Gardening for a Cause

JBtheExplorer

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Last night, I watched “Racing Extinction” on Discovery Channel. It got me thinking and inspired me to write this. It told me a lot of what I already knew, but a lot of what most people ignore. It talked about the countless sharks that have their fins cut off while they’re still alive. The sharks sink to the bottom of the ocean, and suffer until they die. It talked about the Manta Ray hunting that is nearly wiping them out. It talked about some species that are down to the last one or two animals - there is no future, when it dies, it’s gone. It talked about a specie of dolphin that was disappearing. The population was getting lower and lower. The man talking said he thought someone would do something. They see the numbers going down and someone somewhere will step in to save them. No one did. That dolphin doesn’t exist anymore. At the end of the show, it sends a powerful message. It says “Start with one thing.” “Find your thing.”

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I already know what my “thing” is. I started it two years ago. I wanted to make a difference. I knew this was something that would make a real impact, even if only a little. I also knew if I could show others how easy it is, maybe they would do it, too. I’m talking about native gardening. Native gardening is gardening with plant species that are native to your area. You might think that there aren’t many beautiful plants native to your area, but you’d be wrong. There are brightly colored and interesting plants everywhere! I believe many people subconsciously see gardens as a museum of plants. That’s not an inaccurate way to describe a garden by any means, but that definition sets limits to what we expect from it. A garden can be so much more than a display of plants. A garden is a gift. It’s a piece of our property that we can use to change the world, literally. Our garden can make a difference. In a time where habitat loss is at an all-time high, it’s amazing to think that we have the power to create habitat just by gardening, and we don't have to sacrifice beauty to make it happen!

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When I started my native garden, I decided to make it a prairie-style garden. I didn’t exactly know what that meant, but I knew how to figure it all out. I learned to throw out everything I’ve ever learned about gardening. It’s filled with myths and inaccuracies. I began to research native plants; what would be good in my garden and what wouldn’t. I went to the Scuppernong Prairie, which is the largest wet-prairie East of the Mississippi River here in the United States. I wanted to see how plants grow in a real prairie. I wanted to imitate it as much as I could while still making it look good. I wanted to see how truly close or far apart plants grow from each other. Plant tags often suggest a larger spacing than necessary. Plants tend to grow just inches from each other in the wild, and they thrive. They like to mingle with each other. They support each other. I noticed other things about the prairie, too. I found logs that were filled with life. Insects, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals all need those logs. I decided to add a few logs to my own garden. I was designing what seemed to be a garden, but was actually a much needed prairie habitat, and it was easy! In fact, it’s also inexpensive. Instead of buying a single plant, you can buy hundreds of plants-worth of seeds for the same price.

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It’s easy and inexpensive. So, why is it taking so long to catch on? It’s tough to say. I imagine that one reason is because many people still see native plants as weeds. It’s horribly sad to see such an inaccurate stereotype placed on such beautiful plants. Nothing I have grows like a weed. Sometimes native species can be aggressive, but if you do a little research, you might see that they’re easy to control. or maybe they are too aggressive and you’re better off not planting them, but there are still hundreds and hundreds of other native plants that aren’t aggressive, or at least very easy to control.

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Perhaps another reason is that people think a native garden is difficult to maintain. It’s not. It’s easier than most gardens, and after a few years, Mother Nature will do most of the work. Sure, there’s the initial weed pulling, and keeping the seedlings watered, but that changes. The garden grows up. The plants fill in and begin to outcompete many weeds. With drought-tolerant plants, like prairie plants, you won’t need worry about watering, either. Only in times of drought will you even need to consider watering. When you grow native plant species and you let them do their thing, they’ll be fine. Let them self-seed a little. Sometimes that means plants will pop up in new places, but that’s what’s fun about it. You never know exactly what to expect, but it’ll always be colorful and most importantly, beneficial to native species. Sometimes a plant might disappear completely, and that’s OK, too. That’s mother nature’s way of saying the plant wasn’t fit for the situation it was in. Its place will likely be replaced by something else that will thrive. Learning to be comfortable with decisions that aren’t yours is the key. You have to have trust that nature knows what it’s doing. If a plant is doing a little too well or one of your favorites isn’t doing good enough, you always have the option to intervene or make adjustments, but never forget that nature does things for a reason.

