Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
Healthy Gardens. Healthy Planet
Genevieve Schmidt is a landscape designer and garden writer in the redwoods of Northern California. She writes regularly for Fine Gardening Magazine and The Christian Science Monitor. Read more from Genevieve at North Coast Gardening.
Recently, I read an article in Fine Gardening Magazine by Susan Morrison that I thought was really clever. The title was “Plant This, Not That“, the idea being that we over-use certain plants just because we’re familiar with them, and that it can be more fun to broaden our horticultural horizons and try something new. [...]
As a landscaper, my focus hasn’t always been on designing with natives. In fact, until a year or two ago, I only used a few sturdy natives in my designs. But once I realized that native plants play a role in sustaining local wildlife that no other types of plant can fill – well, I [...]
By now, most of us know that the lawn isn’t exactly America’s greatest contribution to landscape design. The postage stamp lawns in front of our homes are a dead zone for wildlife – barren of pollinators, sucking up precious resources, and taking up room that could be used for a more positive contribution (food? Natives? [...]
Because of the ridiculousness of our current turf culture, where vast seas of monocultural lawns are touted as beautiful by industries that want to sell us the chemicals to keep them that way, there’s been a backlash in many circles against the all-American lawn. And I agree with those detractors. The standard American sea of [...]
The National Wildlife Federation has a really effective educational program that allows people to certify a home, school, church, or business garden as a wildlife habitat. Why is this educational? Because in the process of certification, you learn a lot about how to create a mini ecosystem in your garden. Then, once you’re certified, everyone [...]
While I think it’s clear that native plantings can fit in beautifully with a designed, artful garden, many people still have trouble finding room for them. Even when people understand the specific wildlife benefits that only native plants can bring, and want to use them in the garden, it can be hard to change a [...]
We’ve all seen the food pyramid, with healthier foods forming the base and chocolate cheesecake with cholesterol sauce at the top (mmmm…. cholesterol sauce). Though nutritionists argue about the specifics, it’s a great concept because it makes healthy eating a bit simpler to visualize. Preserving the connections between wildlife and the plants that support them [...]
