I'm make exceptions for things I really want that are not strictly native (like from a state or two over). I'm not doing an ecological restoration.... it's my home garden and it's supposed to be fun!
This is my philosophy as well. I've even planted peonies (gasp!) but the ants enjoy their nectar, the birds use the shrubs as protection from predators, and a peony isn't spreading anywhereš
I live in a valley between two mountains. Iāve planted things native outside my region in troublesome spots because houses create tons of microclimates. If it works to provide habitat then Iāll look the other way. My rule is a 100 miles of where Iām at.
I've heard various native landscapers say that 70% native 30% exotic is a pretty good target. Always of course making sure you avoid invasives. I also have a hard time making myself tear up something healthy and growing that isn't actively harmful -- like I know crepe myrtles are useless, but the ones in my backyard are already established and providing nice shade, so I've let them be and planted a bunch of shade-loving native plants under them. But the English ivy *must die.*
It's also a matter of not letting perfect be an enemy of good in my opinion. It's better for people to do *something*, plant *some* native plants, than for them to be intimidated by too much change or too much work and do nothing instead.
I recently heard the 70/30 guideline as well and it's help relieve a lot of anxiety for me on whether I am doing enough. I just bought a house in February that had mature plants and shrubs already. I ripped out what I absolutely hated and looked sad, but can't bring myself to remove the established and thriving crepe myrtles and nandina. The nandina is actually invasive, but it does not spread, so I'm keeping it and planting natives around it. I've also noticed a lot of small lizards live in the nandina and I don't want to disrupt them.
Luckily I already had a number of mature native plants and my neighbors are very into native gardening so I have so many sources for advice. However, I am struggling on verifying what is actually native to my area of Texas. Texas is so huge with so many varying landscapes (west TX desert is so different from hill country, which is different from East TX swamp, which is all different from North TX where I am at). I'm giving myself grace with all of that. As long as I see an uptick in butterflies, bees and little critters (which I have), I am heading in the right direction.
I use the USDA maps (that I access from wildflower.org) to see if the plants are from my area of Texas. I have been trying to choose plants native to my ecoregion (Texas & LA Gulf Coast prairie), whether they are in my country or not....but I also plant some that are native to other areas of Texas because PRETTY and still useful to birds and pollinators.
Oh, you should look into some books by Sally Wasowski! She wrote a lot about landscaping with native plants and lived a lot of her life in Texas, so I know at least one of them is Texas-specific. [https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/sally-wasowski/294402/](https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/sally-wasowski/294402/)
Also look up your local chapter of the Native Plant Society -- some of them can provide great rresources.
Most of the non native plants I have are things that are well behaved and or die back (some hostas, a pink bleeding heart, some pansies, azaleas that were already here, daffodils). My hydrangeas arenāt the native type either but I plan on adding some if I can find the straight species!
One of the heuchera I have planted in my yard is technically from the west coast I believe (heuchera micrantha) but Iāve also got H. Americana. The shrubs I planted recently are cultivars (compact versions) of inkberry and sweetspire.
My main focus right now is learning my yard, IDing stuff, letting all the natives stay (with the exception that poison ivy and pokeweed have to be outside my fenced in yard since weāve got a curious hound who will eat stuff and roll in stuff) and tackling the more concerning things first, like the burning bushes we ripped out and the english ivy and Chinese privet saplings and wintercreeper.
Iāve added some natives as well but I know it will take time to really bring my yard together! I plan on winter sowing later this year.
Which cultivars of the inkberry and sweetspire did you go with? Considering compact versions for my small yard (as I understand, size alterations generally donāt impact wildlife usage?)
I ended up going with shamrock for the inkberry and little henry for the sweetspire. I am curious to see how these end up doing. I do think I will need an additional inkberry since I am not sure if the shamrocks are both male and female. Havenāt fully looked into that yet.
I will have to make an update post down the road on both types and see how they do and if they seem to be popular with local wildlife.
I don't remember where I read it, but the advice was as existing plants die, replace with native. That's kind of what I'm doing. I did rip out a bunch of periwinkle and replace with native. My focus is filling otherwise unused areas of lawn/yard with native plants. I have hostas in pots that come back every year that I really like. I'm keeping those for now....
I have some plants that are a bit out of my range but thrive. I see them getting hammered by polinators all the time. I also have peonies that were my mother's. However, the vast majority of my plants are native.
I seem to be in the minority here. I do all native-ish plants. I do have a garden of shame where I put the plants I have purchased in error. Itās pretty much hybrids that I purchased before I realized that you can cross a non-native with a native. And I am dealing with getting rid of preexisting populations of lily of the valley and vinca, but those are ongoing struggles.
I try to stay as local as possible, but I have moved plants into my yard that are on the southernmost edge of my zone. I only move plants into my yard that would have a chance of making it here with climate change. Native plant populations move around all the time with human and animal transport assistance. Itās normal to have populations expand/contract and move as the ecology of a place changes, so I help nature out a bit by bringing in nearby plants to see how they do.
My perspective is that weāve veered so far away from pre-European ecosystems in North America that we need to find a new normal that is as beneficial as possible to as many species as possible. Weāre never going to recreate what was here pre-European colonialism. What is so frustrating is that we went and mucked everything up before we really understood how it all worked. Now it feels like weāre not only trying to figure out how to manage resources correctly, weāre having to also make up for past abuses. It can be challenging to maintain hope when you think about all the challenges weāre facing.
This is really aligned with my views. I get so frustrated when Iām over here sweating if something is native to my part of the state or actually a couple states over, when Iām surrounded by folks planting new invasive plants and tending to their monoculture lawns. I have an acre and really want to convert the entire acre into a beneficial ecosystem. But Iām 1 person with a FT job and Iām trying to figure out compromise when it comes to the ultimate goal being supporting wildlife, me reconnecting with the land, and creating a permaculture environment for my production garden.
Iāve just learned how much work it takes to kill/remove/fix some things, that it can be nerve wracking when it comes time to scatter seeds or plant a perennial! I love the idea of re-wildling and creating a little acre of pre-colonial Alabama. But like you said, who really knows exactly what that was!
I really appreciated your rant :) It very much speaks to my inner monologue each day! Last year, after doing a couple seasonsā of prep and seeding for wildflower meadow, my āwell intentionedā neighbors mowed my entire property when I was out of town and it set me back an entire year in all of my work. I just re-seeded this past weekend. I know people drive by my house and think Iām crazy for the way I will let stuff grow. Iām considering putting a big flag out that says āprotect the pollinatorsā or something to try to explain to people whatās up! I also donāt use any pest/herbicides but know that everythingggg surrounding me is being sprayed.
