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As environmental products become more accessible to consumers and we are given the opportunity to recycle just about everything, we are seeing people choosing to move towards a greener lifestyle. We have been bombarded with information on global warming, water conservation and pollution so even the least interested among us can’t help but be influenced in some way. We are becoming more aware of the effects that our choices as individuals and communities are having on our environment and beginning to accept ownership of these issues by changing the way we do things. As gardeners we need to contribute by evaluating our individual water consumption and waste as well as examining how much of and what type of chemicals we are using in our gardens and yards.
Landscaping with native grasses, wildflowers and woody plants can offer solutions to many of the problem areas we deal with as property owners or caretakers. There are several reasons to incorporate native plants into your landscape:
- Aesthetics – Indigenous plants are showy, diverse, colorful, and fragrant.
- Hardiness – Native plants are more disease and pest resistant than their cultivated cousins eliminating the need for chemical interventions.
- Vigorousness – Native plants do not require fertilizer to be vigorous growers.
- Low Maintenance – Wildflower gardens and naturalized sites require very little maintenance once established, generally needing only a seasonal debris removal and an occasional weeding.
- Water Conservation – Once established native plants have deep root systems and require little or no watering.
- Naturally Acclimatized – Native plants grown from locally harvested seed are well equipped to deal with our variable Chinook climate. They will tolerate periods of drought in the summer and be more likely to survive a warm dry winter.
- Sustainability – Plants that are naturally occurring in an area are more easily able to reproduce and sustain themselves without being invasive and destructive like Purple Loosestrife, a cultivated perennial once readily available to consumers that is now causing serious problems.
- Weed Control – Naturalizing low usage areas with a mix of native prairie grasses and indigenous wildflowers leaves little space for unwanted plant species to move in and thrive in the tight knit complementary root system they form together.
- Habitat Creation – Indigenous plants are the fabric of an ecosystem and have intricate relationships with insects and animals. Choosing to use native plant material is a great way to help support local wildlife.
- Education – Some estimates suggest barely 1% of untouched prairie still exists in North America. Support your environment and learn about naturally occurring plant species and local wildlife by choosing to use native plants in your landscape.
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