For every aspiring home gardener who has ever wandered a nursery in search of the right plants to compose a Better Homes and Gardens-worthy landscape, Kate Venturini ’06, M.S. ’10 , a graduate of URI’s Landscape Architecture and Marine Affairs programs and URI Cooperative Extension educator, has this advice:

Plant for nativity. The entire food web is built on insect health, so incorporate native plants that support diversity and beneficial insects.

Plant in swaths. Place like species together in groups of three or five. Plants have more visual punch in a mass; don’t dot the bed with singles.

Plant in layers. Let the forest—a fine model of an ecosystem in which you have canopy and understory plants—be your guide. The vertical layers capture storm water and decrease run-off.

Plant for all seasons. Mix deciduous plants with evergreens so you have something to look at in the winter, and small mammals and birds have year-round habitat. And consider bloom time; something should be in flower at any point in the season, offering nectar or pollen to beneficial insects.

Plant in wavy curves. Nature doesn’t array itself in straight lines, and neither should your garden. Give your beds curved, undulating lines, and your plants a staggered line.