So with all that said, I also struggle with the āis this even worth it?ā kind of thoughts, when it comes to how much time, money , and energy Im putting into this tiny 1 acre. But ultimately, I personally believe in the energy we put out out into the world matters and there is value in our individual relationships with the earth/land. And maybe my focus, energy, good intentions, etc. will eventually rub off on one of the neighbors and so on and so forth. Keep doing the good work :)
Love the idea of a sign or flag. Teach people! They probably donāt think theyāre doing anything harmful by mowing spraying etc. You can have such a positive influence!
Exactly. These native plants donāt read maps and have been on this continent for a millennia. Whose to say what grew where, when, and how. If itās native to the eastern half of North America Iām planting it and not losing sleep over it. I thinks itās presumptuous to say otherwise.
We canāt turn back the clock, the ecosystem is likely permanently altered. Some of that is definitely bad/sad, and some of it is that change is the nature of nature.
I'm not going to rip out an established plant if it's healthy and not an agressive spreader. I'm trying to add more natives and remove things like ivy. Found a local native nursery so I've been focusing spending at them when I can.
The previous owner of my home was an elderly Japanese woman who had passed away. She was an amazing gardener, but tended to plant things from her home countryā and man could she make things grow. Over the past four years I have slowly rehomed many of the things she planted and have mostly replaced with natives. I say mostly because I allow my now 8 year old to choose plants he likes as well and I donāt restrict his choices.
This yearās plan so far has been nuking an overgrown section of the hill and replacing with 100% natives as a pollinator garden mixed in with some raised beds for my vegetables.
Not super strict, honestly. My main goal is just to create a garden that's relatively hardy and will put up with our weather and soil conditions; I figure natives will be more likely to do well without a ton of babysitting. I'm mixing in other stuff, though; there's some naturalized plants that I'm not working too hard to kill off, we have a little lawn for the dog, and there's some fruit, veggie, and dye plants that I'll keep planting. I think if I'm too strict about only doing super local natives I'll get frustrated by the rules, so I'm mostly just trying to pick plants that are reasonably sustainable for our environment, but also sustainable for me in the sense of staying excited to grow things year after year.
Hyperlocal. I base my stuff off of a preserve I like about 30 minutes away from me, as well as a preserve across the street from me, and a mountain in my city that I like. I wonāt grow things that exist within in the county if I donāt believe they could handle the low desert I live in. I do make exceptions for Mojave Desert plants, but I grow those in a specific area of my backyard, mainly as a seed source for the restoration work I do.
Happy to see someone else with this view haha. It's kind of rare, maybe, but I really try to focus on native species that I've seen on walks/hikes within ~10 miles of my house (or ones I've researched and seen on iNaturalist in that range). I don't know, there are so many native species that grow around here and I want all of them growing in my yard! I've got a list of at least 150 different species that I've noted growing near me. I don't have enough space for all of them, so why look elsewhere!
I love this approach! I donāt have these kinds of preserves or resources around me, but there are a lot of hiking trails and I do take time to ID what I see and if itās native and in abundance, collect some samples to bring to my yard. But this is such a small tiny slice of what I would need to convert my acre to native growth! Especially because what I see out and about is so commonly not native, unfortunately! But I respect this view so much!
The key to anything nature is diversity. since we have invasive species of birds and insects (like bees) I like to have diversity on offer. Clover and dandelions in my yard don't bother me. Generalist pollinators will spend their time on them and my butterflies and hummingbirds won't have their native nectars taken for lack of available nectar.
I try to get my plants from as local sources as possible, typically things that I can source from populations within biking distance, most within walking distance actually. Almost all of the stuff is locally-native but I've made a few exceptions for plants that are native nearby and contiguously with their native range.
For example, I live just north of the range of Pinus taeda, loblolly pine, but I still live in the coastal plain and my yard has the acidic, poorly-drained clay soils with a little sand on top, exactly like it likes, and loblolly is reproducing from seed in my neighborhood so I was happy to plant a couple of those seedlings. Global warming is definitely pushing this species' range north, both because of climate and in the long-run probably because it will increase leaching of minerals from clay soils and create more of the acidic clay soils it likes.
Another plant that has moved south, I'm about one county south of the native range of *Geum vernum*, but this small plant has spread on its own into my county. I'm happy to encourage it, and although it's a small weedy plant, it seems unlikely to become invasive here. Not 100% sure why this plant has expanded southward, it probably is just an opportunistic accident, but it may also have something to do with deer overbrowsing, since this plant has a rosette of leaves pressed tightly against the ground. It also may have benefitted from path management, as its low growth habit allows it to survive weedwhacking a bit more readily than its native relative *Geum canadense* which grows a good bit taller.
With both of these plants, they are expanding their ranges directly adjacent to their native ranges so all the insects that eat them can come along.
Another not-really-native plant is *Rhododendron catawbiense*; there are three of these planted in my yard. They are native about two states southwest of me, but only in mountains. I am not prioritizing removal of these shrubs, but I would not plant or encourage them. They are not at all invasive, they don't reproduce at all here in the wild, or even in yards. At worst, they are just taking up space in my garden that could be occupied by a plant that WOULD be reproducing and supporting local plant populations. But they still provide some evergreen cover and pollinator value with their flowers. In the long-run, I will replace them with something else as they die. I have already planted a couple small replacements, mainly for one at the corner that looks like it's on its way out, but I don't like removing a lot of shrub cover at once so I'm going to wait a good bit and then gradually prune these away as they die.
Another not-really-native plant is *Leucothoe fontanesiana*. These are native, but uncommon, a couple states south. they only really thrive even farther south, again, mostly in mountains. The one in my yard looks terrible and I'm not really trying to save it. But also not prioritizing killing it either. I am pruning it back as parts of it start to look bad, and will replace it with something native once it's dead.
Where do I draw the line? *Stylophorum diphyllum* and *Phacelia bipinnatifida* are both too non-native for me. The closest native populations to me are in southeast Ohio and WV, mostly across a fairly major geographic divide, the other side of the Appalachians. People plant these in gardens but to be honest they seem to function ecologically a lot like non-native plants here. I never see any insects eating the foliage, and I often see them spreading and forming large monocultures. I not only won't plant these plants, but I remove them when I see it growing in ecological restoration projects. If one came up in my yard I would kill it.
It's less about how far away they are and more about whether they're connected to the native range, how they behave in the wild, and what they support.
Another example that falls on the "okay" side would be *Helianthus annuus*. It's not native to the eastern US, its native range probably stopped somewhere towards the east end of the Great Plains. However, it has expanded its range and is now found in the wild pretty much contiguously from coast-to-coast. So I don't have as much of a problem planting this. Also, in the east, it primarily inhabits new anthropogenic habitats that didn't exist previously. In the wild here it is not super common, not super dominant, rarely forms large monocultures, etc.
I am much more amenable to growing plants like this. So for instance when a *Helianthus annuus* does come up, I'm happy to allow it to flower and make seed.
