Going Native

Become a wilderness steward in your own backyard

Some 40 million acres are covered in grass lawns in the US alone. That’s about 2% of the habitable land in the whole country. East of the Mississippi River, a full 86% of land is privately owned. So what we do with our properties is of vital importance to wildlife. In particular, lawns are a huge drain on our resources. 50-75% of the domestic water budget is used to water our lawns. In addition the pesticides and fertilizers that are applied to lawns pollute local wells as well as flowing into rivers and eventually the oceans. All for a green carpet which does next to nothing for wildlife and, if sprayed and fertilized is positively negative for wildlife. Given that 70-80% of our insects have disappeared in the last 50 years, due to habitat loss and pesticides, converting our lawn areas to a native garden is one the most important contributions we as individuals can make. By saving our local insects, we will help save birds, butterflies and the future of humanity.

“Installing” a native landscape with seeds costs about the same as installing a lawn by seed, as you’d expect. But maintaining a native area is far less expensive than mowing, fertilizing, weeding and applying pesticides, both in terms of time and money. Less mowing, means less carbon and because the plants are native they’ll need less watering. Indeed, once established, a native patch of plants shouldn’t need much intervention other than an annual weeding and the occasional watering, and the later mostly in the first year.

And aside from saving you money, reducing your water usage, increasing the land’s carbon storage, cleaning up well water and local water ways, and reducing air pollution - you’ll get a veritable zoo in your front lawn. Caterpillars, beetles and other critters will soon take up residence in your garden, in turn feeding birds, foxes and so forth.

You may wonder why native plants are so important. Well, they have evolved over millennia to live with the wildlife of their area. And the insects around them have evolved to live with the native plants - many insects eat, breed or lay eggs on only one species. Non-native plants aren’t part of that web of life and thus don’t support wildlife to the extent that native plants do. Furthermore, INVASIVE non-native species can destroy a habitat. They crowd out the natives and spread aggressively. This means the animals that rely on the suppressed natives are screwed. Plants like English Ivy, which are evergreen, creates thick blankets that can completely devastate woodland ecosystems by smothering the low growing plants as well as killing big trees. Birds eat English ivy berries and spread the seeds, in a handy dandy little fertilizer pack, far and wide.

Non-native plants can be beautiful and appropriate in our gardens, if we keep their abundance to below 10-30% of the biomass. Pretty easy to do if you plant only native trees. But invasive non-natives are not appropriate to plant, any time. Indeed, we are encouraged to pull them up. Popular non-native invasive species in the US are the burning bush (Euonymous alatus), English ivy (Hedera helix), Asian honeysuckles (Lonicera morrowii, Lonicera maackii ), the common day lily (Hermerocallis fulva), and Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense - actually from Europe and Asia). Given the multitude of stresses facing our ecosystems, including habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, pollution and changing weather patterns, planting and nurturing natives is hugely important job creating not just our own Edens, but also serving to connect wildlife friendly patches.

What are some of the logistics of converting lawns to native garden? I’ve taken several approaches.

For the most work up front, and the least ongoing maintenance, you can bury lawn with mulch. I got wood chips for free from an organization that connects arborists with gardeners called Chip Drop and I spread 3-4” across the grass in my front garden. This technique has the added benefit of keeping moisture in the soil for longer periods and it moderates the soil temperature too. I’ve had to weed a couple of times the first year, but that has taken far less time than mowing that area regularly. I’ve been gifted with a volunteer covering of violets in one swath and Virginia creeper in another. Native woodland ferns I planted are doing well though many perennials have not, I think because it is too dry in that site. So I’m going to try some native drought (and deer) tolerant species this summer - bee balm and coreopsis. It’s an ongoing process.

In the back garden I’ve tried a couple of other approaches to establish native patches. We had a bare patch following a geothermal heating installation which we raked over and sprinkled with a native wildflower seed pack mix. It look lovely its first summer, and maintenance has been a snap. Irregular watering in the first month and then raking over the following spring. It did look a bit bedraggled in the winter months, so I wouldn’t put that next to the house. Even easier to maintain was my favorite part of the garden last summer. Here, I simply allowed the grass to grow long. Then I dug out a couple spots and planted a few small native wildflowers. I watered those their first month and then mowed paths through the ensuing meadow. It was so peaceful to walk those paths in summer and autumn. I’ll rake this over soon, after the critters that live there have warmed up and will have a chance to crawl out of the compost pile I’ll make of the rakings.

The small tulip tree woodland on our property is the most labor intensive. The trees are a remnant of an ancient tulip tree forest and tower over 100 feet overhead. But they were blanketed in English Ivy when we moved in 2 years ago. My husband and sons took the ivy off the trees last winter and the trees exploded in growth. We found we have sugar maples, hackberries, an oak tree, a sassafras and a few wild cherries in the understory. Most exciting on the ground were woodland poppies and a big patch of trout lilies (Erythronium americanum). It’s another big job but I’d like to see the ground cleared of the English ivy, the bush honeysuckle, and the native, but dastardly, poison ivy.

For the areas that are still lawn, we mow and that’s about all. No chemicals, no watering and no fertilizer other than the free donations of leaves from the tulip trees. I chop up the fallen leaves with the mower and leave about 1/4 of them on the grass. I save the rest of the leaves, cut up and collected by the mower, to add to my compost or to mulch flower beds.

If you’re concerned about the neighbors reaction to a less tidy native garden, you’ll likely be surprised. Almost everyone is supportive when you tell them what’s going on. Some people like to put up a small sign saying “Native garden” or “Monarch station”. I encourage you to increase the friendliness of your plot to wildlife. No matter how small a project. And, if you have any questions - ask away. I can’t resist a plant conversation.