"Grow Where You Are"
A workbook for small-space native gardens
A digital workbook designed to show you how small, intentional steps can transform your space into a thriving native habitat.
Go at Your Own Pace
This is a self-guided digital workbook. You can work through it season by season
Reflect, Plan, and Record
Use the journaling prompts, worksheets, and sketch boxes to collect your thoughts and observations.
Start Small
You do not need a huge space to make an impact. Choose one small area to begin — a corner bed, container garden, or strip of lawn — and grow from there.
About the workbook
Grow Where You Are
A Printable Planner for Small-Space Native Gardens
You don’t need acres of land — or years of experience — to create a beautiful, wildlife-friendly garden.
Grow Where You Are is a self-paced, printable workbook designed for homeowners who want to transform one small space at a time into a thriving native habitat. Whether you’re working with a compact yard, a townhouse border, an HOA-approved bed, or a single neglected corner, this planner helps you turn intention into action — without overwhelm.
Native gardening doesn’t have to be complicated. This workbook breaks the process into clear, manageable steps so you can confidently design, plant, and care for a garden that supports pollinators, birds, and beneficial insects — while still looking intentional and beautiful.
What Makes This Workbook Different
Instead of overwhelming plant lists or rigid garden plans, Grow Where You Are meets you exactly where you are — in your space, your season, and your skill level.
This planner helps you:
Start small (and succeed)
Work with your existing conditions
Design with nature, not against it
Build confidence through observation and reflection
Create a garden that improves year after year
It’s perfect for beginners, busy homeowners, and anyone who wants to garden more sustainably without sacrificing curb appeal.
Inside the Workbook
Section 1: Getting Started
Discover your personal “why,” learn how to observe your space, and choose one manageable area to begin. Journaling prompts and observation worksheets help you understand your light, soil, and moisture — the foundation of every successful native garden.
Section 2: Plan Your Design
Turn ideas into a simple, flexible design. You’ll explore garden style, plant layers, grouping techniques, and layout concepts that work especially well in small spaces and HOA-friendly settings.
Section 3: Prepare & Plant
Move from planning to action with clear site-prep options, soil-building basics, and step-by-step planting guidance. Includes checklists, planting trackers, and early-care tips to set your garden up for long-term success.
Section 4: Grow & Maintain
Learn what to expect as your garden matures and how to care for it through the seasons. Simple maintenance checklists, wildlife observation pages, and expansion ideas help you grow your impact — one space at a time.
Designed for Real Life
This workbook was created for:
Small yards, side yards, and narrow garden beds
HOA-friendly and tidy native landscapes
Beginner and intermediate gardeners
Pollinator and wildlife habitat gardens
People who want progress, not perfection
You’ll find space to write, sketch, reflect, and plan — making this workbook both practical and personal.
Who is this workbook for?
Ideal for beginner's
Grow Where You Are is a guided, printable workbook that helps DIY homeowners transform small outdoor spaces into beautiful, wildlife-supporting native gardens.
Designed for beginners, busy gardeners, and HOA-friendly landscapes, this planner breaks native gardening into simple, manageable steps—no overwhelm required.
Inside, you’ll learn how to observe your space, plan intentionally, choose and group native plants, and care for your garden as it grows. With prompts, checklists, and planning pages, you’ll gain the confidence to build habitat one small space at a time.
Native gardening made simple.
Gardener's wanting to add native plants
Native plants support local ecosystems in ways non-native plants simply can’t. They:
Provide food and habitat for pollinators and birds
Require less water and maintenance once established
Improve soil health and water retention
Bring seasonal beauty and structure to your landscape
By choosing natives — even in small spaces — you’re contributing to a larger network of habitat, one garden at a time.
Small space gardens
You don’t have to do everything at once. You don’t have to know everything before you begin.
You just have to start — right where you are.
Whether this is your first native plant or your next small expansion, this planner will help you create a garden that feels meaningful, manageable, and alive.
Your small space matters. Let’s grow it together.om color theory to typography, and the examples and case studies are particularly helpful. I'd recommend this book to anyone!"
Welcome to Grow Where You Are
This workbook was inspired by the many customers who visit Lakeside Perennials & Native Plant Nursery—people who want to restore natural habitat but aren’t always sure where to begin.
At Lakeside, our mission is simple: to help others return native habitat to their yards and lakeshores, no matter how large or small the space. Our nursery is named for the natural setting of our property on Half Mile Lake, where hundreds of wild lupine grow each spring. These plants are especially meaningful to us—they are the sole food source for the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly caterpillar.
Whether you’re new to native plants or have been gardening with them for years, visitors to our nursery are welcomed by a thriving woodland setting filled with wildlife. It’s a living reminder that when we plant natives, even in small ways, we create real change.
This workbook invites you to be part of that mission—restoring native habitat, one small space at a time.