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This year, I watched my own native garden begin to form into something. Plants that were added two years ago began flowering. Seeds that were planted last Winter began growing. Even with a garden so young, I saw it begin to make a difference. Over the summer, I saw countless Monarch Butterflies use my Orange Milkweed as a food source as well as a place to lay eggs. I found 24 Monarch Caterpillars. That’s 24 Monarch Caterpillars that might not have existed, or 24 Monarch Caterpillars that might have been crowded out by other Monarch caterpillars elsewhere. I saw Bumble Bees sleeping overnight on Blanket Flowers. I saw the occasional Hummingbird hovering by the Liatris stalks. I saw Soldier Beetles mating on Black-eyed Susans. I saw Frogs and Toads using the garden as shelter and as their hunting grounds. Towards the end of the season, I started seeing more and more Large Milkweed Bugs on the milkweed, and a Woolly Bear Caterpillar on the leaves of a young Purple Coneflower. These are only the things that I happened to see when I was outside. There was so much more going on than I could ever have noticed. All of that happening in a native garden that hasn’t even fully established itself yet!

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A successful native garden can be created in small spaces too. I had an area that was 4 feet by 2 feet, and I decided to turn it into another native garden. You don't need large spaces to make it work. When I planted the seeds, I began to wonder if it was even worth it. How much of an impact is a garden that small going to have? The impact was bigger than I expected. Bumble Bee after Bumble Bee appeared. I even found a Monarch Caterpillar. Toads were also spotted there almost every night during the peak of summer. Even a small garden can make a huge difference.

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I’m proud of what I've accomplished, I really am, but this post isn't about my garden. My native garden means a lot to me, but it would mean even more if I were able to convince more people to start a native garden of their own. I’m focused on showing others how easy it is to do, and what a huge impact they can have. When I see gardens filled with Hostas, Daylilies and other non-natives, I see missed opportunities. I have both Hostas and Daylilies in other parts of my yard, by the way, and I’m working to replace them. I want the plants that I have to truly matter. It’s time to focus on the future. The world’s gardening community can make a massive impact, and while this post generally referred to plants native to the US, the truth is, the same thing needs to be done around the world. No matter where you’re from, plant native plants.


Spiderwort.
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Black-eyed Susan
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Blanket Flower.
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Orange Milkweed.
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Plant Native Plants.
 
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lovely read JBtheExplorer & Pic's. Your style of gardening must get the thumbs up from Bee's Butterfly's & Birds from all over that visit your little oasis. It's a little bit of heaven you got there. It really is JB. We can't fix's many of the problems man has thrown out in search of riches. But You and many like you and I think I'm on a similar path are putting something back. But If you pull up the Hosters What are the snails going to eat ;)
 
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I think if we could all come together and provide the world with beautiful things like plants and flowers to look at, we would all be better off in the long run. It is special that some people can take something as simple as plants and make an area beautiful with them. You can't help but smile when you see a pretty flower.
 
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A wonderful ideal and a brilliant result for carrying it out. (y)

Things are a bit different this side of 'the pond'. As a nation of gardeners we tend to be aware of the need to encourage 'native' species. Of course, a lot of 'native' species are actually naturalised ones but this doesn't matter.

A lot of people here are starting to have 'wild gardens' or just pockets of them. It is very simple to buy packets of 'wild garden' seeds as all the many seed merchants sell them.

There are even organisations that give out awards for wildlife friendly gardens. These are just in the form of a small plaque that can be put up. The awards are categorised in bronze, silver and gold classifications but, in the interest of harmony, they don't state the category on them. That is done on an accompanying letter.

To receive the gold acknowledgement you not only need to have native plants but need to provide habitat and encouragement for animals, birds and insects (vertebrates and invertebrates). It's surprising how easy that is to do.

We do have more formal areas of the garden but we also leave self-seeded (or bird seeded) plants to do their own thing.

Even our vegetable area is allowed to grow self-seeded plants and they are only removed (and transplanted if possible) to other areas.
This is part of the vegetable area. The flowers bring the pollinating insects and later crops are planted when they have finished flowering.
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Other wild, or semi wild areas
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They're all wild plants that attract insects. These blue forget-me-nots are quite invasive so are pulled out and discarded after flowering. They leave plenty of seed for next year.
 
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Very well said @JBtheExplorer (y) Truly inspirational! I think people sometimes think that their garden isn't big enough to make a difference, but as you rightly point out - even the smallest area of native plants can help local wildlife.
 
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Fantastic read and you have a gorgeous garden! I have a tiny piece of area where I try to plant flowers that attract bees, butterflies and skippers. I figure no matter how little I can do, it is still better than nothing.
 
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What a wonderful vision, you are trying to actually do something, no matter how small you are at least trying and for that you deserve to feel great. My mom is the kind of person with this kind of mentality: ''Well, no one is doing anything, if I do thinks differently it won't really matter so why bother?''. This is something that irritates me to no end when it comes to my mom... I love her, but we are like two very veeeeery different people, sometimes I have such a hard time believing we are even mother and daughter.

But seriously, good for you, glad to read you are gardening with a cause :) Wish my future garden wasn't so tiny, I'd try doing the same :) Because I do believe that if more people had this same mentality and we tried to make a difference our own way... we'd actually make a big difference!
 

