Native Plant Project

About the Project Type

The Native Plant Project is a project type of the Mini-Cost Share Program. The project is intended as an easy path to adding native plants to residential yards.

Who can Apply

The RPBCWD Mini-Cost Share Program is designed for residential applicants within the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District. Check if you live in RPBCWD before you apply.

The program is open to both property owners and renters with permission from the property owner.

Non-residential applicants (non-profits, businesses, schools, and local government units) are not eligible for this project type.

Maximum Grant Award

Mini-cost share grants cover up to 95% of your project cost - you just cover the remaining 5%.

Residents are eligible for up to $500 per year for this project type.

Lakeshore property owners who wish to plant in their shoreland zone are eligible for up to an additional $1,000. To learn more, visit the Native Plant Project - Shoreland Health page.

Mini-cost share grants are awarded on a rolling basis until funding runs out.

Use of Funds

Project Requirements

  • Roots-in-the-ground (no planters)
  • Non-cultivated varieties of native plants
  • At least 75% of cost share award must go toward purchase of native plants and or seeds
  • Must submit receipts, before/after photos, and install project sign

Eligible Costs

  • Native plants and/or native seeds
  • Herbivore protective fencing
  • Natural mulch
  • Edging
  • Other items or materials deemed essential to project success

Ineligible Costs

  • Non-native or native cultivar plants
  • Decorative elements such as stepping stones
  • Irrigation supplies
  • Vehicle mileage or fuel
  • Landscaping fabric
  • In-kind labor or materials

Why Native Plants?

Native plants play a significant role in ecosystem health including water resources. Native plants provide habitat for wildlife and the base of the food web. As they grow, plants pull carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the form of new roots, leaves and stems.

Native plants are soil engineers with extensive roots that create structure and nurture a healthy soil ecosystem with microorganisms. Healthy soils have air pockets and rich, dark humus that allows rainwater and snowmelt to soak into the ground where the water is stored and used in time of drought. Native plants also protect soil by shielding it from erosion and shading it to reduce water loss.