Why You Should Be Planting Native Plants In Your Garden
There’s more to your garden than meets the eye. It’s a part of the land where you reside. You can make it a healthy piece, or a lonely piece. Most gardens are lonely. They have plants from other countries, even other continents. Those are nice plants but they don’t do anything for the world around. They’re like whispers from a party you can’t hear. Native plants are different. The are the party girl’s life. They belong here. It’s why you grow them.
What Are Native Plants
This is something that people brought with them on top of the world — centuries before they showed up here, native plants were growing. This is where they emerged. They learned how to live with the local soil and local weather. They learned how to collaborate with the insects and birds and animals they found. They are part of a team that has been playing together for thousands of years. A maple tree from Japan is an alien. A family member would be an oak from your own state.
They Help The Local Wildlife
This is the biggest reason. Local wildlife needs local plants. One butterfly species, the monarch, will lay eggs only on milkweed. No milkweed, no monarch caterpillars. Without caterpillars, there are no butterflies. Many insects are this way. They rely on one particular native plant to live.
Birds need these insects. A mother bird must consume thousands of caterpillars to feed one nest of babies. She can’t find them on a neat bush from another country. She finds them on the native oak tree, which she clings to until they hatch; the native cherry tree and native sunflower. Your garden can be a bird cafeteria. Native plants mean food on the table.
Bees and butterflies need flower nectar. Many of our native flowers are just the right shape for our native bees. Their flowering times coincide with when the bees are up and about and hungry. Happy bees will buzz through a patch of native flowers.
They Save Your Time And Money
Native plants are tough. They’re accustomed to your rain, and your droughts. They need very little care once established. You won’t need to water them much.” You also don’t have to buy plant food. From the soil they helped create, that’s where.
They resist local bugs and diseases more effectively. They have natural defenses. And no need to spray chemicals. This saves you money. It helps make your garden safe for kids and pets.
They live a long time. You won’t have to replace them every year. They will could back stronger each spring. They are a good investment.
They Save Water
Native plants have deep roots. They’re kind of like straws that sip up water deep in the Earth. Grass has very short roots. It requires your watering all summer. A yard filled with native plants requires minimal water after the first year. This is good for the planet. “It’s good for your water bill.
They Filter The Soil And The Air
The deep roots serve a purpose beyond drinking water. They hold the soil together. It prevents the rain from washing away your soil. They make the soil healthy. Their leaves drop and decay, nourishing the soil. This is a natural cycle.
They clean the air. All plants do this. But native trees are really special because they live for a long time and grow really big. They consume carbon and they produce oxygen. They are secret partners in keeping the air fresh.
They Are Beautiful And Interesting
They’re all movin’ on up, as it were, but some people think this is native? This is wrong. Native plants are stunning. They’ve got flowers in all colors. They come in incredible shapes and all sorts of textures. They even transform with the seasons, in a stunning display. The leaves and the flowers are green in spring. During the summer they are teeming with life and activity. In the fall, bright colors and full seed heads are out. Their forms are strong against the snow in winter.
Your garden will be filled with motion and noise. You will watch birds visit. You will see butterflies land. You will hear bees hum. It’s better to have a garden with some life in it than just a picture of a garden.
How To Begin With Native Plants
Start small. Changing out your whole yard does not have to happen all at one time.
“Find out what is native in your area. You could inquire at a nearby garden center. You can find a native plant society online. They have lists of plants for your address.
Pick a spot. Perhaps in a corner that’s hard to water. Maybe a strip by the fence. Remove the grass and weeds around that area.
Choose a couple of simple native plants. Good starters are also coneflower or black eyed susan flowers. Or a native grass such as little bluestem. Plant them following the instructions. Water them in well at first to encourage root growth.
Mulch around them. That keeps down weeds and in water.
Then watch. See what happens. You will be astonished at life that comes.
What To Expect
Your native garden will look uncropped and wild. It won’t be all stiff and soldier-like. It should be a meadow, after all. This is good. This is natural beauty.
In the first year they will go to sleep. Instead, they will work on growing roots in the ground. The second year they will crawl. They will start to grow more. In year three, they will jump. They will fill it with beauty.”
You will have less work. You won’t be doing a lot of mowing or watering. You will mostly just sit there and enjoy. You could even pluck a weed, once in a while. You could whack down the dead stalks in spring to make space for new growth.
Answers To Common Worries
People worry about neatness. With a little effort you can maintain your native garden in a tidy fashion. You can select plants that remain situated in a clump. You might want to edge the garden with stones or a border. It doesn’t need to look messy and be native.
People worry about ticks. Tall grass can hide ticks. Maintain a mowed perimeter around your native garden. This provides a walkable space. Ticks don’t care for sunny open areas as well.
It’s not going to look wild, people are afraid. Share what you are doing with your neighbors. Pick them a flower in your garden. With the butterflies and birds they will get it. You could be inspiring a movement on your block.
The Bigger Reason
The act of planting a native garden is an act of healing a little patch of the earth. I’m not missing anything, and you’re replacing a piece of the puzzle that has been gone. You’re building a home for animals that don’t have any other place to be. Your garden becomes your little shrine. It is one of a series in the chain of existence.
You make an island of life in a world of concrete and lawn. You demonstrate that you are a part of this place. It’s not just that you’re living on the land. You are living with it.
So grow native plants. For the bees. For the birds. For the butterflies. For your water bill. For your free time. It’s for the beauty of a living, breathing garden. Start this season. Plant one native plant. Watch it grow. You will never go back. Your garden will thank you. The earth will thank you. You will sit in your garden and experience that profound, meaningful connection. You will be home.