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Going Native Gardens specializes in landscape design emphasizing
native New England plants |
Rare native magnolia plant
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Native swamp milkweed plant
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In my design work I try
to always suggest the use of a native plant species first.
The questions arise, "Why?" and "What is the
definition of a native plant?"The why part involves ecological
balance. Human activities - building, roads, agriculture --
especially in the densely-populated Northeast, have disrupted
natural plant communities excessively. The open space that
remains is often planted out with species from Europe or Asia,
which do not necessarily provide nourishment or shelter for
the local animal, bird, or insect populations. These communities
have evolved together for thousands of years to provide the
very fabric of our earth, and to ignore them is to degrade
the system which makes our own activities and life possible.
The definition of a plant species native to a place does not depend on
geography. There are purists who accept a species as native only
if it is found within 50 miles of the subject area, and others who
accept all North American species as native even if they are found
naturally only thousands of miles off. I'm still working on my own
definition, but I really like to design with plants that can be found
locally. Sometimes the site difficulties, or client preferences,
dictate otherwise.) I also delight in suggesting native alternatives
for the over-used, non-native species such as Burning Bush, Barberry,
Asian Honeysuckles, and Sycamore-leafed and Norway Maples, which
have become invasive in our woods and roadsides, crowding out natural
plant species. (Why not Blueberries instead of Burning Bush? The
fall color is equally good, and you get the bonus of edible fruit
for both people and birds.)
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Native Wood Aster
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It is also a great pleasure
to plant perennials and shrubs that attract butterflies. The
Monarch Butterfly, which will lay its eggs only on plants of
the milkweed family, is just as attracted to the brilliant
orange of Butterfly Weed and to the deep pink of Swamp Milkweed,
as it is to the more pallid and problematical Common Milkweed.
How do these ideas fit into residential
landscape? In one simple approach, many people are now opting
for a formal look in front of the house, but planting the
back with more bird-friendly species of trees and shrubs.
John Hanson Mitchell writes, "The
whole idea of taking a piece of wild earth and reshaping
it to look like something else, the very thought of moving
rocks, cutting down native trees, and replacing them with
species that do not necessarily grow in that environment,
churning up soil, and planting varieties of tropical and
sub-tropical vegetables is in fact antithetical to sound
environmental practices." He goes on to say, "But
there is something in the human soul that wants to make a
garden." I see it as my challenge to try to find the
middle ground. (Mitchell, The Wildest Place on Earth, Counterpoint
Press, 2001.)
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URL:
http://goingnativegardens.com Date: March 2011 V3.1 Author: Concord
Avenues |
