Tour of Leslie Prilgrim’s Native Plant Gardens
September 7, 2025 | 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Private residence in Mendota Heights, MN
Wild Ones Twin Cities invites you experience the vibrancy of Leslie Pilgrim's late summer naturescape gardens.
Registration is required: Location is a private residence in Mendota Heights, MN. Please email name and number in your group to info@wildonestwincities.org by end of day Thursday, September 4. We’ll send you an email with directions.
Note: No Pets Allowed. Attendees will be given booties to avoid introducing invasive species to Leslie’s gardens.
Leslie's goal has been to create biodiversity in their yard, here is her story:
I don’t garden. Rather, I like to think I naturescape. To me, gardening is to create pretty for me. Naturescaping creates pretty for both me and wildlife. Everything in this yard (except two trees and two shrubs) was planted by me. My guess is that about 75 percent of the vegetation in this ½ acre is native. I’ve done some things right over the decades to build biodiversity in this ½ acre, and some things wrong. Early on, I knew lawn was a waste of time and resources so a huge swath of the yard was smothered in landscape fabric and mulched. Yikes. Don’t do that. Along the way I learned that separating the natural world above from the living world below chokes off all kinds of important life cycle processes. I have been ripping out this chemical-infused covering and replacing with native vegetation for years now. Lesson learned.
The Eastern white pines scattered around the yard were all serendipitously planted by me. Some were not planted very well, hence the current root-chokehold on many of these gorgeous pines. Duly noted: know how to plant trees correctly. I loved the white pine in my youth not knowing until years later what a robust native species this is: pines rank fourth, nationwide, in the list of the top genera of native keystone trees (number one is the oak, followed by native willow, native cherry, native pine, and native poplar). I hope my overstory pine cathedral manages to hang on in our overly warm present and our even hotter future.
I am constantly trying to create layers for wildlife in this yard—from the ground up. Nutrient dense fallen leaves stay (or are raked from the lawn to the margins). Forbs (flowers), grasses, shrubs, smaller trees, and overstory trees ring the property. Layering offers nesting sites, bird habitat, food, shelter, overwintering insect habitat, and more.
In addition to naturescaping, there a so many mindful things one can do on one’s own property (or schoolyard, place of worship, boulevard, etc.). I keep many (super clean!) birdbaths on the property. I clean and fill them with fresh water every day. Birds rely on this all season long (invest in a winter water heater). Think about your own neighborhood: where is there a reliable source of clean water for birds nearby? I have no birdfeeders. My yard is the birdfeeder. Birds did not evolve to eat from birdfeeders. Disease transmitted from avian traffic of all kinds can do more harm than good.
Of course, I avoid all CIDES: herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and more. Last note: No matter what “they” tell you, spraying for mosquitoes in your yard equals spraying for insects in your yard (meaning bees, butterflies, and more). Insecticides know no boundaries. Even if the product is touted as “organic” or “all natural.” (For more on this, reference Supporting Ecologically Sound Mosquito Management, Xerces.org.)
The 30 percent or so of non-natives in this yard are mostly still here because I do not have enough energy to remove them (I’m looking at you hosta, dropped at the bottom of my driveway each year by my long-deceased sweet neighbor, Bill). Some I keep because they are helpful in some marginal way and are not invasive (until I learn otherwise and then change my “behavior.”). The Autumn Joy sedums get to stay (for now). The seemingly innocuous alliums (THESE ARE NOT CHINESE CHIVES!) my lovely neighbor Dorothy gave me years ago get to stay. Unfortunately, Adeline’s lily-of-the-valley had to go as they became unwanted bullies. Additionally, each year I put together a few pots of non-native zinnia purchased from a source that guarantees they do not contain any systemic insecticides. (Note: the new question to ask is, “do these plants contain systemic insecticides?” In this day of “whack-a-mole” neonics have been replaced with other systemics. So, learn how to ask the right questions.)
I hope those who tour this landscape connect with its reason for being. I am honored to be a part of the Wild Ones mission and hope to inspire others to renature any “dirt” they can—their own yards, boulevards, places of worship, local parks, road sides, school yards, a neighbor’s yard, city hall—and more! Onward with resolve.
