We created this initiative because we are very excited about urban habitat restoration. Our hope is to make it easier for active families like ours, new and seasoned gardeners, schools, churches, community gardens, and park-goers to learn about and source affordable native plants and feel the satisfaction that comes from creating biodiverse sanctuaries in their own spaces. We also want to help foster human community through a shared love of nature by connecting with other organizations in our city and region, so please drop us a line if you have plant needs or thoughts to share. We're happy you stopped by!

Bieke Puncochar, PhD (co-founder—director—grower of plants) was born and raised in Belgium. She moved to Nashville in 2004 to complete her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Vanderbilt. Today, she runs a private practice specializing in psychoeducational evaluations. She and her husband have two girls. Reading Doug Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope in 2022 was transformative, inspiring a deep passion for raising awareness about the vital role native plants play in supporting the web of life. Since then, she has grown thousands of native plants from seed, spoken at conferences, and worked with local media outlets to share the importance of native plants with a wider audience.

Laura Wallace, MAT (volunteer coordinator—creator of beauty—grower of plants) is an avid gardener, massage therapist, and teacher. She has two boys and has lived in East Nashville for 18 years. She is currently a graduate student in Clinical Social Work with a focus on the grief process and healing in the natural world. Almost every morning at dawn she walks the green trails of Shelby Bottoms down to the Cumberland River and, sitting at the river’s edge, enjoys writing, meditation, and the quiet solitude of nature.

Emily Culver, MS (native plant designer—grower of plants—finder of solutions) spent 10 years as a speech-language pathologist in Metro Nashville Public Schools, all the while gardening, designing landscapes for friends and family, and learning everything she could about native plants and ecosystems in her free time. In 2023, she made the leap to designing native landscapes full-time. She recently launched Culver's Root Gardens, growing native plants from seed sourced as locally as possible to share with fellow gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts.

Bethany Crandell (co-founder) has a Cornell landscape design certification, with previous professional iterations including book author profiled in The New York Times, magazine writer, and non-profit admin. Growing up in the open spaces of Southwestern Wisconsin, she spent thousands of hours playing amongst native plants before learning about their many gifts later in life! She has taken a step back from active operations in Neighbors for Native Plants to focus on publishing her new book.

Top photo from left to right: Laura Wallace, Bieke Puncochar, and Bethany Crandell
Second from the top: Emily Culver
Bottom photos: some of our Beautiful Volunteers