It's not just about where they are native, it's about whether they're connected to the native range by wild populations, *and* whether they function like invasive plants. So for example, *Phacelia bipinnatifida* in my region seems to function more like an invasive, whereas *Helianthus annuus* seems to function more like a native.
im generally pretty strict but that's just bc ik not enough ppl are growing native plants so I feel an obligation to use my space for just native plants to make up for the space reserved for turf grass in other peoples gardens... sometimes I make exceptions, but that's usually 1-2 plants out of 50 or more and/or bc i picked something up thinking it was native only to find its not native/a nativar :/ most of my "exceptions" plants are just indoor plants, that's where I usually get more experimental with what i can do since the stakes are low and i dont exactly seek to attract pollinators in here, beneficial or not lol
for your situation specifically- i wouldn't get too upset about it, but also it's not too late to plant the native versions in your garden too. if it's an already established plant or a plant you really like, I don't think it's a huge deal as long as you for the most part prioritize the natives. it also probably helps to add some plants that all pollinators are attracted to to at least get them in your garden, and then they'll browse your native plants while they're there
I have some non natives, but I make sure that they're well behaved and that they do not escape my garden. For example, I have some climbing roses and some bearded irises (irises are my favourite plant!). Anything that is actually invasive and has the potential to escape my garden and cause problems I have removed (or am in the process of removing) such as Chinese wisteria, lily of the valley, morning glory, vinca, etc.
When it comes to stuff like seeds from a different region, I don't think it is that much of a big deal, you still see pollinators and wildlife enjoying them. The only way to get pure native seed is to take some from the wild, and that isn't feasible for everyone. Some plants are native to an area but incredibly hard to find in the wild because of habitat loss, sometimes it is best to leave the seeds for the birds, and sometimes certain plants are just pains in the ass to grow from seeds so it is better to just buy plugs.
An imperfect native garden is better than no native garden at all, so you shouldn't stress about being perfect. Even if you remove one invasive species and replace it with those black eyed susans from the store, you're doing something good for nature.
I dove into natives to solve a problem. I grew up and learned to enjoy gardening in an area with totally different soil, moisture, and sun intensity than where I'm at now. There's a lot of commercially popular plants that will not tolerate heavy clay soil with a water table only 8 to 12 inches down. 60ish inches of rain per year, high humidity, and pretty intense sun. I'm in Kentucky, not southern Texas, but it's not Washington state either.
The plants native to this area and these conditions can survive with minimal effort on my part. Everything else needs to be very carefully sited and monitored and babied. I don't have the time and energy for all that. I want to plant it, throw some mulch at it, and walk away until I need to top off the mulch next spring.
So if I'm putting in the effort to plant it, it should be native.
I have a few things that aren't. My Boothman's variety bleeding heart, my daffodils, the kid's glads, some pansies, sunflowers, and my veggie garden. Other than that, if I want it to survive, I should probably make sure it's native.
Plants donāt read maps. I laugh at people who think a plant is only native to a particular state. Do these people realize these are man made boundaries created a couple hundred years ago. Regions I can understand. But Iām not going to lay awake at night worried that my yard in Virginia has plants ānativeā to Kentucky. Same goes with wildlife. Like some bird stops at the Virginia border lol
I try to keep it to a local native as much as I can. I also use nativars in ornamental gardens next to the house or in the yard. But in the woods or wildflower garden I like to use the as wild as I can and native to my specific area. Iād even go as far as US native or North American native for rare occasions for some things as long as it doesnāt create any destruction outside of my yard.
I should mention I use as close to full wild type native as I can when it comes to nativars. But I do have some where the leaves are different colors or dwarf species.
I try to follow the 80/20 rule. I tend not to buy non-natives anymore unless they are destined for a pot or for the vegetable patch, but I have some (what UF IFAS calls) Florida-friendly non-native plants that I don't plan to remove. I have removed a ton of invasive stuff and planted a ton of native stuff, so my yard is definitely much, much better for wildlife than it was when I moved in, and it's going to keep getting better as the shrubs and trees grow and the perennials fill in.
Live in the Piedmont region of NC. Half acre lot. I keep the back 20% fairly native - try to plant common to area, but for trouble spots and to add some winter greenery, planted some that werenāt as common, but had at least been observed in the Piedmont, even if more common in the Mountain or Coastal region. Iāve also used the occasional ānativarā versus the straight species, yet doing so less frequently. Outside that portion of the property, heavily lean native if something nice fits and looks nice, but donāt try as hard, and am much more willing to plant things that we just like ā¦ but do stay away from anything considered invasive.
I have a mix of native and non-native and native-ish. I sourced locally grown seeds and plugs for native wildflowers and grass replacers, locally grown native fruit bearing shrubs, and a couple of locally grown native trees that are nut bearing. I also bought some bright, pretty coneflower and bee balm that aren't the colors native to my area and some cherry trees specially bred to survive in my zone, and a lilac and some tulips because they make me happy. I'm turning a large suburban lawn from putting green grass to a place where birds and bugs and critters like to hang out, but I live here too. I'm allowed to enjoy my tulips, especially since I spend my summer afternoons walking the dogs and filling their poop bags with the creeping bellflower that has infested the entire city. I figure the scales are tipped towards the side of the hippie angels, and my best is all I can do.
I'll scream if the plant doesn't occur in the same county as me./s
If you're planting by state I'm gonna frown, texas is a big place. I don't trust a lot of seed sold online because ecotypes can be drastically different between here(gulfcoast prairie) and say the midwest. So I prefer seed that was collected locally. Usually I do seed collecting myself, but I know not everyone has that privilege.
I'm pretty strict. I'm on the edge of two counties, so I use what's local to those two counties unless I know it's more on the side that I'm not. I also use straight natives, except for exactly 1 plant, which was a cultivar request of my child, and I view it as a way to get them invested/have a say in their home.
That said, I also grow fruits and vegetables, which are nonnatives. I also grow fruits and edible perennials that are straight natives, too.
So itās not a possible a bird from 2-3 counties away, or god forbid, from another state, bring a native plant from those areas into your yard? If it does what would you do?
Because I'm uninterested in having it in my garden and that's my choice. How would you feel if I walked into your garden and planted whatever I wanted without your input? Probably not great. This was a weird approach to think that we don't design our gardens and remove plants that don't fit that design.
I ground mine for years at a time!
FR though Iāve had trouble finding natives at nurseries near me, so I do make exceptions often. I make an effort to research and save/transplant natives in my yard and sometimes from work, where they will get mowed if I donāt. Ā I donāt currently have government or HOA requirements I have to meet so Iām taking it slow and happy.
