Sure, those gorgeous imported Hydrangeas and perfect grass will look great on your Instagram. But what you should care more about is that they have created biological deserts in our backyards. Bird specialists and wildlife enthusiasts across the country are taking extreme steps by taking out conventional gardens and replacing them with native plants. Some neighbors have referred to this as being “messy”, but the outcome has been nothing short of incredible.
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The National Wildlife Federation states that native plant gardens attract four times more species of birds than conventional landscapes. This astounding statistic is supporting a revolution in how Americans garden. Overvalued ornamental plants may as well be useless to birds because they do not support any native bird populations.
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I've experienced this change first-hand. While lawns are quiet and my 'messy' native garden is full of life, it's easy to see the differences. Perfect lawns are like fancy restaurants with displays of perfect food. They look nice, but lack life. My native garden, although untidy, is like a wholesome cooked meal as it's bursting with life.
The Caterpillar Connection
Here is where it gets really interesting. To survive to fledging, one clutch of chickadee chicks need 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars. How crazy is that? Non-native plants host less than five species of caterpillars while native plants host hundreds.
Think about trying to support a family in a food desert vs a neighborhood where food banks are on every street corner. Your Japanese maple might look nice to you, but to a bird it's just a plastic tree.
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Beyond the Birds
The impact is more than simply providing food for the birds. There is an enormous cost to substituting native plants with exotic species in the landscape. Such practices wipe out millions of years of evolutionary development. The native plants that feed adult birds also support the entire food web that the birds depend on.
- Native insects that evolved with these plants
- Berries that ripen exactly when migrating birds need them
- Seeds that provide the proper nutrition at the right time
- Nesting materials that appear just as birds start building
It looks like a detailed dance that has been practiced over the millennia while we've been changing the dancers to mannequins.
The New Aesthetic
These native gardens avoid the weedy mess look of other native gardens. Their appearance may be unlike typical gardens, but there is a wild beauty to them that is very different from the beauty of a neatly mown, crochet lawn. Instead of a static, tiled green lawn, you get:
- Waves of seasonal blooms
- Constant butterfly and bird activity
- Ever-changing colors and textures
- Natural sound barriers from rustling grasses
- Year-round visual interest, even in winter
Sure you wont have as much shut my doors but even more control will draw your audience in even more.
Making the Switch
Make gradual changes to your garden. To start, think about replacing a section of your lawn that isn't doing well with some native wildflowers, or take out an exotic shrub and put in a native replacement. With native plants, birds and other wildlife will be drawn and find your plants. They will flock to this 'buffet' of wildlife.
Native plants act as a motivator for the addition of wildlife. Native plants also support a sustainable ecosystem. In the last fifty years, nearly three billion birds have disappeared. This means that, even with the small additions of plants in our gardens, we can greatly improve the environment.
Your garden can be beneficial to nature. Would you like a garden that is just for the internet, or would you like a garden that helps the ecosystem around you?
