Landscaping Sustainably With Native Plants

With invasive species causing increasing problems in Door County, it’s more important than ever that we landscape with native plants.

Native plants bring many benefits. They’ve evolved and adapted to local climatic conditions and soils, tend to be tolerant of tough conditions such as drought and poor soil, and are better able to resist the effects of native insects and diseases. Once established, native plants don’t require pesticides, fertilizers or watering provided they are given landscape situations that match their cultural requirements.

This reduced need for maintenance results in less pollution in our soil and water. In this country almost one sixth of all commercial fertilizers and 40 percent of all pesticides are applied to lawns and gardens. Using native plants to replace all or part of an existing lawn decreases pollution considerably. There is less use of fossil fuels and pesticides and fewer carbon and other harmful emissions from gas-powered equipment. The use of native plants also promotes biodiversity. Many native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. These insects co-evolved with certain species and are unable to chew the foliage or digest the chemical compounds that occur in other species. A large percentage of alien ornamental plants were selected and are favored by the ornamental industry because they are pest and disease resistant. With fewer of their native food sources present, native insect populations decline and, as recent studies have shown, the large number of bird species that depend on insects for feeding their young will find less of this important biomass available. Many of these alien plants have escaped cultivation and are replacing native plants in natural areas everywhere. Native plants used in the creation of rain gardens, storm water ditches, and planted as buffers between lawns and streams and lakes, help to contain or slow run-off and erosion. They can also remove or contain fertilizers and contaminants from the soil (a process called phytoremediation).

The intangible benefits of native plants – perhaps more important to many of us – is the intimate connection it provides us with nature. Being with nature can have a very positive, healing effect on us. The seasonal rhythms of nature reflect life’s cycles, and can help ground us on the earth from which we evolved. The use of native plants contributes to the sustainability of a landscape and the ability of a landscape or ecosystem to maintain ecological processes and functions, biological diversity and productivity over time. As more of us choose to live in greater harmony with nature by using native plants in our gardens and landscapes, we contribute to the sustainability of the unique natural heritage of this lovely peninsula.

Clifford Orsted grew up on a small dairy farm in northern Door, frequently exploring the surrounding stone fences, meadows, woods and streams. He has studied landscape design, horticulture, and soil conservation and is passionate about the peninsula’s native plants. Orsted owns and operates Door Landscape, which specializes in ecological, sustainable landscaping with native plants. He can be reached at [email protected].