Hi gardening friends
Meteorological spring has arrived and signs that true spring
is coming are popping up all over. The spring equinox is March 20. When I went
to the barn this morning the temps were in the 20’s but the sun was shining,
and the birds were singing like crazy. I stopped for a few minutes to put my
face in the sun and listen for red wing blackbirds or robins. I didn’t hear
any, but I expect them any day.
The day was supposed to be cloudy and rainy or snowy, so the
morning sun was a pleasant surprise. Now the clouds are moving in but the temps
have moved above 40 degrees so we should get rain instead of snow.
I am so ready for spring and flowers. I looked for
snowdrops, they are up but not blooming yet.
A few warm days will probably bring them into bloom. People just 50
miles south have them in bloom. After snowdrops there will be winter aconite
and crocus and from there the world explodes into bloom.
I have been slow to get the gardening itch this year, but I’m
scratching now. Last night I paged through several print garden catalogs, and I
have started actually looking at all the plant sales that pop into my inbox
instead of moving them to trash. I stood outside yesterday deciding which
seedling trees need to cut down and where I want to add and subtract plants.
I’m trying not to be too ambitious with this year’s garden
because I have so many family obligations this spring. But it’s hard in spring
with all the promise of the garden season stretching ahead of me not to get
carried away. I’m hoping for a long, and mild spring.
I wrote an article below about choosing plant species for
your garden and why it’s important not to choose plant species that other
people have decided you should plant. It seems like virtue and saving the
planet have merged into a strident movement to plant only “native” plants.
But gardeners should plant what they like if it suits the
conditions of garden. Gardening is an art form, a mental therapy exercise, and
a learning experience, and unless someone is paying you to do it their way, you
should do what pleases you in your garden.
Should
you only plant native plants?
It’s spring and the gardener’s thoughts turn to planting-
and buying- plants. And if you listen to
the native plant pushers on social media the only plants you should dare to
plant are native species. Don’t fall for the propaganda. It’s based on a lot of
romantic, wishful thinking that planting only “native” plants will somehow save
the world.
Don’t get me wrong, native plants aren’t bad. If you can put
at least some native species in a garden it’s a good idea. But there is no
reason that any gardener needs to limit themselves to only native plants.
Are native plants easier to grow?
Native plants are not easier to grow than most non-natives.
In fact, some native plants are quite hard to establish and require much more
care than common non-native garden plants. There are gardens composed of all
native plants that are beautiful. But those gardens required quite a bit of
effort and they need attention to remain beautiful, just like any other garden.
For example, the idea of sprinkling a “wildflower” seed mix
on a piece of ground and having it spring up into a beautiful field of flowers
is just advertising hype. You must carefully prepare the soil before you plant
and then you’ll need to weed out aggressive plants that will want to overtake
the “wildflowers”, both native and non-native bullies. And you’ll be lucky to
get a pretty show for a short time in the second year, as most of these
wildflowers don’t bloom the first year from seed.
Are native plants better for pollinators and other
animals?
In most cases native plants are not more helpful to
pollinators, birds and other animal species in the area. There are a few
insects that require a specific “host” plant. But non-native plants can provide
just as much food and shelter for most other inhabitants of any ecosystem as
native plants. And in some cases, they are superior to natives in providing
these things.
Putting some native host plants in your garden is a fine
idea, but your whole garden does not need to be designed around native plants. Gardens
with non-native plants support a higher diversity and number of pollinators,
helpful insects and birds than if the gardens held only native plants or were
left unplanted.
Often people judge plant species not for their value to other creatures in the environment but for human values. For example, planting native grasses in a garden is not helpful to pollinators and most insects. Yet the human gardener feels justified with the choice because they feel by planting “native” plants they somehow are helping save the planet. Planting buddleia, Dames Rocket, zinnias, roses, and other blooming non-natives would be so much better for everything else.
Do non-native plants spread outside the garden and
displace native plants?
Non-native plants do not “displace” native plants when used
in the garden unless you dig up native plants to plant them. Worrying about
non-natives spreading to “wild” places is also over hyped. Most common garden
plants don’t spread very far outside the garden and if they did, would harm nothing.
There are some non-native plants that are aggressive spreaders,
and you should learn what those plants are- FOR YOUR AREA- and avoid
planting them. But beware-many of the plants bashed by native plant pushers are
not aggressive spreaders in all areas. Buddleia or butterfly bush comes to mind.
