Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens
Healthy Gardens. Healthy Planet
The other day I jumped from my desk to follow a set of tree trucks, a wood chipper and a stump grinder, which had rumbed down my dead end road. My old wood chip pile had been in place for more than a year and what was left of it was mostly compost. So I was [...]
Lesser Prairie Chicken to Be Listed on Federal Endangered Species List “All the Lesser Prairie Chickens should be turned into Chick-fil-A,” said the Fox news commentator, in a stunning display of ignorance. This panel was reacting to the announcement that the Lesser Prairie Chicken is expected to be added to the Federal Endangered Species List, [...]
University of California scientists are calling on the public to help stem the spread of the gold-spotted oak borer, a small invasive beetle that has already killed 20,000 San Diego area coast live oak, black oak and canyon live oak trees. The key to preventing the pest’s spread to additional Southern, Central and Northern California [...]
This is a fall round up of current issues relating to native plants. They highlight some of the issues that native plant enthusiasts should address to move forward in our goal of more regionally appropriate natives being planted more widely. I. USDA: Good: USDA is sponsoring the first ever National Planting Day on Saturday September 8th [...]
As a native plant garden designer or home gardener, understanding how plants are naturally arranged in their environment is critical. Understanding what species occur together in their plant community takes this understanding a step further. Several plant communities exist within the boundaries of Chino Hills State Park in Orange County, California. The lower elevations in [...]
A couple of years ago I gave a presentation to a hall full of Master Gardeners on my favorite topic: saving energy in our landscapes. I pointed out that if we gardened with more native plants, this would support regional pollinators, thereby potentially reducing the energy costs associated with replacing a vital ecological service. Compared [...]
In my prior post I wrote about the importance of familiarizing ourselves with the flora and fauna of our local native ecosystems. With regard to our native flora, trees make up one of the most important components of any ecosystem. They literally form the foundation of most plant communities and contribute greatly to local animal [...]
A couple of months ago, I posted on this site an article that reviewed three garden shows, noting that the third of these, the Ecological Landscaping Association’s Annual Conference, gave its attendees a thought-provoking paradox. One of the event’s speakers discussed the vast and costly damage caused by Japanese knotweed in Great Britain, and another [...]
Being a resident of Southern California has its perks. World-class beaches, soaring mountain peaks, and living in one of the worlds five Mediterranean climates are a few of the obvious. One of the lesser appreciated aspects is the relative abundance of natural areas and open spaces. I’m specifically talking about an area near and dear [...]
I love the native landscape here in western MA. Having lived in places where the seasonal markers are less distinct, I look forward to March 1st, when I see the sap buckets on the sugar maple trees and know the remaining winter is bearably short. I wait for emergence and disappearance of the spring ephemeral [...]
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