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Landscaping with Native Plants

 

"When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." Aldo Leopold-The Sand County Almanac

Native PlantsWhether you are in the process of landscaping a new home site or interested in renovating an existing yard, consider native plantings. ative landscaping is the practice of cultivating plants indigenous to your area with the goal ofharmonizing the landscape with nature. Before European settlement, around 150 years ago, pristine prairies, woodlands and savannas covered our landscape.

Nearly all land has been altered or replaced by framing, urbanization, and the interruption of natural processes such as fire. The return of native plants to the urban, suburban or rural landscape brings back our natural heritage, enriches the human spirit, and restores the ecology of our local environment.

 

Why consider native landscaping?

 

  • Butterflies and songbirds benefit from the diversity of food, cover, and space in a natural planting, and add to the pleasure your home provides.
  • Native landscaping saves precious time and expense and lessens our dependence on chemicals and non-renewable resources. It is unnecessary to resort to artificial methods of maintenance such as adding fertilizersand pesticides, mowing and irrigating.
  • Native plants are well adapted and can survive bitter, cold winters and hot, dry summers.Trillium in Split Rock
  • Native landscaping soaks up rainfall and consequently reduces runoff of nutrients and chemicals into our lakes.
  • A native landscape is dynamic. Interesting flowers, shapes, colors, and textures vary from week to week, season to season, year to year. The splendid diversity favorably contrasts to a traditional landscape.
  • Discovering the wonders of nature is an exciting reward.

"If Suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or with combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." Lorrie Otto-founder of Wild Ones.

 

Ecological and Environmental Considerations:

 

  • In the United States, lawns occupy more land than any single crop, including wheat, corn or tobacco. (Newsweek June 21, 1993)
  • Ten times more chemical pesticides are applied to lawns than farm crops. (Newsweek June 21, 1993)
  • A gasoline-powered mower spews out as much smog-forming gases as 30 average cars in one hour. (The Capitol Times, May 11-12, 1996)


Native Plants and Design Choices

 

A well planned landscape that includes native plants to accent each season is a valuable asset to your property. Your site characteristics will determine the type of plantings for sucFerns in pots on the grasscessful results.

You can employ different degrees of native plantings on your property.

  • Incorporate native trees and shrubs into a traditional landscape.
  • Replace a high maintenance perennial garden with a butterfly or prairie garden.
  • Design small islands of plant communities
  • Naturalize an entire yard, include a border, (lawn, shrub, fence), between your yard and your neighbor's property.
  • Cooperate with your neighbors to integrate native landscapes or to create a natural corridor through your yards.

Whatever option you choose, a native landscape will benefit our land, restore a home for wildlife, and provide a satisfying experience for all.

 

Resources for planning your native planting:

 

Wild Ones-Natural Landscapers, Ltd. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and share information with its members and the community at the "plants-roots" level and promote bio diversity and environmentally sound practices. Write to: Wild Ones Natural Landscapers Ltd., P.O. Box 1274, Appleton, WI 54912-1274.

The National Wildlife Federation developed and promotes a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program. Write to: Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program, 1412 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036-2266.


Contact United States resources through your State and county offices:

U.S. Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Department of Forest Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Soil & Water Conservation Offices


Contact State and County offices:

Departments of Natural Resources
University Extension Offices


Contact your local:

Libraries
Nature Centers
Native Plant Societies

For more information about the nearest local chapter call:
877-FYI-Wild or 877-394-9453
E-mail: www.for-wild.org/contacts.htm


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