Bringing Nature Back: Native Plant Gardening in Northwest Ohio

Well, hello everyone — and welcome to my first blog! My name is John, and I’m the owner and founder of Backyard Habitats, a project dedicated to native gardening in Northwest Ohio and helping homeowners reconnect with nature. What started as a personal passion for restoring balance and observing how life unfolds in a wild garden has grown into a mission — to bring back nature, one yard at a time.

First, let me start with what I’m not. I’m not a writer, biologist, botanist, or entomologist. I don’t hold any science degrees — I simply love gardening. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, I’ve learned through curiosity, observation, and plenty of trial and error. My idea of fun includes researching plants (exciting, I know!). Here, I’ll be sharing some of that research and experience with you.

Discovering the Great Black Swamp

I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and have lived in Northwest Ohio for most of my life. Like many locals, I used to think this region was flat, boring farmland with not much going on — no mountains, no tropical jungles, no lions or elephants. Just birds, squirrels, bugs, and deer.

That changed when I started doing some genealogy research and stumbled across the fascinating history of The Great Black Swamp — a vast, glacially fed wetland that once stretched across Northwest Ohio into Northeast Indiana. The Maumee River, which still flows through this region, was a major outlet for the swamp’s waters and played a key role in shaping the surrounding landscapes. Learning about this ancient landscape changed how I saw the land beneath my feet.

The glacier carved out high and low spots that became prairies, streams, and massive swamps filled with towering oaks, elms, hickories, maples, cottonwoods, and ash trees. Much of the region stayed underwater most of the year. The higher, sandy ridges that form the Oak Openings Region were once the beach of glacial Lake Maumee, shaping the soils and topography that create its unique mix of prairies, wetlands, and savannas found in northwest Ohio.

So why all the water? Because the glaciers left behind dense clay soils that make it difficult for water to drain. As a gardener, that’s valuable knowledge — understanding what kind of soil you’re working with is the first step toward success.

Restoring Balance Through Native Plant Gardening in Northwest Ohio

Here in Ohio, we all know our soil is heavy with clay. But I’ve always wanted to understand why — to see the bigger picture of how this land was shaped. And that’s really what Backyard Habitats is about: looking at the big picture of ecological gardening.

As wildlife populations decline, native plant gardening in Northwest Ohio offers a way to restore balance — starting right in our own backyards.. By planting native species that have evolved alongside local insects and wildlife for centuries, we can begin to restore the natural balance that’s been lost.

Through Backyard Habitats Toledo, I also hope to help people reconnect with nature by learning to grow their own food and garden with purpose. Gardening isn’t just about “plant, water, and wait.” Every plant has an evolutionary story — and when you understand that story, success naturally follows.

When you bring back native plants, everything else falls into place. Native plants attract the insects that eat them, which attract the birds and other wildlife that depend on those insects. It’s a cycle of balance and abundance.

This same balance helps your herb and vegetable gardens thrive by attracting beneficial insects that keep pests in check. And native wildflowers bring in all kinds of pollinators — including the specialist bees and butterflies that non-native plants can’t support.

Let’s Bring Back Nature Together

In short, Backyard Habitats is here to empower people with practical knowledge and scientific insight, helping homeowners restore biodiversity one yard at a time.

Take a walk around your yard and see how many plants are truly native to Northwest Ohio. When I did this, I identified 26 species — and only six were native. The rest were just taking up space, light, and water without giving much back to the ecosystem.

Let’s change that. Let’s bring back nature together.