Native plants for beginners.

Coming up next on year round, gardening, you may have heard the buzz about gardening with native plants as it's becoming increasingly popular these days.

Let's talk about the how to and why to of gardening with native plants.

What is a native plant?

Plants considered native are those that have naturally occurred in a region without human intervention.

For example, any species present at the time, Europeans first arrived in North America, can be considered native to the eastern us.

There are all kinds of native plants from mosses and ferns to wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.

Why garden with natives?

Because native plants are well adapted to the growing conditions where we live, they're often easier to grow and are less susceptible to challenging conditions than non-native plants.

They also don't require high levels of fertilizers or pesticides, making them a budget friendly option.

Their deep and varied root systems offer superior erosion control and drought tolerance, and once they're established, don't usually require watering.

In addition, pollinators and birds have co-evolved with native plants and have become dependent upon them as food or host plants.

They're perfectly designed to provide for the habitat needs of butterflies, bees, and other native pollinators.

For example, an oak tree native to our region can support over 500 species of butterfly and moth caterpillars, along with many other insects, but non-native ornamentals, like a ginkgo support, fewer than five.

How to get started?

Fortunately, since native plants are enjoying more popularity these days, more native selections are available to the home gardener.

Many local plant sales include native selections and nurseries are also heating the demand.

When in doubt, plant a tree.

A native tree such as an oak, provides food protection, or both for countless birds, pollinators, and other insects.

And they help manage our watershed as their extensive root systems of absorb water, reducing runoff, and filtering out pollutants.

There are many other good choices for the home landscape, ranging from large shade trees like willow and maple to smaller trees such as redbud, dogwood, and service berry, Bradford, pear trees, and burning bush shrubs are just two examples of common invasives that are widely used in home gardens.

Some of these non-native plants spread aggressively, pushing out natives in our forests and natural areas and disturbing the balance of our ecosystem.

Convert a corner of your lawn to a bed of native pollinator plants and shrubs.

There's a huge variety from which to choose for any soil type or condition.

The Pennsylvania Native Plant Society and Penn State extension websites have plenty of information to get you started.

So if you'd like to help support pollinators in every stage of their lifecycle, just go.

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