Benefits of Landscaping with Native Plants

If you haven’t worked with native plants before, you may be wondering how natives are different than daylilies or hostas. The following information answers these questions and explains why using at least some natives in your garden can be beneficial to the environment.

What are native plants?

Native plants are the trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, ferns and other plants that have evolved in a particular area over thousands of years. In the United States, “native” plants existed here before European settlement. Over this long period of time, the plants have adapted to the particular growing conditions present here, including temperature, rainfall, winds, soils, slopes and wildlife.

Without our native plants, we would lose many of the places that renew us emotionally and spiritually. We would also lose much of the natural beauty that defines our culture. Can you imagine a world without our native plants? A world without bluebonnets stretching across Texas or fields of California poppies? Without native plants, no maples or aspens would spread their colors across the mountainsides. No rambling wild roses would adorn the fencelines of the countryside. And no irises would grace the banks of our waters.

The animals we love to watch and photograph - birds, deer, bears - rely on native plants. Some, like the grizzly bear, face extinction themselves because of the loss of their native habitats and foods. Native plants benefit hunters and anglers by providing food and shelter to game animals, from ducks to fish to elk. Gardeners rely on native plants such as azaleas and rhododendrons, roses and orchids, and black-eyed susans.

Using native plants in your landscape will bring you many benefits, including the following:

• Native plants are beautiful, providing an entirely new palate of plants to a traditional landscape.
  
  
• They are well-adapted to local conditions, therefore requiring little maintenance once established. They eliminate or significantly reduce the need for fertilizers, pesticides, water and lawn maintenance equipment. They also often attract beneficial insects, which prey upon pests, decreasing the need for pesticides.
  
  
• Most native species are perennial, or self-seeding biennial plants.
  
  
• Native plants attract our native songbirds and butterflies. Just as the plants have evolved and adapted to your region over time, the local wildlife has evolved alongside them, depending on these plants for food and shelter.
  
  
• Using native plants promotes biodiversity. Planting a small meadow that once was lawn replaces one plant species with many, increasing the opportunities for beneficial wildlife and insects to live.
  
  
• Natives reduce air pollution, improve water quality and reduce soil erosion. Using native vegetation, unlike cultivated landscapes, does not require the use of lawn maintenance equipment, a major contributor to air pollution. They improve water quality by filtering contaminated stormwater, and reduce soil erosion by
  stabilizing soils with their deep root systems.
  
  
• Native plants are less expensive to maintain. Studies by the U.S. EPA show that a prairie or wetland costs approximately $150 a year per acre to maintain, while the same amount of lawn costs $1,000 per year per acre to maintain.

Sources:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. National Park Service