Native Plants in your Garden

Beauty

Integrity

Sense of Place

Jonathan H. Titus and Priscilla J. Titus SUNY-Fredonia -- Biology

March 1, 2013

What is meant by native?

A native plant is one that occurs naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or habitat without direct or indirect human intervention. We consider the flora present at the time Europeans arrived in North America as the species native to the eastern United States.

Native plants include all kinds of plants: mosses, ferns, floating aquatic plants, grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.

Plants that were introduced by man during the last three hundred or so years and that have adapted to our landscape and climate are referred to as “naturalized.” Some of these are invasive.

Why are native plants better?

Native gardening supports plants and animals that were once common throughout the U.S. but are now increasingly rare.

Currently, 54% of the lower 48 states are cities and suburbs, and

another 41% is agriculture. This means that 95% of the landscape is unnatural.

Of the 2,863 vascular plants species recorded by NYS Heritage Program, 727 are considered rare, threatened, or endangered.

4% of NYS’s Flora and Fauna are presumed extirpated.

Landscaping with non-native ornamentals has transformed the first trophic level in suburban/urban ecosystems throughout U.S. into a landscape dominated by plant species that evolved elsewhere.

Native habitats surrounding our homes provide linkages between parks for larger animals and important food chain support.

Native plants perform ecosystem functions more effectively than replacements; for example, they are better at sustaining winter birds than are bird feeders.

What is the problem with non-native plants? Non-native species often lack natural controls in introduced regions

(i.e. insects, diseases, browsers) and become invasive.

Invasive species colonize natural areas and compete directly with native species and also change light regimes, nutrient cycling, and soil chemistry.

It can take a long time, in some instances, to determine if a plant will become invasive.

Because many invasive non-native plants are not preferred browse species, their presence adds pressure on remaining native species.

Non-native plants often do not support native pollinators effectively and are inferior to native species in supporting other wildlife.

Removal of established invasive species is difficult, time-consuming and expensive.

What is meant by the term “Invasive?”

Invasive species are non-native species that can cause harm to the environment or to human health.

-NYS Invasive Species Task Force An invasive species is a species that is: 1) non-native to the ecosystem under consideration, and; 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or

environmental harm or harm to human health. In the latter case, the harm must significantly outweigh any benefits.

-Federal Executive Order 13112

Why is local origin important?

Plants on the edge of their range are subject to environmental conditions that differ from the center of their range. This leads to subtle genetic differences that allows adaptation to these conditions.

These populations are often important reserves of genetic diversity of the species as a whole and should be protected.

Plants that have wide distributions are still specific to their local origin in terms of flowering time and leaf production so plant stock originating and grown elsewhere will not perform as well here as plants of local origin. Avoid the plants supplied by Big Box stores for this reason.

To have native plants, you need a local source.

A few things to know about native pollinators Almost 90% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators for

fertilization, and about 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators.

There are more than 4000 native bees species in the U.S. Many of these are dependent on only one or a few native plant species for pollen and nectar. Others are necessary for crop production (e.g., cuckoo bees pollinate squash and bumblebees pollinate tomatoes.) Most bees do not have stingers; exceptions are honeybees and bumblebees.

More than 1000 butterfly and moth species have been documented in NYS. Butterflies are active in the daytime and are attracted to colorful and heavily scented blooms. Most moths are active at night and are attracted to white or pale night-blooming flowers.

Other pollinators include beetles, ants, wasps, flies, gnats, bats, birds, and mammals.

Think about the increased amount of surface area, and diversity of textures, shelters, and resources

available in a native plant garden.

What to plant? Just like any garden, begin with an assessment of site conditions.

Things to consider: moisture levels, light levels, soil structure and

drainage patterns, nutrient levels, potential uses and disturbances in the areas you will be planting.

Research potential choices, availability and suitability for your site.

One good way to formulate a palette of species is to imitate intact native plant associations (e.g., hemlock forest and understory for shady sites, mixed hardwoods and understory for deciduous sites, meadows for sunny sites lacking a canopy, wetlands for rain gardens).

Look at nearby local natural areas for a clue about what plants might grow well on your property.

Think about bloom colors and timing and try to incorporate some evergreen species and berry-producing species to provide winter cover and food for wildlife.