Confluence Habitats

Confluence Habitats We build and maintain landscapes that connect people, plants and places to foster healthy habitats for all.

Our services include custom gardens, water management, farm consultation and outdoor living spaces.

Rehabbing a well loved vegetable. After years of enjoying time with grandchildren in the garden, this customer was wante...
04/02/2026

Rehabbing a well loved vegetable. After years of enjoying time with grandchildren in the garden, this customer was wanted to ensure her garden is ready to thrive for many seasons to come

Designed by .l.ross with plants from .stl and installed in 2023 by Confluence Habitats (with several subsequent addition...
07/18/2025

Designed by .l.ross with plants from .stl and installed in 2023 by Confluence Habitats (with several subsequent additions), this garden is maturing into a texturally complex and fragrant beauty đź’š The Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and Downy Scullcap (Scutellaria incana) are absolutely buzzing with bees. The trees and shrubs are still maturing, and the garden will continue to change as they fill in. We work collaboratively with this client to edit the plantings and hardscape and make sure they remain functional and balanced as the garden continues to grow. The resulting garden is another great example of why we recommend regular maintenance visits for our new install clients!

A garden renovation in process, and a great example of why ongoing maintenance is so important! This client had a large ...
07/18/2025

A garden renovation in process, and a great example of why ongoing maintenance is so important! This client had a large garden installed several years ago (by another contractor), composed of a diverse selection of Missouri natives that has mostly filled in nicely, and is certainly providing abundant resources for wildlife. However there are unexpected site conditions, namely a large amount of water flowing both above and below ground, that have caused a large swath of intended plants to die out and be replaced by spontaneous vegetation which is mostly undesirable. Much of the garden also now has a ground layer of Bermuda Grass and White Clover, which would be extremely difficult to remove without starting over. Some of the more vigorous reproducers, namely Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium), have also spread widely through the garden.
The client reached out to us this spring, and we came up with a plan to preserve and encourage the successful and wanted plants, while weakening the Bermuda and clover before adding some big and tall plants suited to wet conditions that will hopefully be able to shade out the ground layer of weeds. We will also be thinning some of the more vigorous wanted species.
Planting is the first step, but gardens are made through gardening!

The rainiest spring ever (??) has led to some plants with extra height and exceptional blooms. Beauties shown here:— Pur...
07/01/2025

The rainiest spring ever (??) has led to some plants with extra height and exceptional blooms. Beauties shown here:
— Purple Poppy Mallow (Callirhoe involucrata)
— Slender Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum tenuifolium)
— Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
— Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
— Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
— Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

Happy Pollinator Week! To all of our clients who spend their time and money creating habitat for our seriously declining...
06/20/2025

Happy Pollinator Week! To all of our clients who spend their time and money creating habitat for our seriously declining insect population, thank you!!
While we utilize primarily native plants for many reasons, their relationship with insects is a major motivation. While insects can collect nectar and pollen from all different kinds of plants (with varying degrees of nutritiousness) including those that are non-native, many insects in their larval stage can only eat the leaves of very specific plants. Famously, Monarch butterfly caterpillars can only eat the leaves of Milkweed species. There are many other relationships like these, such as Zebra Swallowtails and Paw Paw leaves, Spicebush Swallowtails and Spicebush and Sassafras leaves, etc.
Native trees play a huge role in providing food for insects, with their large amount of leaves to feed hungry caterpillars. And for bird lovers, know that as infants, many birds need a huge amount of protein, often in the form of hundreds of caterpillars a day!
Ecosystems are complicated and while we are not able to make up for the immense amount of habitat loss, we can see the results of gardening with native plants in the lively gardens we build and maintain.

A couple of our recent works:1. Front yard rain garden to detain water onsite and allow it to infiltrate into the soil r...
06/19/2025

A couple of our recent works:
1. Front yard rain garden to detain water onsite and allow it to infiltrate into the soil rather than run off into the street and sewer.
Also, we have new signs! (Previous clients, feel free to reach out if you would like one)

2. We re-laid this client’s pathway and were able to re-use her stone steppers for a newly solid and stable path. We also lined the pathway with native plants to add some beauty and pollinator resources.

