BY CAM GERVIN

COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER

When Michael Phillips was a student at the University of Tennessee, one of his landscape design professors encouraged the restoration of native plants

into yards. Mr. Phillips was already an outdoor enthusiast and had never been a fan of what he terms the "cookie cutter look." He took his professor's idea

and ran with it, opening Fiddleheads Native Landscaping with his wife Natalie in 2001.

The North Chattanooga business has grown from just the two of them to 10 employees. Mr. and Mrs.

Phillips provide everything from lawn makeovers to weekly weeding, all utilizing plants native to the

Southeast.

"I feel it's important to incorporate native plants back into design," Mr. Phillips said. While the "natural"

look is certainly a growing trend in landscaping, Mr. Phillips said planting native is also good for the

environment. He explained that using plants that grow naturally in this region supports wildlife and

sustains the whole ecosystem. Planting a yard with greenery native to Chattanooga also can make life

easier on the homeowner. If a plant grows out in the

wild anyway, it is accustomed to the South's heat, average rainfall and insects. Thus, little watering, pesticides or fertilizers are needed.

Mr. Phillips said that his low-maintenance, drought-resistant lawns are not what one might expect. He and his wife can create the lush, overgrown

"natural" look, or they can create a formal suburban lawn that blends in with the rest of its neighbors.

Fiddleheads has also landscaped new construction, corporate offices and civic parks. Mr. Phillips said although more people have become aware of the

perks of native landscaping, most people still don't realize that their yards are probably full of exotic, invasive plants. He said that if someone is extremely

attached to his privet hedges, he would not necessarily remove them. "I strongly discourage (keeping them)," Mr. Phillips said. "Birds and other animals

will relocate exotic plants into the woods, and they just take over."

Besides the ubiquitous plants are honeysuckle, English ivy and bamboo. For homeowners who love the bamboo look, which Mr. Phillips admits he likes

as well, there are native types of bamboo, like river cane, that won't strangle other plants — or pop up in neighbors' yards, which bamboo has a nasty

habit of doing. But if you chop down your privet and honeysuckle, what should you use to replace them? Mr. Phillips recommended azaleas, wild

hydrangeas and red twig dogwoods. Tulip poplars and red maples make nice arboreal additions.

Mr. Phillips gives free design estimates on yards -located inside Chattanooga. A consultation for the do-it-yourself gardener starts at $100 per hour, while

maintenance contracts can run anywhere from $150 to $700 a month, depending on the amount of work involved.