ago and it is covered in small trees and bushes. Will take another 20 years for the trees to be big.

I am in the SW and therefore have no good advice, but if you google landscape design in your area u may hit the jackpot. Likely under $200 for a site plan.

I'm also in the midwest (Minnesota). Because of the expense I did it in stages over three years (side yard, back yard, then front yard). Since then I've had to change things here and there as the yard got shadier, but the nice thing is that once the plants get established the yard is pretty self-sustaining. Native plants are better able to crowd out weeds, so eventually you won't have as much weeding to do as in a conventional garden, and they are also more disease-resistant than non-natives. Check into permaculture, which is a system of planting species that complement each other. I planted Baptisia, a legume, next to each of my three fruit trees (Honeycrisp and Honeygold apples and a dwarf Meteor cherry) and they quickly got huge without my ever having to fertilize them. I've also planted a lot of pollinator-friendly plants like Mondarda and it's fun to watch the bumblebees and little native bees swarm around them. Do it!

You might also be interested in this: https://beespotter.org/topics/beegarden/
and this: http://xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center/
and don't forget to support the monarchs (the good kind): http://www.livemonarch.com/growinginstructions.htm (they are rebuilding their website, so it's a little sketchy)

We have been slowly but surely doing just that to our spot. About four years ago we started in the backyard. We went to a local native plant nursery and they were so helpful. We live in CA so our plants aren't like yours, but I would say a native plant nursery is a very good start. Our backyard is beautiful now, needs little care and butterflies, humming birds and honey bees are abundant.

The front yard....we wanted a sweet green spot so our grand babies could have a safe and fun spot to play. We came up with clover. We found clover that does not bloom and is lush and beautiful. It looked beautiful before the moles came last Spring. We found strange vibrating things at Home Depot to pound into the lawn. They have kept the moles away so I am in the process of reseeding. It is lush green and natural, takes less water and you don't need to mow it as much.

The other things we have added for ruff spots are succulents and rosemary, they are thriving and need little water.

Hopes this helps!

I am thinking of getting a bunch of small plugs from the local arboretum and then see what does well instead of going for the whole thing at once. For these small plugs they say 3 years, first year they sleep, then they creep, then they leap. That has been my experience with the small plants I have bought in the past.

The plants I have now do attract a lot of bees, butterflies and other insects and I love just going out and watching them.

I have read where a 50/50 mix of perennials and native grasses look best.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Peace