Native Plants in the Landscape

Native Plants in the Landscape

What is a Native Plant?

A true native is a plant species which is indigenous to a given

locale (seed source found within 100 miles).

Bioregional natives can be described as a plant native to Eastern North America and adapted to the soils and the USDA hardiness zone of a site, which it was previously historically absent from.

Benefits of Native Plants and Natural Landscaping

Why should we plant native plants?

Because they are beautiful!

Healthful and helpful (Outreached hand pic) Native plants provide many ethno-botanical and medicinal purposes.

Native plants provide many ethno-botanical and medicinal purposes.

Healthful and Helpful

Native plants are fun (Happy Face pic)

Native plants are fun !

Provide a path to spiritual redemption (Dali Lama pic)

Provide a path to spiritual redemption

Restore the balance of nature by providing wildlife habitat, increase bio-diversity, and improve water quality. Elevate the overall wellbeing of an eco-system and landscape environment shared by plants animals and humans.

• Bluebird pic

• Mockingbird pic

• Native plants provide beneficial competition with invasive species which threaten our ecology.

• Invasive exotics do not have the same value for food and habitat for the native birds, bats, and insects.

• Afterall….

Butterflies are

• Butterflies are free pic

Butterflies are free

• It may desirable to have…bats in your belfry (bat pic)

It may be desirable to have…bats in your belfry

• Luna moth larva for birds and bats (luna moth pic)

Luna moth larva for birds and bats

Be one of the bug and bunny people

When and where to Plant Native Plants?

• Restoring damaged or disturbed landscapes• Wetlands and stream corridors restoration• Reforestation • Riparian buffers and bank stabilization• Storm water management and erosion control• Rain gardens

• Baby steps (Baby pic)

Baby’s First Steps

• The most important part of any good design is a proper site analysis

• Select plant material according to hydrologic conditions

• Plant trees

• More and more trees

To recreate our eastern forest biome

• Trees stabilize the soil, clean, absorb and infiltrate storm water, give off oxygen and take in carbon monoxide

Understanding plant communities means identifying nature as a model and using bio-mimicry to establish inter-related and inter-dependent landscape system

Ways to Plant Natives

• Integrate and mix compatible, companion species for the widest bio-diversity

• Utilize mass planting to achieve best results (eliminating the need for seasonal mulching)

• Pure live seed• Eco-plugs/tublings• Bare root• Container plants

• Images of rain gardens

• Hydrology of watershed management (beaver pic)

Hydrology of watershed management

In Conclusion

• Stewardship/ land management• BMP’s • Remove the invasives and plant the natives• Institute no-mow zones• Irrigation for establishment• Animal control, i.e. goose and deer • Landscape design for biological selection• Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow and don’t let

your landscape go to the dogs

Plants of Special Interest and Purpose

• Native berry bearing shrubs, i.e. viburnum, aronia, ilex verticillata, callicarpa, etc.

• Turtleheads

• Family photo

• It’s a small world after all photo