In order to help pollinators, birds, and other elements of your local ecosystem, native plants are vitally important. So should your own yard be made up entirely of natives?
We’re major advocates for native plants, so naturally our answer is …. no!
Wait, what?
A little explanation is in order here. Don’t get us wrong, we certainly advocate for planting a diversity of native plants and the more species the better.
And we also strongly believe that certain nonnative species should never be planted.
But it doesn’t need to be a 100% absolute. Let’s look at some reasons why.
Should My Garden Need Be All Native to Help the Ecosystem and Pollinators?
For one, it’s extremely rare to have a totally blank slate; most gardens will have existing vegetation of all sorts, most likely a majority of it nonnative. You certainly don’t need to remove every single nonnative plant to build a productive habitat.
And setting the bar too high (like aiming for 100% native plants) can actually be counterproductive stand in the way of getting started and making incremental progress. Native plant gardening shouldn’t be about feeling overwhelmed.
It’s also an unrealistic goal because no matter how much maintenance you are willing to do, it’s almost certain that some nonnatives will creep back in on the edges.
You don’t want to go all-out and disturb huge swaths of your yard without a plan to almost immediately plant new native plants to replace them (ideally plugs) to help establish and keep out invasives.
So this argument so far has focused on the transition of an existing yard to one with more natives, and you want to do that on an incremental, manageable basis.
But what about long-term goals: is it still best to eventually get to 100% native plants?
In addition to the reasoning that it’s practically impossible to avoid some nonnatives self-seeding and joining the party, we’d still argue that 100% may not be the best approach.
By all means, if you personally want to stick completely to native plants, go for it and your yard will certainly be a wonderful refuge for local wildlife!
But gardeners so wholly dedicated to natives are a significant minority, and in order to make meaningful progress to restoring habitat networks and reversing decline of native pollinators, birds and other species, we need to involve a much larger community of property owners.
Overall, it isn’t the mere presence of nonnative vegetation that is fueling our ecosystem collapse (except in the case of certain invasives). Instead, it’s the lack of the native plants that are so important to sustaining life. And in most cases they can co-exist together.
Countless yards across the country today have exactly zero native plants, and it will likely encourage more homeowners to try out natives if they hear the message that they can make a big difference without going 100% all in.
Along these lines, it’s also true that not every native is equal in terms of ecosystem impact, so some particular practices can supercharge the benefits.
So let’s wrap up the discussion with a few ground rules for how to handle this in practice.
1) Plant nothing that is designated as an invasive species in your area. Look at the invasive species list for your state to know what the worst offenders are and also work on removing them if they are already in your yard (a process that may require assistance depending on the species). Also be aware that you won’t always notice the invasive tendencies; with many plants and bushes the seeds or berries can travel or be carried long distances and start growing in nearby natural areas.
2) Be sure to include keystone plants that have an outsized effect on your local food webs. It’s estimated that a much smaller group of plants support 90% of our native butterflies and moths so these plants “are like the glue that holds a habitat together” and adding just a few in a smaller yard can have a major impact. Keystone plants can range from trees (oaks, plum/cherry etc.) to flowers (asters, goldenrods) and do differ by ecoregion so take a look at your area here.
3) Plant a diversity of native plants of various categories that are appropriate for your ecoregion (trees/shrubs, flowering perennials, grasses/sedges; spring, summer and fall-blooming; locally endangered species, etc.). Whenever possible, try to create multiple layers of habitat that intermingle together in the same space (groundcovers, perennials, shrubs/understory, canopy trees).
Beyond that, we think it’s certainly okay to plant some of your favorite nonnatives if you prioritize these concepts. It’s undeniable that many ornamental plants bring great beauty to a garden, so go ahead and plant a few perennials that you just like or have sentimental value attached to, perhaps dating back to your childhood. Or a lilac bush. Or some spring bulbs if they make you happy (but even better if you use some native spring ephemerals elsewhere too!) These plants will still bring some benefit to wildlife, whether it be for nectar, cover, or a nesting site.
It’s also worth briefly addressing the single-most planted nonnative crop in the country by far: the grass lawn. Some native plant gardeners are vehemently anti-lawn at all costs, but here too we think a balance is the best philosophy for longer-term acceptance of the native plant movement.
It’s certainly good to have a space for kids and pets to run around and play, or to have a picnic, or to form paths through gardens or other sections of a yard. Now should we shrink a big lawn? Yes. Convert lawn that is just sitting there unused all the time? Yes. Push back on the idea of the perfectly manicured lawn as a status symbol? Also yes. But having a lawn at all on a property that also has some native plants should be a perfectly acceptable choice. (Just hold off on the pesticides…)
Do you have thoughts on this native plant discussion? If so let us know in the comments.
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