Last month I attended the Native Plants in the Landscape Conference at Millersville University. For three days I met with and learned from hundreds of die-hard native plant lovers and was inspired for my own work. It made me realize how many people, including landscape architects, are not familiar with native plants nor the reasons and benefits of using them.
Native plants are making a comeback in the landscape industry:
- many jurisdictions have native plant requirements in their regulations
- use of natives is required in LEED® projects
- small scale native plant nurseries are cropping up all over the place
What are Native Plants?
According to the Plant Conservation Alliance, a species is native when it occurs naturally in an area without human intervention. Plant regions can be broad, but can also be narrowed down to a very small area depending on the situation and desired result. Where I live in Maryland, the region can be narrowed down to the mid-Atlantic, Chesapeake Bay, coastal plain, Baltimore City, and/or the coastal floodplain.
Why Bother with Native Plants?
Since native plants adapt to the climate and conditions of the region in which they originate, they require less maintenance, such as watering or plant replacement, once they are established. Even in urban landscapes, a palate can be selected from plants that survive naturally in similar conditions. For example, in a city where road salt is a concern, plants from the coastal plain that regularly takes ocean salt spray may be a good solution.
Native plants promote biodiversity. They are a vital part of our ecosystem as the initial food source for hundreds of species. Many insects, butterflies, and moths feed exclusively on one particular plant species, without which they would not survive. The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly is more than Maryland’s state insect. Without the food chain provided by native plants, such as the perennial Chelone glabra, they will cease to exist. Birds feed on the caterpillars and insects that live on these types of plants. Larger birds feed on the smaller birds. And so on down the food chain. It’s a true representation of the food web supporting life on earth.
Lastly, native plants promote a sense of place and connection to our environment. In an era when we are increasingly disconnected from each other and the natural world by technology, enhancing and restoring our environments help us reconnect to the land and places we live—it gives us a reason to be proud of them.
There is so much more to say about native plants—I’ve barely scratched the surface. Stay tuned for my next blog to learn more about designing landscapes with native plants!
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