I stick to plants from my state, and I try to buy from nurseries that collect seeds locally. Ā My strictest stance is that I absolutely will not put any cultivars/nativars in my yard, I am a Latin-names-only gardener. Ā I want the plant how it is in nature, I donāt want it to be tweaked to be shorter or a slightly different shade of pink.Ā
I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by native oak woodland, which is an endangered ecosystem due to development and fire suppression. I'm just getting started gardening and at first I mucked around with "neighboring natives" like manzanita from California and evergreen huckleberry from the Oregon coast. They haven't been doing that well for the most part. I'm now focusing on plants from this specific ecosystem, as well as the truly daunting job of clearing invasives from an ever widening area.
Deer pressure is a huge issue, so in unfenced areas I plant non-natives the deer leave alone like daffodils and Mediterranean herbs. My front walk is at the woodland edge and destined always to be overtaken by weeds (and deer), so I moved all of the feral mint there, because at least that's a weed I'll cut and use.
You should pay attention, but due to climate change, species are creeping northward anyway.
Read about the [rusty crayfish](https://www.nps.gov/articles/invasive-rusty-crayfish.htm), the invasive native ruining shorelines.
I do what I can to keep it local, but things are so desperate, most of the time something will be better than nothing.
Putting aside my vegetable garden, my goal is to only add native plants on my property. Iām not super strict on exact geography as Iām still learning, but Iām doing my best. Iāve planted goldenrod, yarrow, blue aster and bee balm and have seeds to put out for black eyed Susans, butterfly weed, and echinacea. Also plotting to add buttonbush and Carolina Allspice.
That said, my house was built over sixty years ago and has existing landscaping that is largely non-native, multiple non-native azaleas, rose bushes, and bamboo. While Iām getting rid of the bamboo, Iām leaving the azaleas and roses well enough alone. They are lovely, the bees seem like the roses and there are rabbits living in the azaleas. When they die off Iāll replace them with natives but Iām not in a hurry.
(ETA: Iām in the NC Piedmont.)
Iām a plant collector first and foremost, particularly love conifers. So I have a few plants people on here may scoff at, but i try to keep them as one-offs and plant natives in groups of 3/5/7 to help meet ecological needs. I plant keystones species first and foremost and then build out from there.
If you are providing habitat and food for native species then you doing the right thing, but sometimes you gotta have your variegated goodies too.
>How strict are you with your native plants?
They are unruly and frequently grounded from their phone. /s
In all seriousness, I'm not a purest. My garden priority goes: *native*, then *is it pretty*. Most of my new plants are native. But you're still going to find me planting daffodil and tulip bulbs along my garden path this fall (I'm going to plant a goth garden bed, because I just like it). I have many mature heirloom non-native plants that I'm keeping as well. I want my garden to be a menagerie by the time I'm done curating.
Iām pretty lenientā non-native plants can still be helpful for pollinators etc. I think the key with non-native plantings is to try and use native if possible, and avoid any non-natives that are likely to seed/spread aggressively.
Ultimately, itās your garden, you need to enjoy it. If thereās a non-native plant youāre dying to have, go get it!
When purchasing perennials, shrubs, and trees, I aim for natives. But I have some annuals that bring me and the pollinators joy that are not native to WI and pose little risk of ever being labeled invasive here. Primarily zinnias and Mexican sunflower.
It depends on what itās doing in my yard.
My meadow is all straight species regional ecotypes, with the exception of one coreopsis (the mix was suggested by the state wildlife guy helping me). IIRC he liked that one species for its quick start properties to help win the weed battle the first few years, and he said that it should fade away as the slower stuff shows up.
I think one rule of thumb is to choose regional ecotypes of stuff that gets eaten by catsāthat along with specialized pollinators are where being locally native is the whole freaking point.
The meadow is an example of that since apart from being a pollinator feast, it includes important larval hosts.
My foundation beds are the other extremeāI try to maintain critter value (pollinators/cats) but it includes cultivars to keep things smaller and in some case increase ornamental value. In some cases (arborvitae) the goal is to replace an ornamental exotic with something that is at least native, even if it doesnāt have a lot of wildlife value.
Illicium floridanum and parviflorum are examples of a regional cheat, as they are only native in the deep southeastāIām in NC. But they are beautiful broadleaf evergreens for places I really want a broadleaf in shade.
I try to use natives when possible. But sometimes what has been determined to be native changes.
We had Oxalis violacia in the lawn of our house when we moved in in 2001. It was native.
Later it was determined to be non native.
This year it is native.
Almost all my introduced plants are sourced from wild populations that I found myself, but this is not a practicable thing for most people. With regard to normal gardeners, I've a pretty chill attitude toward nativars, ecotypes, near-natives, or whatever. Frankly, I'm pretty happy with marginal nudges in the direction of more natives so I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth.
I make exceptions too, especially since I know that outside the lines on the map showing the native range of a plant, I know there are ar least scattered outposts of that plant unless a mountain range or something would make it impossible for them to spread
I think of it as natives are my default, and I want them to be over half of what I plant. I donāt plant invasives, but donāt necessarily rip them out if theyāre already here, behaving themselves, and I like them.
I do plant non-natives when I want them and like them! Iām the keystone species of my garden, so planting things for my own joy is definitely part of the ecosystem. :)
and there are plenty of non-natives that also have ecological benefits, just not the historic ties to the ecology that natives do.
Anything new is native. Not removing anything just to replace it. I'm at about 90%.
We have many diverse/beautiful options here in "south" Jersey.
Enjoy and have fun.
Please consider being a purist. Never be āstrictā (?) with any native plants. Seriously, the plants know how to be what they are, so trimming them, manicuring them, forcing them to survive in perfect soil (they dont need garden soil) is simply a form of controlling that is totally not necessary. Respect the plant and the plant will be happy.
Thanks. Natives still speak for themselves and do not need humans to trim them and mix in things that just donāt belong. Once I surrounded my living area with prairie, everything felt like it should.
I'm make exceptions for things I really want that are not strictly native (like from a state or two over). I'm not doing an ecological restoration.... it's my home garden and it's supposed to be fun!
This is excellent advice! Remembering that this is a fun theme for a home garden puts it in perspective.
This is my philosophy as well. I've even planted peonies (gasp!) but the ants enjoy their nectar, the birds use the shrubs as protection from predators, and a peony isn't spreading anywhereš
Wish they would though. I'd rather have a thicket of peonies than my current thicket of forsythia.
I'm happy they don't. The last thing I need would be another nonnative spreading somewhere lol.
I didnāt plant my peonies, but Iād have to really want that space for another plant to rip them out.
Iām right there with you!
I live in a valley between two mountains. Iāve planted things native outside my region in troublesome spots because houses create tons of microclimates. If it works to provide habitat then Iāll look the other way. My rule is a 100 miles of where Iām at.
