Native planting is becoming more and more emphasized in the gardening world. This is an incredibly important transition from the historical practice of planting introduced (non-native) species, and frankly, a disdain by much of the gardening world for such “common” species.

As you’ve probably seen from headlines, biodiversity is collapsing at an incredible rate. This is not only tragic, but a crisis for the continued habitability of Earth for humans. Every species forms a connection on the giant web that is an ecosystem. As connections disappear (species go extinct), all their connected species suffer. This can be from a loss of a food source, to more complex, where a given species is the only pollinator of a plant that another species is dependent on for survival.

Introduced plants do not fill gaps in this web. They often exacerbate this collapse by crowding out native species, introducing disease (or making disease more prevalent), or altering species behavior. (Ex. Many introduced berry producing species are eaten by birds during their migration. These berries while edible, do not have the nutritional content of native species, severely affecting birds ability to migrate)

For an Overscheduled Gardener, one additional, often overlooked benefit of native plants is their extremely low maintenance needs. Because you are planting species that have evolved to thrive in your local ecosystem, they need little to no help or care once established.

This also means, that the money you would have spent trying to keep your introduced plants alive can be go towards other parts of your budget. Frankly, wins across the board.

So why don’t nurseries, landscapers, etc. sell more natives?

A great deal of it has to do with historical inertia. As natives are only recently becoming popular, major commercial nursery suppliers have not stood up the breeding lines / operations needed to sell native plants at scale. Additionally, low care plants are not great for landscapers bottom line, as they make most of their money on ongoing service contracts. Not having to constantly take care of non-natives isn’t as powerful a profit incentive as selling species that need lots of upkeep. Finally, I believe most of it is simply a lack of familiarity. Landscapers, nursery suppliers, professional gardeners, and customers are just not familiar with native plants. With out knowledge about them, landscapers / garden professionals are not going to recommend them, stores are not going to stock them, and customers are not going to drive demand by requesting them.

So how do you help? First and foremost, the simplest thing is to stop using any form of pesticide. (This includes herbicides, insecticide, fungicides, etc). Much of what is targeted by these is native, and the ever increasing use of pesticides is contributing to massive species loss (as well as major human health impact). This includes the “weed & feed” lawn treatments, “organic” anti-tick & mosquito sprays etc. There’s a reason you’re being sold quarterly to monthly treatments of these, and its not because bugs are out maneuvering the chemicals.

Next: When you are looking to plant a new bed, or replace plants in an existing one, choose native. As natives become more popular, they are becoming more available every year. There are even cultivars of natives being breed to replace popular introduced species (Look at the Gembox Inkberry which is meant to replace Boxwood).

Ultimately, this is up to everyone doing their part, even if its on a little tiny nub along a driveway. You will be amazed at how much life comes back just the smallest parcel.