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Going Native Gardens specializes
in garden design emphasizing
native New England plants |
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Rare native magnolia plant |
Native swamp milkweed plant |
| 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.) |
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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