Northern Neck Native Plant Co

01/25/2026

The owner - Don - has deleted his personal page. For anyone who has stayed in touch via personal FB, make sure to reach out to us on the Business page here or via text/email!

Send a message to learn more

01/19/2026

Fed? Check. Changed? Check. Burped? Check.

Providing 5,500 plugs at low cost to a Living Shoreline contractor? Check.

Starting the new year off right.

01/18/2026

After 5 days in the hospital we are heading home with our newest family member: Bridget Lee.

Residential customers: feel free to email/message with plant, sale, or installation questions. We’ll resume installations and site visits in late March.

Commercial/Wholesale customers: business as usual.

01/16/2026

An official website of the State of Maryland.

01/12/2026

This post isnt about the Northern Neck but about another place very special to us: Michigan and specifically Metro Detroit.

Many places in the Midwest and Plains have been heavily industrialized and converted to agriculture. Metro Detroit businesses provide steel, cars, and refine oil to make gasoline - all things benefitting America at large but at a steep environmental price.

Virginia is fortunate enough to be a high income, economically stable place with well funded environmental protections and land conservancy. We wish all states and communities were so lucky.

Our mission in 2026 is to continue empowering natural resilience and land restoration via low cost plants and donations. We contributed $50 to this project and $100 to the Arboretum in Detroit.

In the coming weeks we’ll be issuing a call for requests for plant donations that we can make. This will help us channel more of our profits and leftover plants to good local use.

A rare tract of land and one of the last original pieces of Michigan prairie that formed after the glaciers receded is under threat for development. But a conservancy has a chance to purchase the land to protect it.

01/09/2026

Want to give a big shout out to Vessels Landscaping LLC for providing the truck and muscle to spread 5 yards of fresh ground wood chips on our Tappahannock project.

After tarping for the summer, laying a w**d barrier, and now a healthy dose of wood chips, our front yard takeover will rest for a few months. We’ll monitor growth from our hedge and pollinator plantings this spring and plot our next development!

01/08/2026

Leave The Leaves & When Not To Leave Them

Dropped leaves are an important source of phosphate and nitrogen for ecosystems as well as important insect habitat. The new mantra amongst sustainable landscape practices has been “leave the leaves,” but it’s not always so simple.

Below is a picture of marsh grasses planted along a shoreline in the NNK. This shoreline is like many here mostly turf grass up to the water. The sparseness of trees, short grass, and proximity to water means that large amounts of leaves can easily make their way into creeks and rivers. This in turn adds to the nitrogen and phosphate in the Bay.

Agriculture and industrial runoff are far bigger culprits of phosphate and nitrogen runoff, but every source matters when our creeks and rivers are bereft of their natural defenses.

In cities and urbanized suburbs, leaves accumulate in the curbs and streets and enter the stormwater management system which often overflows to the Bay or, if not a combined storm sewer system, the leaves can cause backups and localized flooding.

This is not to say that leaving the leaves is bad! In fact, it’s a reminder to look at the entire system of your yard and look for imbalances. This property has large mature oaks with tons of leaves. The wetland grasses act as a buffer, but an even better buffer would be shoreline and near-shore grasses to collect leaf litter and runoff. Both are in the works here. In a city or urbanized suburb, residents can remove curbside leaf debris and repurpose it somewhere else.

Alternatively, for larger lot owners, we encourage creating a “rewilding area” where leaves, sticks, tall native grasses and shrubs can proliferate. It’s often easier to have one ‘crazy zone’ off to the side somewhere than trying to integrate wilder habitats in more manicured neighborhoods.

01/07/2026

We are thrilled to announce Discount Large Tree Planting for HOAs, community groups, businesses, developers, municipalities, and schools.

These trees are locally sourced and outdoor grown.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas To Those Celebrating
Happy Thursday To Those Who Aren’t

More photos from our Christmas Week installations.

12/20/2025

Good fences make good neighbors but Living Fences make great neighbors.

Very excited to continue work on this privacy and wildlife hedge. Southern Wax Myrtles added to the large ones planted early in 2025. They currently look mounded because additional soil and mulch will be added to level out and provide additional growth space.

Elsewhere, a row of Coastal Pepperbush was added.

Eventually (hopefully, with some convincing!) this hedge area can be converted to a no-mow area with additional smaller shrubs and pollinators added.

Reedville, VA