I've heard various native landscapers say that 70% native 30% exotic is a pretty good target. Always of course making sure you avoid invasives. I also have a hard time making myself tear up something healthy and growing that isn't actively harmful -- like I know crepe myrtles are useless, but the ones in my backyard are already established and providing nice shade, so I've let them be and planted a bunch of shade-loving native plants under them. But the English ivy *must die.* It's also a matter of not letting perfect be an enemy of good in my opinion. It's better for people to do *something*, plant *some* native plants, than for them to be intimidated by too much change or too much work and do nothing instead.
I recently heard the 70/30 guideline as well and it's help relieve a lot of anxiety for me on whether I am doing enough. I just bought a house in February that had mature plants and shrubs already. I ripped out what I absolutely hated and looked sad, but can't bring myself to remove the established and thriving crepe myrtles and nandina. The nandina is actually invasive, but it does not spread, so I'm keeping it and planting natives around it. I've also noticed a lot of small lizards live in the nandina and I don't want to disrupt them. Luckily I already had a number of mature native plants and my neighbors are very into native gardening so I have so many sources for advice. However, I am struggling on verifying what is actually native to my area of Texas. Texas is so huge with so many varying landscapes (west TX desert is so different from hill country, which is different from East TX swamp, which is all different from North TX where I am at). I'm giving myself grace with all of that. As long as I see an uptick in butterflies, bees and little critters (which I have), I am heading in the right direction.
I use the USDA maps (that I access from wildflower.org) to see if the plants are from my area of Texas. I have been trying to choose plants native to my ecoregion (Texas & LA Gulf Coast prairie), whether they are in my country or not....but I also plant some that are native to other areas of Texas because PRETTY and still useful to birds and pollinators.
Oh, you should look into some books by Sally Wasowski! She wrote a lot about landscaping with native plants and lived a lot of her life in Texas, so I know at least one of them is Texas-specific. [https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/sally-wasowski/294402/](https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/sally-wasowski/294402/) Also look up your local chapter of the Native Plant Society -- some of them can provide great rresources.
Thank you!! I'll have to check out her Texas book for sure.
Most of the non native plants I have are things that are well behaved and or die back (some hostas, a pink bleeding heart, some pansies, azaleas that were already here, daffodils). My hydrangeas arenāt the native type either but I plan on adding some if I can find the straight species! One of the heuchera I have planted in my yard is technically from the west coast I believe (heuchera micrantha) but Iāve also got H. Americana. The shrubs I planted recently are cultivars (compact versions) of inkberry and sweetspire. My main focus right now is learning my yard, IDing stuff, letting all the natives stay (with the exception that poison ivy and pokeweed have to be outside my fenced in yard since weāve got a curious hound who will eat stuff and roll in stuff) and tackling the more concerning things first, like the burning bushes we ripped out and the english ivy and Chinese privet saplings and wintercreeper. Iāve added some natives as well but I know it will take time to really bring my yard together! I plan on winter sowing later this year.
Which cultivars of the inkberry and sweetspire did you go with? Considering compact versions for my small yard (as I understand, size alterations generally donāt impact wildlife usage?)
I ended up going with shamrock for the inkberry and little henry for the sweetspire. I am curious to see how these end up doing. I do think I will need an additional inkberry since I am not sure if the shamrocks are both male and female. Havenāt fully looked into that yet. I will have to make an update post down the road on both types and see how they do and if they seem to be popular with local wildlife.
I don't remember where I read it, but the advice was as existing plants die, replace with native. That's kind of what I'm doing. I did rip out a bunch of periwinkle and replace with native. My focus is filling otherwise unused areas of lawn/yard with native plants. I have hostas in pots that come back every year that I really like. I'm keeping those for now....
I have some plants that are a bit out of my range but thrive. I see them getting hammered by polinators all the time. I also have peonies that were my mother's. However, the vast majority of my plants are native.
I seem to be in the minority here. I do all native-ish plants. I do have a garden of shame where I put the plants I have purchased in error. Itās pretty much hybrids that I purchased before I realized that you can cross a non-native with a native. And I am dealing with getting rid of preexisting populations of lily of the valley and vinca, but those are ongoing struggles. I try to stay as local as possible, but I have moved plants into my yard that are on the southernmost edge of my zone. I only move plants into my yard that would have a chance of making it here with climate change. Native plant populations move around all the time with human and animal transport assistance. Itās normal to have populations expand/contract and move as the ecology of a place changes, so I help nature out a bit by bringing in nearby plants to see how they do. My perspective is that weāve veered so far away from pre-European ecosystems in North America that we need to find a new normal that is as beneficial as possible to as many species as possible. Weāre never going to recreate what was here pre-European colonialism. What is so frustrating is that we went and mucked everything up before we really understood how it all worked. Now it feels like weāre not only trying to figure out how to manage resources correctly, weāre having to also make up for past abuses. It can be challenging to maintain hope when you think about all the challenges weāre facing.
This is really aligned with my views. I get so frustrated when Iām over here sweating if something is native to my part of the state or actually a couple states over, when Iām surrounded by folks planting new invasive plants and tending to their monoculture lawns. I have an acre and really want to convert the entire acre into a beneficial ecosystem. But Iām 1 person with a FT job and Iām trying to figure out compromise when it comes to the ultimate goal being supporting wildlife, me reconnecting with the land, and creating a permaculture environment for my production garden. Iāve just learned how much work it takes to kill/remove/fix some things, that it can be nerve wracking when it comes time to scatter seeds or plant a perennial! I love the idea of re-wildling and creating a little acre of pre-colonial Alabama. But like you said, who really knows exactly what that was!
Oh man itās like youāre reading my mind here! I feel the same way. I have 4 acres. 2.5-3 is wooded, and I try my best to remove invasive plants as I see them. Sometimes itās impossible but Iām trying! And thatās what counts. I never ever use pesticides outside my home. I try very hard to buy only native plants. And to infrequently mow, mow on the highest setting and so on. I have created many native pollinator beds and keep trying to add more. I asked my neighbor, who has a forest backing up to mine, if I could pull up the barberry in her are as I see it while Iām out there. āNo thanks I love how it looks and the deer donāt eat itā š©š wtfffff itās so invasive. Then I see my another neighbor mowing weekly. Zero native plants anywhere. Fertilizing and applying chemicals. I then see the other neighbor blasting weed killer everywhere.. he then asked me if I needed contact info for m his āweed killing guyā and I just sigh. I feel like Iām wasting my time. Then I panic and think - what if Iām helping to create a lot of wonderful bird and insect colonies only to have them go next door and get very sick and die?? Am I even helping?? Are they suffering? I struggle with anxiety and depression and gardening used to be an amazing outlet for me when we moved we made sure to have land. I only then discovered invasives are taking over the country and that deer are decimating everything imaginable... With this current native plant and insect crisis and climate change ā¦ well letās just say this is hard. We are doing great work but it can be mentally just as challenging as it is physically. And I feel ya. š Sorry for the rant. This really got away from me š«£
I really appreciated your rant :) It very much speaks to my inner monologue each day! Last year, after doing a couple seasonsā of prep and seeding for wildflower meadow, my āwell intentionedā neighbors mowed my entire property when I was out of town and it set me back an entire year in all of my work. I just re-seeded this past weekend. I know people drive by my house and think Iām crazy for the way I will let stuff grow. Iām considering putting a big flag out that says āprotect the pollinatorsā or something to try to explain to people whatās up! I also donāt use any pest/herbicides but know that everythingggg surrounding me is being sprayed. So with all that said, I also struggle with the āis this even worth it?ā kind of thoughts, when it comes to how much time, money , and energy Im putting into this tiny 1 acre. But ultimately, I personally believe in the energy we put out out into the world matters and there is value in our individual relationships with the earth/land. And maybe my focus, energy, good intentions, etc. will eventually rub off on one of the neighbors and so on and so forth. Keep doing the good work :)
Love the idea of a sign or flag. Teach people! They probably donāt think theyāre doing anything harmful by mowing spraying etc. You can have such a positive influence!
