Rethinking Traditional Gardening and the Importance of Planting Native

The historical roots of gardening and horticulture stretch back in history tens of thousands of years, seeing the first humans intentionally plant seeds in virgin soil. This act, now known as the agricultural revolution, had drastic impacts on the trajectory of the human story, and for our planet, as well. 

With this unprecedented knowledge and power to control the natural world, shaping the landscape as they saw fit, our ancient ancestors turned this civilization creating tool into one that could also help build the places of their imaginations and desires. These curated spaces of ornamental gardens filled with plants from far way lands and orchards of fruits and vegetables, were places in which the gods dwelled and divine inspiration could be attained. 

Ancient tales poetically describe the grandness and splendor of these first gardens, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh’s (2700 BC) gardens of Uruk (now modern day Iraq), and the Bible’s own origin story of the mystical Garden of Eden - now inspiring faith for over a billion people. Before there were modern botanical gardens, there were places of legend, such as the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon. A place of such epic proportions, it is known as one of the seven wonders of the world. These gardens were built to reflect the philosophy of the civilization, to mirror the beauty they saw in the outside world, providing signs of status and meaning for those that would admire them.

These first ancient gardens were assuredly signs of prestige, nobility, and pleasure meant to demand the respect and dignification inherently endowed to the curators - kings, queens, and royalty of the kingdoms. As time progressed, traditional gardens and gardening became a renowned activity and pastime for many people, turning native environments into idyllic outdoor frescoes of the romantic imagination. 

In another way, this was also an unprecedented and  revolutionary change with our relationship and connection with the natural world and plants. Throughout space and time, traditional gardening grew in appreciation and practice worldwide. Europe, by the 18th century, was well underway curating plants from the world over, leaving a legacy of horticulture that has surged in popularity for centuries and has influenced generations of people.

The U.S. has not been immune to this influence. Currently, monumental stretches of land in the contiguous United States have been aesthetically transformed in the name of traditional gardening. In particular, lawns and ornamental gardens have become the mainspring of typical American gardening, trading wild and wooded areas of native habitat for manicured lawns and showy decorative gardens full of exotic and tropical flora. Findings from a recent analysis of the 2017 National Garden Survey found that 74% of all U.S. households participate in gardening activities, propping up a 39 billion dollar a year DIY gardening industry and making it America’s most popular outdoor activity. A result of urban sprawl, these stretches of land will continue to grow and depreciate the natural landscape.

The U.S. has not been immune to this influence. Currently, monumental stretches of land in the contiguous United States have been aesthetically transformed in the name of traditional gardening. In particular, lawns and ornamental gardens have become the mainspring of typical American gardening, trading wild and wooded areas of native habitat for manicured lawns and showy decorative gardens full of exotic and tropical flora. Findings from a recent analysis of the 2017 National Garden Survey found that 74% of all U.S. households participate in gardening activities, propping up a 39 billion dollar a year DIY gardening industry and making it America’s most popular outdoor activity. A result of urban sprawl, these stretches of land will continue to grow and depreciate the natural landscape.

According to a 2005 study, lawns or turf grass areas accounted for the largest share of crop production in the continental United States. This area covers three times the amount of land that America’s most produced food crop (corn) does. This study, conducted by NASA and a team of collaborators, mapped a staggering 40 million acres of land in the U.S. that is currently maintained as some form of lawn - an area roughly the size of Texas. Along with these maintained lawns that quite literally stretch across America’s terrain, ornamental and exotic plant gardens can usually be found in tow.

Typically found on the edge of these turf grass ecosystems, common gardens are usually home to a highly varied stock of ornamental and exotic plants imported from all parts of the globe. These expat plants are particularly enticing to gardeners for their ornamental and showy value. Exotic and beautiful foliage that decorate these new “habitats” with vibrant tinged flowers and berry-ridden branches suggest a thriving and rich ecosystem in your renovated backyard. The opposite is likely closer to the truth. 

While these turf grass ecosystems and exotic ornamental gardens provide picturesque landscapes with tamed wild spaces, the lack of native vegetative populations has been shown to have far-reaching negative implications. Acting as an energy reserve for all ecosystems, plants provide the food source and shelter needs for all wildlife in an area. However, when the native flora is replaced with exotic and ecologically homogenizing flora, the native land loses its ability to sustain the vitality of this energy web. 

Sparse woody and herbaceous flora and a monoculture of carpeted manicured grass aptly describe lawn-habitats. These areas function as essentially biological deserts, which are ecosystems with negligible to no biological productivity, and consequently a weak energy-web to support surrounding native wildlife. Not surprisingly, foreign plants typically offer little stimulus to the food economy of the habitat; native insects do not readily or productively use non-native plants, in turn affecting their population densities and limiting food sources for birds and other wildlife dependent on consuming them. Incorporating this “biological desert” into the yard coverage in America, the significance of this issue can truly be felt. In addition, lawns require extensive watering, which puts significant pressure on the country’s freshwater supply, and greatly contributes to runoff pollution in the surrounding water systems - two undervalued issues that have great implications to the overall health of our ecosystems. 

