Giles C. Thelen
Native Yards was created to protect and promote Native Plants, their habitat, and diversity. From the initial beginnings of saving and storing old-growth rough fescue grasslands from the new Mansion Heights development in the Missoula Valley, Native Yards has grown into a full scale plant business, providing design and installation of natural landscapes and hardscapes; removing unwanted plants from 1 lot to 10,000 acre plots, and replacing those with desired native species, via our custom seed mixes or with fully grown individuals.
Native Yards is also active in the restoration of large, human disturbed sites. We were recently awarded contracts in the Butte superfund restoration area, providing native plants to sites impacted by mining that are being restored to their pre-mining condition. We also are active in the research realm, continuing some of the work initiated from Giles’ 11 years running the Plant Ecology Lab at the University of Montana. Some examples of research we are exploring are on the topics of Hot Seed (providing a protective coating for seeds to eliminate loss to granivores) and natural, injectable herbicide for rhizomoutous weeds.
Come explore the Native Yards Nursery, walk a native landscape installed by Native Yards, or just contact us to ask questions – advice is always free!
Native Yards was founded in Missoula, Montana in March 2005. Both owners, Kelly J. Dixon and Giles C. Thelen, live and raise their families in Missoula. All employees of Native Yards live in western Montana.