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I like your vision for native plants. I agree that we as the temporary inhabitants of this earth we need to take better care and teach those following us to care for their home better. The need to throw things out instead of using them until there is no more use in them of any kind has always been my rant, the pioneers used every thread until it was gone. Planting a garden for a cause has started many people in my area to plant extra food to help the needy which is something I will do also along with the wild garden. I love to see the natural plants growing all over and wild instead of the well maintained gardens looking like photos.
 

JBtheExplorer

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It is very simple to buy packets of 'wild garden' seeds as all the many seed merchants sell them.

That's one of the biggest problems here. They sell wildflower mixes, but none are native plant mixes. It's misleading. It surprises me how difficult it is to find native plants for sale around here, other than a few species. I had to search online for nurseries that specialize in native plants. Once I learned how to find them, it was easy, but they make it tough for the average person who doesn't know much about gardening.

Fantastic read and you have a gorgeous garden! I have a tiny piece of area where I try to plant flowers that attract bees, butterflies and skippers. I figure no matter how little I can do, it is still better than nothing.

Add Orange Milkweed, Purple Coneflower, and Blanketflower, if you don't have them already. They really attract the butterflies and bees! Liatris is always a good choice, too.

My mom is the kind of person with this kind of mentality: ''Well, no one is doing anything, if I do thinks differently it won't really matter so why bother?''. Wish my future garden wasn't so tiny, I'd try doing the same

I think we all have that mentality to an extent, and that's often why things don't change. When it comes to native gardening, I can see the difference almost immediately. Maybe it's that instant satisfaction that will help convince others to do the same. They won't have to wait for results or rely on others to get results.

It doesn't matter how tiny of a garden you have, either. It's not necessarily about having a big native garden. If you can add one or two native plant species, it makes a difference.
 
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I'm pesticide/ herbicide free and turn my garden in to a pollinator garden, I have what lots of gardens call weeds but the insects that pollinate the garden love them, I have mix of native and non native plants but if it helps bring back the Butterflies and bees them I'm happy, I save seeds year to year and give them to new gardeners in my area, my extra veggie seeds I give the the kids garden at a local church, so they can learn about growing veggies of their own.
 
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@JBtheExplorer, lovely and thoughtful post. I utterly agree with your philosophy and while I haven't made a point of looking for commercially available native plants I have made it a practice to leave and even nurture anything wild growing on my property that flowers, is pretty or interesting. (I do pay someone to mow and he's gotten really good at respecting my requests to mow around things!)

You're right that its hard to find sources for native plants. You've made me determined to look a bit harder by next spring so thank you for that. :)
 

JBtheExplorer

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You've made me determined to look a bit harder by next spring so thank you for that. :)

If you plant by seed, now is the best time to do it, because they need to be outside during winter to start growing in spring. I always recommend Prairie Moon Nursery's website because they have all the best native plants. A huge selection of them. They sell seeds and bare root plants.
 
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I think we all have that mentality to an extent, and that's often why things don't change. When it comes to native gardening, I can see the difference almost immediately. Maybe it's that instant satisfaction that will help convince others to do the same. They won't have to wait for results or rely on others to get results.

It doesn't matter how tiny of a garden you have, either. It's not necessarily about having a big native garden. If you can add one or two native plant species, it makes a difference.

That puts everything into perspective, thanks a lot for the inspiration :) I'll try to do what I can, not only in the garden, but outside of the garden (ie not using a lot water, no littering, etc). I always try not to use a lot water, but I guess there is always room for improvement.
 
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If you plant by seed, now is the best time to do it, because they need to be outside during winter to start growing in spring. I always recommend Prairie Moon Nursery's website because they have all the best native plants. A huge selection of them. They sell seeds and bare root plants.

Great resource and I've bookmarked their website. Thank you. While planting by seed would be cheaper I don't have anything planned or prepared. But my goal for next spring, as I've said before here, is to eliminate my front lawn and have all perennial/native plants.

I did that at my last house and loved it. No watering or maintenance; a guy I was dating at the time was actually a horticulturist and helped me plan it out so I'd have things flowering throughout the season. I loved going out in the morning with my coffee and enjoying the view from my front porch. :) Much nicer and more sustainable than a manicured lawn.
 

JBtheExplorer

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But my goal for next spring, as I've said before here, is to eliminate my front lawn and have all perennial/native plants.

That's a nice goal to have! I hope to someday have an entire yard without lawn, just native plants. I have so many plans surrounding that dream, but, of course, it's a dream that requires more time and money than I can currently give to it. Until that dream becomes possible, I've really been enjoying my native garden. It's giving me a lot of great knowledge and a lot of great ideas that I'll be able to use when I do things on a larger scale.
 

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