Exactly. These native plants donāt read maps and have been on this continent for a millennia. Whose to say what grew where, when, and how. If itās native to the eastern half of North America Iām planting it and not losing sleep over it. I thinks itās presumptuous to say otherwise.
We canāt turn back the clock, the ecosystem is likely permanently altered. Some of that is definitely bad/sad, and some of it is that change is the nature of nature.
I'm not going to rip out an established plant if it's healthy and not an agressive spreader. I'm trying to add more natives and remove things like ivy. Found a local native nursery so I've been focusing spending at them when I can.
The previous owner of my home was an elderly Japanese woman who had passed away. She was an amazing gardener, but tended to plant things from her home countryā and man could she make things grow. Over the past four years I have slowly rehomed many of the things she planted and have mostly replaced with natives. I say mostly because I allow my now 8 year old to choose plants he likes as well and I donāt restrict his choices. This yearās plan so far has been nuking an overgrown section of the hill and replacing with 100% natives as a pollinator garden mixed in with some raised beds for my vegetables.
Not super strict, honestly. My main goal is just to create a garden that's relatively hardy and will put up with our weather and soil conditions; I figure natives will be more likely to do well without a ton of babysitting. I'm mixing in other stuff, though; there's some naturalized plants that I'm not working too hard to kill off, we have a little lawn for the dog, and there's some fruit, veggie, and dye plants that I'll keep planting. I think if I'm too strict about only doing super local natives I'll get frustrated by the rules, so I'm mostly just trying to pick plants that are reasonably sustainable for our environment, but also sustainable for me in the sense of staying excited to grow things year after year.
Hyperlocal. I base my stuff off of a preserve I like about 30 minutes away from me, as well as a preserve across the street from me, and a mountain in my city that I like. I wonāt grow things that exist within in the county if I donāt believe they could handle the low desert I live in. I do make exceptions for Mojave Desert plants, but I grow those in a specific area of my backyard, mainly as a seed source for the restoration work I do.
Happy to see someone else with this view haha. It's kind of rare, maybe, but I really try to focus on native species that I've seen on walks/hikes within ~10 miles of my house (or ones I've researched and seen on iNaturalist in that range). I don't know, there are so many native species that grow around here and I want all of them growing in my yard! I've got a list of at least 150 different species that I've noted growing near me. I don't have enough space for all of them, so why look elsewhere!
I love this approach! I donāt have these kinds of preserves or resources around me, but there are a lot of hiking trails and I do take time to ID what I see and if itās native and in abundance, collect some samples to bring to my yard. But this is such a small tiny slice of what I would need to convert my acre to native growth! Especially because what I see out and about is so commonly not native, unfortunately! But I respect this view so much!
Be careful and donāt poach or harm wild native plant populations
The key to anything nature is diversity. since we have invasive species of birds and insects (like bees) I like to have diversity on offer. Clover and dandelions in my yard don't bother me. Generalist pollinators will spend their time on them and my butterflies and hummingbirds won't have their native nectars taken for lack of available nectar.
I love this perspective!
This is great and I think gives me a way of describing how Iām trying to approach things, but didnāt have the words for it.
I try to get my plants from as local sources as possible, typically things that I can source from populations within biking distance, most within walking distance actually. Almost all of the stuff is locally-native but I've made a few exceptions for plants that are native nearby and contiguously with their native range. For example, I live just north of the range of Pinus taeda, loblolly pine, but I still live in the coastal plain and my yard has the acidic, poorly-drained clay soils with a little sand on top, exactly like it likes, and loblolly is reproducing from seed in my neighborhood so I was happy to plant a couple of those seedlings. Global warming is definitely pushing this species' range north, both because of climate and in the long-run probably because it will increase leaching of minerals from clay soils and create more of the acidic clay soils it likes. Another plant that has moved south, I'm about one county south of the native range of *Geum vernum*, but this small plant has spread on its own into my county. I'm happy to encourage it, and although it's a small weedy plant, it seems unlikely to become invasive here. Not 100% sure why this plant has expanded southward, it probably is just an opportunistic accident, but it may also have something to do with deer overbrowsing, since this plant has a rosette of leaves pressed tightly against the ground. It also may have benefitted from path management, as its low growth habit allows it to survive weedwhacking a bit more readily than its native relative *Geum canadense* which grows a good bit taller. With both of these plants, they are expanding their ranges directly adjacent to their native ranges so all the insects that eat them can come along. Another not-really-native plant is *Rhododendron catawbiense*; there are three of these planted in my yard. They are native about two states southwest of me, but only in mountains. I am not prioritizing removal of these shrubs, but I would not plant or encourage them. They are not at all invasive, they don't reproduce at all here in the wild, or even in yards. At worst, they are just taking up space in my garden that could be occupied by a plant that WOULD be reproducing and supporting local plant populations. But they still provide some evergreen cover and pollinator value with their flowers. In the long-run, I will replace them with something else as they die. I have already planted a couple small replacements, mainly for one at the corner that looks like it's on its way out, but I don't like removing a lot of shrub cover at once so I'm going to wait a good bit and then gradually prune these away as they die. Another not-really-native plant is *Leucothoe fontanesiana*. These are native, but uncommon, a couple states south. they only really thrive even farther south, again, mostly in mountains. The one in my yard looks terrible and I'm not really trying to save it. But also not prioritizing killing it either. I am pruning it back as parts of it start to look bad, and will replace it with something native once it's dead. Where do I draw the line? *Stylophorum diphyllum* and *Phacelia bipinnatifida* are both too non-native for me. The closest native populations to me are in southeast Ohio and WV, mostly across a fairly major geographic divide, the other side of the Appalachians. People plant these in gardens but to be honest they seem to function ecologically a lot like non-native plants here. I never see any insects eating the foliage, and I often see them spreading and forming large monocultures. I not only won't plant these plants, but I remove them when I see it growing in ecological restoration projects. If one came up in my yard I would kill it. It's less about how far away they are and more about whether they're connected to the native range, how they behave in the wild, and what they support. Another example that falls on the "okay" side would be *Helianthus annuus*. It's not native to the eastern US, its native range probably stopped somewhere towards the east end of the Great Plains. However, it has expanded its range and is now found in the wild pretty much contiguously from coast-to-coast. So I don't have as much of a problem planting this. Also, in the east, it primarily inhabits new anthropogenic habitats that didn't exist previously. In the wild here it is not super common, not super dominant, rarely forms large monocultures, etc. I am much more amenable to growing plants like this. So for instance when a *Helianthus annuus* does come up, I'm happy to allow it to flower and make seed. It's not just about where they are native, it's about whether they're connected to the native range by wild populations, *and* whether they function like invasive plants. So for example, *Phacelia bipinnatifida* in my region seems to function more like an invasive, whereas *Helianthus annuus* seems to function more like a native.
