I’ve been invited to Indiana next week to speak to a large
group of people from Whole Foods to teach them about the importance of native
plants. I’m very excited to go! In preparation, I’ve been re-reading Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W.
Tallamy a professor and chair of the Department of Entomology at the University
of Delaware. It’s a powerful book and required reading for anyone interested in
improving biodiversity in their own yards and for the greater good.
Earlier this month the Mother Nature Network interviewed
Mr. Tallamy and published an article called Forget What you
Think you Know About Curb Appeal, by Tom Oder. Tallamy knocks down 8 urban myths about what your front yard should look
like. Here comes the readers digest version.
Urban legend
No. 1: Native plants are messy
“Some people
think that to share our landscapes with other species we have to stop mowing
our lawns, or give up landscaping altogether,” Tallamy said. “But native
landscaping is not the absence of landscaping. Barren lawn is the absence of
landscaping.”
My home
landscape has formal areas and informal areas like our small meadow and we
plant native plants in both. Plants don’t know which category they fall into.
Myth 2:
Native plants cannot be used formally
Apparently no
one told European gardeners this. Native American plants are used frequently in
formal European gardens. They are also used in American gardens such as the
Centennial Flower Garden in Denver, which is a replica of the gardens of
Versailles. On a recent trip to the Netherlands to look at gardens, I was
repeatedly surprised how well and how often Europeans use our native plants.
Myth 3:
Dense plantings cannot be attractive
People who have
bought into this myth must have never seen a community of plants such as alternate-leaf
dogwood, red maple, river birch, silverbell, possumhaw viburnum, shumard oak or
coral honeysuckle in bloom, Tallamy said. Using different sized plants from
trees to shrubs to perennials makes a much more interesting planting that one
less diverse.
Myth 4:
Native plants will be destroyed by insects
“Our studies at
the University of Delaware have shown that if you build a balanced ecosystem of
native plants in your yard, you will actually have less insect damage than
landscapes built with introduced plants,” Tallamy said. I definitely agree. I
occasionally see a plant that has insect damage but it’s the exception not the
rule. And, it rights itself without intervention and is never a problem the
following year.
Myth 5:
Native plants are not as pretty as non-natives
“Anyone who has
ever seen plant communities of Joe Pye weed, cardinal flower, blazing star and
black-eyed Susans knows this to be true,” Tallamy said. We have lots of natives
and I think our garden is beautiful. I think it especially shines when the
weather has been extreme, maybe terribly hot and dry causing so many plants to
wither. The natives in our borders don’t skip a beat and look better than
anything else.
Myth 6:
Native landscapes will be scorned by your neighbors
Why would they
scorn an attractive, neat, orderly, low-maintenance, low-expense landscape that
can even have a formal appearance while it is holding together the
ecosystem that supports them? Our neighbors love our garden and love to stop
and talk about our Certified Wildlife Habitat sign. Our mailman thinks we have
a zoo in the back yard!
Myth 7:
Native plants attract vermin
The vermin that
people worry about the most are snakes, Tallamy said. But, he pointed out that
his research showed that in 2012 only one person in the United States died from
an accidental snakebite whereas many were killed by toasters, chairs and the
common cold. I’m not really fond of snakes but I do understand they are a part
of any wildlife habitat and have their own part to play in our ecosystem. I see
them in early spring when it’s time to mate but rarely after that. We name ours
to make them seem less scary.
Myth 8:
Native plants are too expensive
It is actually
great expanses of lawns that are expensive to maintain. The price point of
native plants is right in line with non-natives. In fact, since most growers
don’t highlight what’s native, they are all in the same black pot at the same
price. You might pay a few cents more for an American Beauties Native Plant but
it really is only a few cents. We use that money for education tools like our
website and to support the educations efforts of the National Wildlife
Federation.
Bringing Life
to your Garden
Have fun out
there!
Peggy Anne
*All the images
are of mixed, native and non-native plantings