Photos from one of our home gardens in a moment of spring abundance today! Cherries are ripe; this variety is a bush typ...
05/24/2025

Photos from one of our home gardens in a moment of spring abundance today! Cherries are ripe; this variety is a bush type of tart-ish cherry called Carmine Jewel that is resistant to the diseases that make growing most stone fruit in our region so challenging.
Bumblebees are particularly loving the Ohio Horsemint (Blephilia ciliata) and Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis). Purple Beardtongue (Penstemon cobaea) is managing to look incredibly showy even while lying on the ground. đź’ś

The Normandy traffic circle is entering its third year, and looking lush and beautiful. Some of the slower species, such...
05/13/2025

The Normandy traffic circle is entering its third year, and looking lush and beautiful. Some of the slower species, such as Amsonia, are taking their time filling in and becoming visible from the viewpoint of a moving car, while others (hello Coreopsis and Rudbeckia!) have self-seeded generously and are already quite visually impactful. Wild Strawberry (Fragaria Virginiana) has spread throughout almost the entire garden and is doing a great job of excluding weeds, while still allowing our intended plants to poke through. We will be moving some of the self-seeded babies of various species around to spread out the seasonal blooms throughout the circle.
This planting was a great lesson is unexpected site conditions; we anticipated that it would be on the hot and dry side, as it is exposed and windy from the vehicular traffic. But on windy days, spray from the fountain soaks many parts of the bed, as well as leaking a bit from the base. Most of the plant species have taken the wetter conditions quite well, especially once public works kindly decreased the level of bleach in the fountain water!
This bed was designed by Jen Sieradzki of Shaw Nature Reserve, and partially funded by a grant from MDC.

We have had such a long beautiful spring with lots of rain! Some of our favorite sights:— Newly emerged Black Swallowtai...
05/09/2025

We have had such a long beautiful spring with lots of rain! Some of our favorite sights:
— Newly emerged Black Swallowtail near its host plant, Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
— Prairie Alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii) and Rose Verbena (Glandularia canadensis) in bloom
— Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) happy on a client’s trellis
— Client gardens in varying stages of maturity
— Nessus Sphinx nectaring on Phlox bifida
— Violets freely spreading
— Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Ozark Bluestar (Amsonia illustris), Beebalm (Monarda bradburiana)

Our latest rain garden installation! After having her sewer lateral replaced, this customer was required by the city to ...
05/08/2025

Our latest rain garden installation! After having her sewer lateral replaced, this customer was required by the city to disconnect her downspout from the sewer. This is an effort to reduce storm water overwhelming our aging sewer system.
Not wanting a soggy yard, she turned to us to design and install a custom rain garden — complete with a buried downspout for a clean look.
Planted:
Aronia melanocarpa — Black Chokeberry
Chelone obliqua — Rose Turtlehead
Geranium maculatum — Wild Geranium
Lobelia cardinalis — Cardinal Flower
Packera Aurea — Golden Groundsel
Heuchera Richardsonii —Prairie alumroot
Carex Albicans— Oak Sedge
Carex Annectens—yellow fox sedge

We offer a variety of raised bed styles, tailored to meet our customers’ requests, aesthetic preferences, and budgets. T...
05/03/2025

We offer a variety of raised bed styles, tailored to meet our customers’ requests, aesthetic preferences, and budgets.
Terraced hillside raised beds constructed with 6x6 pressure-treated lumber—ideal for sloped landscapes.
Corrugated steel raised beds using Vego garden systems for a sleek, modern look.
U-shaped raised beds enclosed with deer fencing, built from naturally rot-resistant Black Locust lumber.

Last week’s honeysuckle removal in a wooded section of a client’s backyard. Honeysuckle removal is particularly satisfyi...
04/17/2025

Last week’s honeysuckle removal in a wooded section of a client’s backyard. Honeysuckle removal is particularly satisfying when there are so many diverse woodland species still intact. In this little section there were many different young trees (Serviceberry, Flowering Dogwood, Redbud, Hackberry, Persimmon, etc.) and well as an array of spring ephemerals. We love this client’s dedication to restoring habitat!

Address

845 Saeger Lane
St. Louis, MO

Telephone

+13146350801

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