Rick Huffman is a native plant expert from Greenville, SC who became passionate about using native plants in landscaping after graduating from college. He started his own business called Earth Design to promote using native plants and sustainable gardening practices. Earth Design has received numerous awards for their landscaping work. Huffman believes that using native plants adapted to the local environment requires less maintenance and is better for the environment. He teaches others about the benefits of native plant landscaping through his work with schools and community projects across South Carolina.

1. Going native
Rick Huffman’s vision of how homeowners can put
native plants to work in their yards and gardens
By Anne K. Moore, Contributing Writer
G
reenville native Rick Huffman is
passionate about the environment.
“I couldn’t get my buddies to go into
the woods any more because all I wanted to
talk about was plants,” Huffman says with a
laugh. “I had to cultivate new friends.” He
contacted like-minded individuals and built
a core of committed people. In 1996, they
became the South Carolina Native Plant
Society.
Self starter
Huffman flip-flopped through several major cities are outdoor classrooms. Rivers
landscape-related jobs after graduating from and lakes run through it, symbolized by dry
the University of Georgia. When he couldn’t stream beds and rain gardens.
interest employers in using native plants and The project is named SCALE (for South
sustainable gardening practices, he decided, Carolina Academic Learning Environment)
“If I’m going to do this, I’m going to have Rick Huffman has earned wide John Bruce and serves to provide an outdoor learning
to do it myself.” recognition for his visionary approach to classroom where learning about our state and
landscaping. He was named Environmental its environments are realized. Huffman has
Educator of the Year and recipient of landscaped with native plants in each region
Prepare for spring! the Governor’s Award for Environmental
Awareness.
of the state, from the piedmont to the coastal
plains. For information, access spart5.k12.
This 11-page March 2009 special sc.us/scale.
lawn-and-garden section is packed These experiences led to his business,
with ideas to help you make plans for Earth Design, Inc. The landscape architecture Stepping softly on the earth
improving your home landscape. When planning a landscape for an indi-
Star t here with award-winning being 13 years ago in Pickens. vidual homeowner or business, Huffman’s
gardening writer Anne K. Moore’s “Education leads to understanding,” he focus is on plant communities. “Our eco-
opening feature on South Carolina says. He travels the state speaking, teaching system design makes us different,” he says.
native plant expert Rick Huffman, and installing earth-friendly gardens. The The surest way to build a landscape of native
who offers tips for low-maintenance Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative member has plants is to look at where they came from.
and environmentally sound land- won numerous awards for his volunteer and “With our 65-mile-per-hour lifestyles, we
scaping. professional work including Environmental have forgotten how to look closely,” Huffman
Other lawn-and-garden section Educator of the Year and the Governor’s explains. Gardeners should “learn to look
features include: Award for Environmental Awareness. at nature. There are models all around us.”
• Gardening memoirs, 17 Working with schools and the children Homeowners can be more environmentally
they serve are Huffman’s most rewarding friendly by integrating rain barrels, rain gar-
• Laws of lawn care, 18
activities. On six-and-a-half acres in Duncan, dens and native plants into a new or existing
• Yard art ideas, 22 near Spartanburg, he designed an interactive landscape.
• Guide to pruning, 26 scale model representing the state of South For instance, Huffman promotes the use of
• Community gardens, 27 Carolina. There, schoolchildren can walk in a special fungi to replace expensive chemical
miniature state of South Carolina over walk- fertilizer and rainwater instead of metered or
ing trails depicting interstate systems. The well-water irrigation.
14 LIVING IN SOUTH CAROLINA MARCH 2009 livinginsc.coop

