green is universal

Why Some Pretty Trees, Flowers Aren't Our Friends

Posted at 02:36 PM on April 14, 2008

By Leah Zerbe, NBC 10 Philadelphia

Gardeners spend hundreds of dollars every spring on flowers, shrubs and trees in an effort to beautify their tract of the great outdoors, but many environmentalists say that they're unknowingly doing more harm than good.

Invasive plants and other plants with little or no wildlife quality can be found in just about any garden superstore, making it difficult for the everyday person to make informed decisions about planting the most environmentally friendly garden.

Luckily, native plant gardening is becoming increasingly popular as the going green theme becomes more and more of a household name.

What Is A Native Plant?
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Recreation, a native plant is one that occurred within the state before settlement by Europeans. They include ferns and clubmosses; grasses, sedges, rushes, and their kin; flowering perennials; annuals that only live one year; biennials, which have a two year life cycle; and, of course, the woody trees, shrubs, and vines which covered "Penns's Woods" when the first settlers arrived. There are over 2,100 native plant species known in Pennsylvania.

An introduced or non-native plant is one that has been brought into the state and become established. An invasive plant is a species that has become a weed pest, one DCNR describes as growing aggressively, spreading, and displacing other plants. Although some native plants are aggressive on disturbed areas, most invasive plants are introduced from other continents, leaving behind pests, diseases, predators, and other natural controls.

Native plants are aggressively being lost to habitat destruction, invasive plants and introduced pests and diseases. By 2000, 5 percent of Pennsylvania native plant species had been eliminated and another 25 percent were in danger of becoming so.

Environmental department urge gardeners to buy nursery-propagated native plants and remind people to never remove them from the wild. Environmentalists also urge gardeners to practice responsible landscaping techniques, which means avoiding fertilizer, chemicals and products like Miracle Grow as much as possible.

Delaware Riverkeeper's Top 10 Reasons To Go Native

Natives Are Tough: Native plants evolved in harmony with their ecosystems and as a result they require less care, need less water and have a higher survival rate than non-native plants. After establishment, just sit back and watch your garden grow.

Give Critters A Break: Native plants provide a refuge for wildlife, attracting and providing food for a variety of birds, small mammals, amphibians and pollinators throughout the year. As a result, native plants ensure that our local ecosystems are more stable and productive.

The Kids Will Love It: Have a high quality educational experience in your own yard and add hours of exploration for little ones and their neighborhood friends.

Pay Less For Your Apples: A 2006 study showed that pollinators (like honey bees) are declining in drastic numbers and scientists are not sure why. As a result, this season it is already projected that apples may be three to four times as expensive, since farmers have had to import honey bees for the first time since 1912.

A number of factors have cut pollinators' numbers in recent decades, but providing a chemical-free native plant garden of diverse plants that these pollinators can use can only help them. Animal pollinators fertilize more than 187,500 flowering plants worldwide.

Be Less Toxic: Because native plants evolved natural defenses against predators, you won't need to buy or use nasty chemicals to keep your garden beautiful.

Diversity Is Good For The Eye: Tired of seeing the same plants in your neighborhood and a boring landscape? Native plants are unique and usually rare in typical garden habitats. Your neighbors will be asking you all about your new garden plants. So when its time to divide those perennials, they'll be plenty of takers.

Help Decrease Flooding: By replacing part of your lawn with a native plant garden, you help rainwater soak into the ground and decrease the amount of stormwater runoff that flows quickly into our local streams and causes flooding.

Stop The Spread Of Invasive Exotic Species: Many of the garden plants that we can buy are exotic, and some of these exotics escape from our gardens and threaten natural areas. By planting only natives, you avoid the spread of exotic invasive plants.

Preserve Our Natural Heritage: A 2000 study showed that 5 percent of Pennsylvania native plant species have been eliminated and another 25 percent were in danger of becoming so.

An Argument Against A Manicured Lawn: People spend lots of time and money obsessing over perfectly manicured lawns, when if fact, they're often doing more harm than good.

Many environmentalists will suggest planting native shrubs, trees and plants instead of keeping a manicured lawn because its benefits to nature far outweigh that of planting grass.

The idea of a perfect lawn may have emerged during the post-WWII era, when more and more people were able to take pride in owning their own homes, complete with white picket fences. But keeping a lawn looking good often involves harmful chemicals.

Also, trimmed grass lawns with few shrubs or taller plants attract Canada geese because to them, it resembles the birds' native tundra terrain.

People plagued with geese loitering in their yards and littering it with waste can easily solve it by turning their yard into a native plant garden and cutting out larger tracts of plain, low-cut grass.

Leah Zerbe
WCAU NBC 10 Philadelphia
http://www.nbc10.com/goinggreen/