Why Landscape with Native Plants?
Chances are most people have never thought of their gardens or their yards as habitats that represent the last chance we have for sustaining plants, insects and animals that were once common throughout the United States. But that is exactly the role our home and community landscapes should be playing, and will need to play even more critically in the near future.
We have been taught from childhood that gardens are for beauty, that they are a chance to express our artistic talents, to have fun with, to relax in, but not that they are necessary to our very existence on this planet. We have forced the plants, animals and insects that evolved in North America (our nation's biodiversity) to depend more and more on human-dominated landscapes for their continued existence rather than natural habitat. For far too many this isn’t possible, the monarch butterfly being one example.*
If we are to preserve other forms of life and the role they play in human sustenance, we must change the way we landscape our yards. Find out more about:
We have been taught from childhood that gardens are for beauty, that they are a chance to express our artistic talents, to have fun with, to relax in, but not that they are necessary to our very existence on this planet. We have forced the plants, animals and insects that evolved in North America (our nation's biodiversity) to depend more and more on human-dominated landscapes for their continued existence rather than natural habitat. For far too many this isn’t possible, the monarch butterfly being one example.*
If we are to preserve other forms of life and the role they play in human sustenance, we must change the way we landscape our yards. Find out more about:
- the many insects such as caterpillars and butterflies that evolved together with native plants;
- how these insects perform the crucial task of transferring the sun’s energy up the food web to other creatures, including us;
- why our vast lawns and non-native ornamental plants do not provide appropriate habitat for them to survive successfully;
- how to help maintain the food web – the network of life.
Monarch Butterfly on Orange Milkweed
*The monarch butterfly is one example of a native species that needs our help to survive.
Last year 60% fewer butterflies reached their winter forests in Mexico because of habitat loss caused not only by the drought, but also by the planting of genetically modified crops and the indiscriminate use of herbicides. Disease and parasites have also contributed to the loss. The native milkweed plant is the only host plant for the monarch caterpillar and the native blazing star is their preferred nectar (adult food) plant. Without these plants in their habitat, they cannot reproduce. Without sufficient nectar plants, the monarchs cannot survive the fall and spring migrations. We all need to understand the importance of providing these crucial native plant species in our gardens and other plantings.