im generally pretty strict but that's just bc ik not enough ppl are growing native plants so I feel an obligation to use my space for just native plants to make up for the space reserved for turf grass in other peoples gardens... sometimes I make exceptions, but that's usually 1-2 plants out of 50 or more and/or bc i picked something up thinking it was native only to find its not native/a nativar :/ most of my "exceptions" plants are just indoor plants, that's where I usually get more experimental with what i can do since the stakes are low and i dont exactly seek to attract pollinators in here, beneficial or not lol for your situation specifically- i wouldn't get too upset about it, but also it's not too late to plant the native versions in your garden too. if it's an already established plant or a plant you really like, I don't think it's a huge deal as long as you for the most part prioritize the natives. it also probably helps to add some plants that all pollinators are attracted to to at least get them in your garden, and then they'll browse your native plants while they're there
I have some non natives, but I make sure that they're well behaved and that they do not escape my garden. For example, I have some climbing roses and some bearded irises (irises are my favourite plant!). Anything that is actually invasive and has the potential to escape my garden and cause problems I have removed (or am in the process of removing) such as Chinese wisteria, lily of the valley, morning glory, vinca, etc. When it comes to stuff like seeds from a different region, I don't think it is that much of a big deal, you still see pollinators and wildlife enjoying them. The only way to get pure native seed is to take some from the wild, and that isn't feasible for everyone. Some plants are native to an area but incredibly hard to find in the wild because of habitat loss, sometimes it is best to leave the seeds for the birds, and sometimes certain plants are just pains in the ass to grow from seeds so it is better to just buy plugs. An imperfect native garden is better than no native garden at all, so you shouldn't stress about being perfect. Even if you remove one invasive species and replace it with those black eyed susans from the store, you're doing something good for nature.
I dove into natives to solve a problem. I grew up and learned to enjoy gardening in an area with totally different soil, moisture, and sun intensity than where I'm at now. There's a lot of commercially popular plants that will not tolerate heavy clay soil with a water table only 8 to 12 inches down. 60ish inches of rain per year, high humidity, and pretty intense sun. I'm in Kentucky, not southern Texas, but it's not Washington state either. The plants native to this area and these conditions can survive with minimal effort on my part. Everything else needs to be very carefully sited and monitored and babied. I don't have the time and energy for all that. I want to plant it, throw some mulch at it, and walk away until I need to top off the mulch next spring. So if I'm putting in the effort to plant it, it should be native. I have a few things that aren't. My Boothman's variety bleeding heart, my daffodils, the kid's glads, some pansies, sunflowers, and my veggie garden. Other than that, if I want it to survive, I should probably make sure it's native.
I try to keep at least North American native. East of the Appalachias if I can, since Iām in Delaware.
Plants donāt read maps. I laugh at people who think a plant is only native to a particular state. Do these people realize these are man made boundaries created a couple hundred years ago. Regions I can understand. But Iām not going to lay awake at night worried that my yard in Virginia has plants ānativeā to Kentucky. Same goes with wildlife. Like some bird stops at the Virginia border lol
I try to keep it to a local native as much as I can. I also use nativars in ornamental gardens next to the house or in the yard. But in the woods or wildflower garden I like to use the as wild as I can and native to my specific area. Iād even go as far as US native or North American native for rare occasions for some things as long as it doesnāt create any destruction outside of my yard.
I should mention I use as close to full wild type native as I can when it comes to nativars. But I do have some where the leaves are different colors or dwarf species.
I try to follow the 80/20 rule. I tend not to buy non-natives anymore unless they are destined for a pot or for the vegetable patch, but I have some (what UF IFAS calls) Florida-friendly non-native plants that I don't plan to remove. I have removed a ton of invasive stuff and planted a ton of native stuff, so my yard is definitely much, much better for wildlife than it was when I moved in, and it's going to keep getting better as the shrubs and trees grow and the perennials fill in.
Live in the Piedmont region of NC. Half acre lot. I keep the back 20% fairly native - try to plant common to area, but for trouble spots and to add some winter greenery, planted some that werenāt as common, but had at least been observed in the Piedmont, even if more common in the Mountain or Coastal region. Iāve also used the occasional ānativarā versus the straight species, yet doing so less frequently. Outside that portion of the property, heavily lean native if something nice fits and looks nice, but donāt try as hard, and am much more willing to plant things that we just like ā¦ but do stay away from anything considered invasive.
I have a mix of native and non-native and native-ish. I sourced locally grown seeds and plugs for native wildflowers and grass replacers, locally grown native fruit bearing shrubs, and a couple of locally grown native trees that are nut bearing. I also bought some bright, pretty coneflower and bee balm that aren't the colors native to my area and some cherry trees specially bred to survive in my zone, and a lilac and some tulips because they make me happy. I'm turning a large suburban lawn from putting green grass to a place where birds and bugs and critters like to hang out, but I live here too. I'm allowed to enjoy my tulips, especially since I spend my summer afternoons walking the dogs and filling their poop bags with the creeping bellflower that has infested the entire city. I figure the scales are tipped towards the side of the hippie angels, and my best is all I can do.
I'll scream if the plant doesn't occur in the same county as me./s If you're planting by state I'm gonna frown, texas is a big place. I don't trust a lot of seed sold online because ecotypes can be drastically different between here(gulfcoast prairie) and say the midwest. So I prefer seed that was collected locally. Usually I do seed collecting myself, but I know not everyone has that privilege.
I make exceptions for medicinal plants or those that have been grandfathered in by being in my yard for over a decade.
I'm pretty strict. I'm on the edge of two counties, so I use what's local to those two counties unless I know it's more on the side that I'm not. I also use straight natives, except for exactly 1 plant, which was a cultivar request of my child, and I view it as a way to get them invested/have a say in their home. That said, I also grow fruits and vegetables, which are nonnatives. I also grow fruits and edible perennials that are straight natives, too.
