversion of ornamentals and turf grass continue to be a project. At the same time, Natasha is excited about a slow but steady transition of turf to woodland strawberries and violets.
Overall, the result has been an oasis for Natasha and her spouse, enjoying not just the beautiful flowers and shapes of the plants, but also the other creatures that come to enjoy it.
Natasha’s personal gardens continue to grow and change. A third-of-an-acre lot in a 1970s neighborhood in Plymouth is not a popular location for a native planting. Yet, Natasha has worked to add nature in a method that is also palatable to the human neighbors. She has multiple garden beds with native plants ranging in age from 6 months to 6 years. Inherited gardens are enhanced by adding natives, while newer gardens are predominantly native.
The challenges are also worth discussing. Natasha continues to work on honeysuckle, buckthorn, and other aggressive introduced species. Removal and conversion of ornamentals and turf grass continue to be a project. At the same time, Natasha is excited about a slow but steady transition of turf to woodland strawberries and violets.
Overall, the result has been an oasis for Natasha and her spouse, enjoying not just the beautiful flowers and shapes of the plants, but also the other creatures that come to enjoy it.
Fazendin Park
17030 24th Ave N, Plymouth, MN 55447
bonus Plymouth Tour site
available for touring anytime
Fazendin Park, features a native pollinator garden installed by the city in 2022. (Folks could park here, the garden itself is here). This extensive native planting is maintained by Natasha and other volunteers. The garden is down the path on the same side of the street as house number 17030.