Along with pollution and degradation of the food/energy web, trading native plants for non-natives can lead to some species escaping the garden - a runaway garden effect. Although visually attractive, these plants can be aggressively competitive over all other native vegetation, potentially dominating the landscape and displacing local populations of native plants. Because of their evolution in other parts of the world, introduced and exotic plants usually have little to no competition in native ecosystems, nor suffer predation from wildlife. Having few limiting factors, these species can quickly naturalize and become invasive. 

According to the NPS and USDA, these alien species have invaded over 133 million acres of land, 1.4 million acres of National Park land, and are expected to invade another 1.7 million acres each year. In financial terms, management and control of invasive plants costs U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Ecologically, invasive organisms as a whole threaten half of all endangered species in the U.S. and have become the second leading cause of biodiversity loss. Without proper control, these invasive plants have the capability of exacerbating some of the most extreme and pressing issues facing our natural world. However, rethinking your landscaping philosophy and the plant species you put in the landscape can drastically improve the state of affairs for the environment.

Native plants in the yard can offer significant respite from many of the woes of lawn maintenance and ornamental gardening, propping up and supporting native biodiversity, while also saving you time and resources. An action as simple as converting your lawn and gardens to a thriving ecosystem can be one of the most impactful and important initiatives each of us can do for the environment.

Benefits of Planting Native

Wildlife Support

Not surprisingly, native plants are the foundation and cornerstone for any healthy ecosystem. Native vegetation provides the habitat and food requirements for most of our wildlife. For the animals that don’t use these plants directly, what they eat does. For bees, butterflies, moths, bats, and  hummingbirds, the best nectar and pollen sources are almost always found in native plants, with which they co-evolved with. Well-known pollinators like the Monarch Butterfly and Pipevine Swallowtail demand very specialized host plants (in this case Milkweed and Pipevine respectively) to lay their young and provide a food source to regenerate their population. Mammals and other native birds rely on the seeds, berries, and foliage for food, helping in some way to spread these genes across the landscape. They will also rely heavily on them in the winter for shelter making and hibernating. These same organisms that help pollinate our native plants, will also continue to pollinate our food crops, something that perhaps hits closer to home!

Maintenance & Resources

Native plants need drastically less resources and attention in comparison to introduced turf grasses and typical ornamental plants. Already adapted to the environment and specific natural climates, native plants require far less intervention after being established in the garden. These plants, unlike their foreign counterparts, are more capable of withstanding the area’s seasonal droughts, freezing temperatures, and lack of specific soil nutrients, greatly alleviating time and resource needs. Pressure on the clean drinking water supply would be heavily relieved if lawns were replaced with native flora, saving on daily watering and fertilizing. Without maintained lawns, the weekly chore of mowing could be eliminated, helping offset pollution extensively.

Healthy Biosphere

Returning the land to its wild roots creates a healthier and more vibrant world for us. Replacing your ornamental gardens with native landscapes, in many ways, helps to reduce the monumental carbon-footprint and pollution we have created. From the fossil fuels needed to get your exotics to your yard, to the pesticides, fertilizers, and water needed to maintain them, native plants are also much more environmentally friendly. The amount of fertilizer and pesticide produced for lawn and garden use is on the scale of millions of tons per year. This chemical use greatly contributes to the contaminants in our water, causing drastic issues in our scarce fresh water supplies. These chemicals also inevitably get into the food we eat (pesticides) while also indiscriminately killing the very pollinators and insects that are helping produce these crops. Compared to agricultural farmers, suburban landowners use far more pesticides and herbicides for landscape maintenance and pest control. If allowed, native plants will exclude the need for pesticides and heavy fertilizer use, saving you time, money, and health risks. Acting as a sink for carbon pollution being emitted daily, endemic long-living plants such as oaks and hickories are extremely effective at combating the percentage of carbon in the atmosphere.

Native gardening is an easy and healthy substitute for the traditional and ornamental gardens that have persisted from yard to yard throughout the years. Unrivaled in their beauty, native plants produce extraordinarily vibrant blooms and fall foliage that rivals any exotic plant you might put in your garden. An array of different seasonal bloomers will decorate your yard from spring to winter, while attracting an abundance of native pollinators and wildlife.

These native-focused gardens can put considerable power, in terms of environmental justice and land restoration, in the hands of anyone willing to plant and steward these spaces. Native plants and gardens can be a positive force in combating some of the largest environmental issues we currently face in the modern world. Now more than ever, in an age of unprecedented environmental awareness, we are tasked with helping to heal our shared lands and reversing the global environmental degradation that has drastically accelerated over the past century. With so many environmental issues ensuing the world we move through today, perhaps our own backyards and gardens are a good place to start thinking about these things. Perhaps native plants have more to teach us than we once thought.

- By Dylan Hackett, Nursery and Greenhouse Manager

In 2019, Dylan started work at Reflection Riding as an educator, teaching the community aspects of ecology and the flora and fauna around them. Dylan now serves as Nursery Manager, facilitating the propagation of hundreds of species of native plants endemic to the region. Dylan’s work brings him great joy, especially working with community members to learn about environmental stewardship and sending them home with the power of a little bit of good in their hands.