In planting zones 5 and lower this plant rarely, if ever, spreads outside the
garden. But native plant pushers are constantly warning all gardeners not to
plant it.
And just because non-native plants occupy space doesn’t mean
they displaced native plants. In most cases they occupy disturbed land, land
changed by human activity. This land is no longer suitable for native plants
that once grew in the area, or they would be growing there.
Dames Rocket, a pretty, fragrant, flowering non-native plant
that bees and butterflies love, often grows along roadsides and paths. Dames
Rocket probably spread to wild areas from gardens at some point. There is no
similar native flowering plant that would do well in these disturbed areas. Yet
the native plant purists are out there spending thousands of dollars and labor
hours getting rid of it.
What harm does planting only native plants do?
In a world where climate change is drastically altering what
will grow well in any location, introducing new species may be the key to
saving an ecological system. Nature has always allowed new species into
ecosystems. Natural ecosystems constantly evolve and change. Diversity of
species, no matter where they come from and how they get there, allows for
adaptation and is the key to keeping any ecosystem thriving.
Besides limiting diversity, there are other problems that
the native plant fad has created. Poaching native plants from natural
environments to sell to gardeners has soared in many areas, particularly of cacti
and succulents and some rare woodland plants. Most sellers will claim they raised
the plants from seed or propagated them but there is little the average
gardener can do to check this claim. This is a serious threat to these species’
survival in the natural environment.
Gardeners should not purchase rare or endangered native plants at
all. And gardeners should not collect
seed from endangered plants in the wild, it should be left to reproduce plants
in that area.
Another threat to natural environments comes from the
relentless and often ridiculous effort to eradicate non-native plants in natural
areas. Huge amounts of pesticides are being used in many cases to eradicate
non-native plants. These pesticides directly impact all species of plants and
animals in the area, usually much more than leaving the alien plants alone.
There are attempts to eradicate plants that have been in certain
places for more than 100 years and which have become entwined and part of the
local environment. And this is simply ridiculous as it will never restore what
somebody thinks was the “natural” ecosystem because ecosystems constantly
change. Because something is relatively new in an environment does not mean it
is bad. Nature has always been changing and adapting.
Money is the driving force behind a lot of the native plant
movement. People who are making money producing native plants are going to tell
you that they are better for the environment, easier to grow and that you are
somehow more righteous for growing them. They want to sell plants.
People whose jobs are selling pesticides or directing teams
of people removing non-natives are not going to admit that much of what they
are doing is useless or even harmful. The removal of non-native plants is a
whole industry in itself. Some believe what they are doing is good stewardship.
Only a very few plants deserve such intensive efforts to remove them. Nature is
very good at adapting to change, but it’s very difficult to change a money-making
environment.
What would you be giving up if you only plant native
plants?
If you are going to stick to native plants, you’ll need to
decide just what native means to you. Is
it native to North America (or wherever you are) or native to your immediate, local
area? And then which of those species will
grow in your soil, your light, and drainage conditions? Are you going to use
improved varieties of native plants or stick to wild forms? You can see your selection could get very
narrow.
I can’t imagine spring in my garden without tulips, daffodils,
peonies and lilacs or summer without roses, clematis, hosta, poppies, daylilies
and hydrangeas and fall without mums, buddleia and toad lilies. These are just
some common non-native plants. I’m fine with mixing in some goldenrod, milkweed,
and echincea, all natives. Maybe that’s not your type of garden. But the point is a garden is a cultivated
space, and gardeners should not be afraid to add plants that are not native to
it.
Don’t get hung up on what plants are native or non-native
when planning a garden. Plant things that are suitable for the conditions your
garden has and that you like. This will give you hundreds of choices and the ability
to plan something you love while still providing for creatures like
pollinators.
Your bit of garden space cannot revert to “native” status. In the last century or so the piece of ground
you intend to garden on has changed immensely. The soil has changed, the
weather has changed, the plants and animals that surround it have changed. Even
if humans haven’t touched it in a hundred years it has changed. Nature constantly
changes. You are not going to restore it to a native state, because that state
doesn’t exist.
Gardens, by definition, are cultivated places, that is
people plant them and tend them. And
gardens of all kinds are good for the environment and support other creatures
besides us. Your garden should be the garden you dream of, and don’t let people
shame you into something else.
The garden suggests there might be a place where we can
meet nature halfway. – Michael Pollan
Kim Willis
No part of this blog may be reproduced without permission.
To contact me for any reason, write to kimwillis151@gmail.com
Great article!
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