2. Earth Design landscaped this backyard
setting where native plants nestle the
home while inviting a stroll of sensory
delight and discovery.
Earth Design created this rooftop garden at a high school in the Upstate to This meadow gracing the Table Rock State
mimic a granitic outcrop plant community and provide an educational resource. Park Visitors Center on Scenic Highway 11
in Pickens County was planted by Earth
Design with native grasses and wildflowers
Rainwater harvesting is not new. It has population from using it as a nursery school as a complement to the park’s natural
been used around the world for thousands for their wiggly youngsters. It should have a beauty.
of years. By hooking up a rain barrel, you diverter so when the barrel is full, the water
can save water that would otherwise run reroutes back to the downspout and out to
into storm drains. A roof area of only 1,000 a drainage area. Using a rain garden as a
square feet might provide about 600 gallons drainage area slows or stops water runoff
of water during a one-inch rainfall. If you use in the yard.
the collected rainwater on dry days, there will A rain garden’s purpose is to hold water
always be room for more rain. in the landscape where it can percolate to the
In order to put a rain barrel to use, your
house should have gutters and downspouts. water back to the underground aquifer. If you
The rain barrel system should contain a tight- have a natural depression in your yard, you
already have a spot for a rain garden. The conceptualization of a meadow is
to keep out thirsty animals that might fall manifest in this Earth Design setting along
the shoreline of a waterfront residential
in and drown, and to keep the mosquito continued on page 16
community. With a steady visitation of
butterflies, the tapestry of native plant
textures, colors, and hues are vibrant all
Rain gardens summer.
A
rain garden publication has been written
specifically for South Carolina residents.
Released in October 2008, The South
Carolina Rain Garden Manual was created by the
Carolina Clear program, an initiative of Clemson
University to inform and educate communities
about water quality, water quantity, and the
cumulative effects of storm water.
Download at clemson.edu/carolinaclear/cc_toolbox,
e-mail for print copy, kgiacal@clemson.edu, or write Carnivorous native plants dominate an
Katie Giacalone, Carolina Clear, 1360 Truxtun Ave., Earth Design natural bog ecosystem that
uite 300-B, N Charleston, SC 29405. helps absorb runoff and pollutants while
capturing insects for supplemental food.
livinginsc.coop MARCH 2009 LIVING IN SOUTH CAROLINA 15

3. continued from page 15
On the other hand, you can dig one. It
Best bets
should be at least 10 feet from the house
M
any flowers, trees, and
foundation. You can either pipe water from shrubs are descendants
your downspouts or put the rain garden in of plants native to South
a naturally occurring run-off area. Trees, Carolina. They have been selected
from their wild counterparts for their
should be both wet- and drought-tolerant. hardiness and beauty. If you think of
“Statistics show that a well-maintained natives as hard to find, some of the The fringe tree (Chionanthus
landscape increases property values from 15 virginicus) is a small (12–15’) drought-
tamed flora listed here might surprise
tolerant native tree that brings a
to 20 percent,” Huffman says. “Native plants you. These plant choices help create breath of spring to the landscape.
located in the proper environment require colorful native habitat gardens and
much less maintenance than the average are available in many garden centers
landscape.” statewide.
You can be a gardener and still have time to
lounge in the garden furniture and hammocks PERENNIALS
of your garden “rooms.” There are plants that Green and gold (Chrysogonum
virginianum)
and that are adapted to local rainfall and Wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)
soil types. Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia Trumpet honeysuckle is an example of
“If you choose natives and place them in native vines and is recommended for
the same or similar conditions where they capillaries)
gardens.
grow in the wild, they will thrive in your Blazing star (Liatris spicata)
garden,” Huffman says. Purple coneflower (Echinacea
purpurea)
Hardy natives Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
Low-maintenance habitat gardening Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium
places focus on plant communities, their purpureum)
relationship to each other and the wildlife Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum spp.)
they support, he continues. Gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia spp.)
“Many of our native plant choices are Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) The star of the show in the fall
extremely hardy,” Hoffman points out. He and winter, pink muhly grass
calls these, “Stick plants — you can beat Southern shield fern (Dryopteris (Muhlenbergia capillaries) is a
them with a stick and they still grow.” marginalis) common and tough native grass that
Making a difference starts with one person Crested iris (Iris cristata) is extremely drought tolerant. Its fall
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) display lights up any landscape.
and an idea. Plant trees to clean the air.
Plant native grasses and sedges to clean the SHRUBS
Sweet shrub (Calycanthus floridus)
Huffman is doing all these things and making Flowering anise (Illicium floridanum)
a difference. Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginicus)
Anne K. Moore is a professional gardening Summer sweet (Clethra alnifolia)
writer who lives and gardens in Columbia. Sweet azalea (Rhododendron
arborescens)
Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron A native plant, flame azalea is known
To learn more candescens)
Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
for its vibrant orange-red hues.
For help on landscaping with Drooping leucothoe (Leucothoe
native plants, contact Ear th axillaris)
Design, 405 Johnson Street, Lacecap hydrangea (Hydrangea
Pickens, SC 29671, (864) 898- radiata)
1221, earthdesignsc.com. Another
resource is South Carolina Native TREES
Plant Society, PO Box 491, Norris, SC Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus)
29667, scnps.org. For information Redbud tree (Cercis canadensis)
Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) With a sweet fragrance and spires
about rain barrels, please access on reddish flowers, summer sweet
rain-barrel.com. Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus Clethra (Clethra alnifolia) attracts
parviflora) butterflies and hummingbirds.
16 LIVING IN SOUTH CAROLINA MARCH 2009 livinginsc.coop