Services

Watch our social media for updates on our 2023 season!

We are working on our 2023 inventory and plant sales, and we are upgrading our growing facilities in CU! We're excited for the new season. Watch our social media and website for all updates.

We offer eco-design on a contract basis. Once temps start to warm up, we'll be able to schedule consultations for design work.

Plants

Seed Grown, Wild-Type Native Plants

The Well Fed Caterpillar is working to increase bio-diversity in and around Champaign Urbana, and our passion is making lesser-known species available to the public. We grow and sell primarily forbs, grasses, and sedges, with the exception of a few shrubs and trees. We do not have a brick and mortar shop, so we sell primarily at remote sales, and customers can also buy plants directly through us for pick up at one of our homes. Check our social media for the inventories we'll have at each remote sale, or send us a note. We can help you find something if we don't have it.

Most of our plants are small plugs, which is the most effective size for planting native plants. We more rarely offer plants in larger pots depending on the species.

Design

Garden and Landscape Design and Management Plans

We can create anything from a list of recommended species to a full property design and maintenance plan. We offer two types of consultations:

1. A Direct Consultation involves coming to your home to offer one hour of on-site consultation. We would look at your space, hear your concerns and interests, and give suggestions and ideas on the spot. Then we would write up documents with those suggestions and species lists with details. You would receive that information by email after the consultation. This service costs $140.

2. A Design Consultation involves our coming to your home knowing that your interested in an actual landscape design of some size (small garden all the way to full property). This consultation can take 60-120 minutes depending on lots of factors. We would take measurements and from there, we would write up an estimate for a design. The consultation itself costs $50, and if you accept the estimate for the design, we would put the $50 for the consultation toward the design cost.

Hourly Work

Consultation, installation, and sourcing

We offer several hourly labor and consultation services.

**We do not offer labor or tasks requiring machinery.**

Consultation and brainstorming sessions
Design installation - plant installation only
Plant acquisition (let us find it for you!)
Small tree and shrub planting
Seeding
Animal habitat consultation*

We charge $100 per hour for hourly work which can take the shape of a Direct Consultation (with follow-up documents, this particular service is $140), installation, and potential maintenance. We do not offer site-preparation at this time or maintenance of installed gardens, but we hope to work up to those services.

*One of our favorite design specialties is creating animal habitat for both domestic and wild animals. Whether you are looking to create a fun backyard space for a dog, hoping to increase the health of your pastures for livestock, or are wanting to attract more wildlife, we would love to help you!

Soil Health

Soil testing and soil health consultation

One of the most important first steps in design is doing a soil test. Currently, we use Midwest Laboratories' soil health complete test. These tests tell us how many and what kind of nutrients and minerals are available to the plants growing there. The foundation of a healthy space is your soil, and soil tests tell us whether or not you need supplemental nutrients before planting. We will take the samples, ship them off to the lab, interpret them, and write up an analysis with recommendations in a booklet. You would receive both the lab report and our analysis.

After taking soil tests, we may consult with you on the next steps you can take to improve your soils. This may consist of using cover crops, strategic mowing and/or burning, nutrient application, among other strategies.