Why plant native plants? You’ve probably heard the buzz: that planting native plant gardens is the ‘thing to do’. You’re probably wondering: “Aren’t they weeds? What difference does it make what I plant in my little garden?”
The short answers are “No. And a big difference.”
What is a Native Plant
Co-Evolved
Native plants occurred in the region before settlement by Europeans. They are uniquely adapted to the soil and climate of the area, and play an important role in plant and animal communities. Since they evolved here, they evolved hand-in-hand with insects, birds, butterflies, and wildlife.
And because they evolved along with birds, insects, and animals, they depend on them — and vice versa. Birds, insects, and animals need the plants they evolved with to survive. And the plants need them.
Adapted to the Climate and Soils?
Native plants were living here long before we arrived with our fertilizers and pruners. There are native plants adapted to thrive in any naturally occurring condition from wet, soggy clay to dry, gravelly soil, from hot sun to full shade. If you choose the right plant for the right place, they will not require supplemental watering, fertilizer or pesticides once established.
Right plant, right place is the native plant ‘mantra’. Consider the soil type, water conditions, and sunlight before choosing a plant.
A well-chosen assortment of native plants requires no fertilizer, are relatively disease free, and — once established — require no watering except in extreme drought.
Of course, sometimes its trial and error before finding the right plant. The plant tells us if we have chosen the right spot. But there is no such thing as a green thumb, a black thumb, or anything in between. Just “Right plant, Right place.”
Why Plant Native Plants? — For the Environment
If you would like to attract birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, or pollinators to your landscape, native plants are the way to go. Native plant gardens provide important food and shelter for beneficial insects, songbirds and wildlife. Research is continuing to document the amazing numbers of insects that native trees, shrubs and perennials support.
Native Plants Provide Habitat
Habitat is food or shelter, and native plants provide both for birds, insects, and wildlife. Food is in the form of berries, nectar and leaves. Yes! Let the insects chew the leaves.
Shelter is in the form of nesting sites, protection, and nesting material. Insects can live in dormant stems of plants in the winter, birds eat the seeds of flowering plants, creatures seek physical shelter in tangled branches of trees and shrubs. Even dead and dormant plant material provides habitat.
Native Plants Support Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects
Insects provide many essential ecosystem services. Pollination is one of them. Bees, flower-flies, and butterflies pollinate flowering plants and agricultural crop. The vast majority of pollination is done by wild insects. If we lose our pollinating insects, it would have disastrous effects on our food supply. Native insects rely on native plants for survival.
Insects also help keep other insect populations in check. In the US, we spend billions of dollars a year on pest control. That’s only a fraction of what we would spend if insect populations were disrupted and predatory insects were not doing their job.
Decomposition of animal waste is helped along by insects. Beetles are very efficient at decomposing animal waste and dung and even help recycle nitrogen in the process. Imagine if all the farm animal waste never decomposed! Disease and pathogens would run rampant.
Insects make up a large portion of bird diets. They play a role in soil richness and fertility. Without insects, our song bird population declines. Many dragonfly species help control disease-carrying mosquitoes, and lacewings can control agricultural pests like aphids and mites.
These ecosystem services, or connections in the ‘web of life’ are most likely the tip of the iceberg in our understanding of the delicate interactions of all life forms on the planet.
Introduced plants, no matter how beautiful, are of little interest to native pollinators.
Why Plant Native Plants? — For Their Beauty
Native plants provide four seasons of visual pleasure in your landscape — flowers in the spring, berries in the summer, brilliant colors in the fall, and interesting bark and twig patterns in the winter. The non-stop show of visiting butterflies, birds and beneficial insects is added entertainment.
Just Do It 🙂
With a little planning, a small plot of earth can play a big role in sustaining a healthy ecosystem. Native plantings will delight and entertain you. They provide visual evidence of their environmental benefit: birds eating berries and gathering nesting material, butterflies flitting from plant to plant sipping nectar, and insects nibbling on the leaves.