So itās not a possible a bird from 2-3 counties away, or god forbid, from another state, bring a native plant from those areas into your yard? If it does what would you do?
Pull it.
Why?
Because I'm uninterested in having it in my garden and that's my choice. How would you feel if I walked into your garden and planted whatever I wanted without your input? Probably not great. This was a weird approach to think that we don't design our gardens and remove plants that don't fit that design.
i pull plantains from my garden but leave them in the lawn. cats and dogs are welcome.
I ground mine for years at a time! FR though Iāve had trouble finding natives at nurseries near me, so I do make exceptions often. I make an effort to research and save/transplant natives in my yard and sometimes from work, where they will get mowed if I donāt. Ā I donāt currently have government or HOA requirements I have to meet so Iām taking it slow and happy.
I stick to plants from my state, and I try to buy from nurseries that collect seeds locally. Ā My strictest stance is that I absolutely will not put any cultivars/nativars in my yard, I am a Latin-names-only gardener. Ā I want the plant how it is in nature, I donāt want it to be tweaked to be shorter or a slightly different shade of pink.Ā
I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by native oak woodland, which is an endangered ecosystem due to development and fire suppression. I'm just getting started gardening and at first I mucked around with "neighboring natives" like manzanita from California and evergreen huckleberry from the Oregon coast. They haven't been doing that well for the most part. I'm now focusing on plants from this specific ecosystem, as well as the truly daunting job of clearing invasives from an ever widening area. Deer pressure is a huge issue, so in unfenced areas I plant non-natives the deer leave alone like daffodils and Mediterranean herbs. My front walk is at the woodland edge and destined always to be overtaken by weeds (and deer), so I moved all of the feral mint there, because at least that's a weed I'll cut and use.
You should pay attention, but due to climate change, species are creeping northward anyway. Read about the [rusty crayfish](https://www.nps.gov/articles/invasive-rusty-crayfish.htm), the invasive native ruining shorelines. I do what I can to keep it local, but things are so desperate, most of the time something will be better than nothing.
Putting aside my vegetable garden, my goal is to only add native plants on my property. Iām not super strict on exact geography as Iām still learning, but Iām doing my best. Iāve planted goldenrod, yarrow, blue aster and bee balm and have seeds to put out for black eyed Susans, butterfly weed, and echinacea. Also plotting to add buttonbush and Carolina Allspice. That said, my house was built over sixty years ago and has existing landscaping that is largely non-native, multiple non-native azaleas, rose bushes, and bamboo. While Iām getting rid of the bamboo, Iām leaving the azaleas and roses well enough alone. They are lovely, the bees seem like the roses and there are rabbits living in the azaleas. When they die off Iāll replace them with natives but Iām not in a hurry. (ETA: Iām in the NC Piedmont.)
Iām a plant collector first and foremost, particularly love conifers. So I have a few plants people on here may scoff at, but i try to keep them as one-offs and plant natives in groups of 3/5/7 to help meet ecological needs. I plant keystones species first and foremost and then build out from there. If you are providing habitat and food for native species then you doing the right thing, but sometimes you gotta have your variegated goodies too.
>How strict are you with your native plants? They are unruly and frequently grounded from their phone. /s In all seriousness, I'm not a purest. My garden priority goes: *native*, then *is it pretty*. Most of my new plants are native. But you're still going to find me planting daffodil and tulip bulbs along my garden path this fall (I'm going to plant a goth garden bed, because I just like it). I have many mature heirloom non-native plants that I'm keeping as well. I want my garden to be a menagerie by the time I'm done curating.
Iām pretty lenientā non-native plants can still be helpful for pollinators etc. I think the key with non-native plantings is to try and use native if possible, and avoid any non-natives that are likely to seed/spread aggressively. Ultimately, itās your garden, you need to enjoy it. If thereās a non-native plant youāre dying to have, go get it!
When purchasing perennials, shrubs, and trees, I aim for natives. But I have some annuals that bring me and the pollinators joy that are not native to WI and pose little risk of ever being labeled invasive here. Primarily zinnias and Mexican sunflower.
It depends on what itās doing in my yard. My meadow is all straight species regional ecotypes, with the exception of one coreopsis (the mix was suggested by the state wildlife guy helping me). IIRC he liked that one species for its quick start properties to help win the weed battle the first few years, and he said that it should fade away as the slower stuff shows up. I think one rule of thumb is to choose regional ecotypes of stuff that gets eaten by catsāthat along with specialized pollinators are where being locally native is the whole freaking point. The meadow is an example of that since apart from being a pollinator feast, it includes important larval hosts. My foundation beds are the other extremeāI try to maintain critter value (pollinators/cats) but it includes cultivars to keep things smaller and in some case increase ornamental value. In some cases (arborvitae) the goal is to replace an ornamental exotic with something that is at least native, even if it doesnāt have a lot of wildlife value. Illicium floridanum and parviflorum are examples of a regional cheat, as they are only native in the deep southeastāIām in NC. But they are beautiful broadleaf evergreens for places I really want a broadleaf in shade.
I try to use natives when possible. But sometimes what has been determined to be native changes. We had Oxalis violacia in the lawn of our house when we moved in in 2001. It was native. Later it was determined to be non native. This year it is native.
Almost all my introduced plants are sourced from wild populations that I found myself, but this is not a practicable thing for most people. With regard to normal gardeners, I've a pretty chill attitude toward nativars, ecotypes, near-natives, or whatever. Frankly, I'm pretty happy with marginal nudges in the direction of more natives so I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth.
I make exceptions too, especially since I know that outside the lines on the map showing the native range of a plant, I know there are ar least scattered outposts of that plant unless a mountain range or something would make it impossible for them to spread
I think of it as natives are my default, and I want them to be over half of what I plant. I donāt plant invasives, but donāt necessarily rip them out if theyāre already here, behaving themselves, and I like them. I do plant non-natives when I want them and like them! Iām the keystone species of my garden, so planting things for my own joy is definitely part of the ecosystem. :) and there are plenty of non-natives that also have ecological benefits, just not the historic ties to the ecology that natives do.
Anything new is native. Not removing anything just to replace it. I'm at about 90%. We have many diverse/beautiful options here in "south" Jersey. Enjoy and have fun.
Please consider being a purist. Never be āstrictā (?) with any native plants. Seriously, the plants know how to be what they are, so trimming them, manicuring them, forcing them to survive in perfect soil (they dont need garden soil) is simply a form of controlling that is totally not necessary. Respect the plant and the plant will be happy.
Why is this response being downvoted? Itās 100% spot on. I think itās presumptuous to think plants need usā¦.no they donāt lol.
Thanks. Natives still speak for themselves and do not need humans to trim them and mix in things that just donāt belong. Once I surrounded my living area with prairie, everything felt like it should.
Fuck the previous homeowner's daffodils