A Landscaping Revolution: The Shift to Native Plants

A Landscaping Revolution

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community."

Quoted from "The Land Ethic" by Aldo Leopold
(in Essays on Conservation from Round River)

Ground cover. Native. Naturalistic. Wild. All are terms commonly associated with the current landscaping revolution. To the average gardener, however, these terms are almost foreign, even threatening in some instances, when used in reference to their existing lawn and/or garden. So what exactly do they mean anyway? And why are people so interested in going native?

GLOSSARY

Ground cover: Plants which form a uniform layer over the ground when planted together. Once established, they provide the same landscape benefits of a lawn.

Native or Natural Landscaping: A purist approach to landscaping that uses plant species that are indigenous to the local area (about a 50 mile radius).
Naturalistic Landscaping: Uses a mix of native and well-adapted non-native plants. It is generally a relaxed style, and often includes benches or stone paths to keep a sense of order.
Wild: A popularized term used in reference to a garden that is not designed strictly by English garden principles.
Xeriscaping: Designing landscapes that reduce the use of water, which is especially important for desert gardeners!

(Daniels 1995, Druse 1994, and Wasowski 2000)

WHY GO NATIVE?

There are many beautiful flowers, trees, shrubs, and grasses
Native plants are well-adapted to local conditions, which results in lower costs of maintenance (including use of fertilizers, pesticides, water, and equipment)
Natural gardens attract beneficial insects that prey upon pests
There are mostly perennial or self-seeding biennial native plantsNative songbirds and butterflies are attracted to native plants (naturally)
It promotes biodiversity
It reduces air pollution, as there is less maintenance, and deep roots prevent soil erosion and improve water quality
Natural gardens are less expensive to maintain

Whether you choose a more purist approach or are more relaxed with using non-native plants is up to you. The main thing is to stay away from the invasive non-native plants. At this stage in the landscaping revolution, the purpose of going natural (or naturalistic) is to move away from energy consuming practices, such as heavy lawn watering, frequent mowing, and regular pesticide and fertilizer applications.

save money on your water bill with native plants!

Did you know?

30-60% of urban fresh water is used for watering lawns
$5,250,000,000 is spent on fossil fuel-derived fertilizers for U.S. lawns
136,000,000 pounds of pesticides were used by U.S. homeowners in 1997.
99% of urban stream samples had one or more pesticides present in 1999
A lawn mower pollutes as much in one hour as does driving an automobile for 350 miles
$222 was the average amount each US household spends on lawn care equipment and chemicals in 1999
There are more than 20 million acres of cultivated lawn in the United States, which is more than any other single crop
1 acre of lawn costs about $1,000 per year to maintain, as compared to the $150 spent to maintain 1 acre of prairie or wetland per year

(http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/ecopage/springfieldtwp/Sheet6.pdf and Robbins 2001)

What are they thinking?!?

In his article, “Landscape: Source of Life or Liability”, John Tillman Lyle analyzes a mismanaged landscape in Southern California. He states that one acre of a turf grass lawn here might require an extra 30 inches of rainfall each year—and that this lawn then would consume up to 800,000 gallons of water in just a year! Since this desired water is not available locally, it is transported at least 233 miles from another watershed. Water scarcity, however, is only one problem in this mismanaged landscape. It also feeds on large amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep disease and pests away from these exotic species. Yet another issue the local people have to deal with is waste management. Both their grass trimmings (collected as often as every two weeks) and fallen leaves are considered waste items, and must be disposed of accordingly (Lyle 1999).

Indeed, these are sobering statistics, but they are facts that only strengthen the case for igniting the landscaping revolution. Ready to join? Let's get started!