Thoughts about “Going Native” in Serendipity Gardens

Serendipity Gardens  » Fauna, Flora, Gardening »  Thoughts about “Going Native” in Serendipity Gardens
0 Comments

Alien and nativeQuite a few years ago, I learned how much I enjoy watching the antics of birds and frogs in Serendipity Gardens. I patted myself on the back because I did not use pesticides, did not rake leaves in the fall, and left lots of seedheads for birds through the winter. “I am gardening for wildlife, and I want to share my expertise on this topic with others,” I said to myself. Thus I began Serendipity Gardens, the blog.

How little I knew!

Being coached (thanks to Molly Greene)  that Twitter would be one of the best ways to draw traffic to my blog, I began looking for Tweeps to follow who were interested in wildlife gardening. Suddenly, I was in a whole new world, and I realized that my own garden, with its mixture of native and alien plants that you can see in this photo, was not nearly the haven for wildlife that I had assumed it was (though it does host quite a few). 

All these other gardeners could talk about was using native plants to attract and feed beneficial insects, bees, and birds. I knew that bees and butterflies needed nectar when I began purchasing plants for the garden. Never did I give a thought, however, to attracting beneficial insects or providing homes for caterpillars, nor was I aware that these creatures cannot use alien plants for food. Thinking of insects as “a problem to solve,” I invited the frogs and birds, assuming that they would help take care of most any insect issues I might have.

No, said the new gardeners I was reading. This is not enough. The insects must be fed, so they can in turn be food for the animals I want in my garden. And the best way to feed them throughout their life cycle is with native plants.

A Painful Inventory

With this new perspective in mind, I began doing an inventory of my garden. I was able to list quite a few natives, including birch, service berry, Eastern red bud, nine bark, and viburnum, all of which I had planted, but I found lots of what the gardeners refer to as “aliens” as well. Here is a partial list:

  • Corkscrew willow (a star of the garden, from which in our ignorance we have propagated at least three more trees)
  • Butterfly bush (three that morphed into eight!)
  • Forsythia (two huge ones, from which we planted seven more!)
  • Lilac
  • Privet
  • Rose of Sharon
  • Smoke bush
  • Bridal veil spirea

Willow

Rose of Sharon

The Question Is — To Keep or Not to Keep?

I am now pondering the big question. Should I get rid of these non-native plants and replace them with natives? Or should I keep them?

Some of them I love.

  • For example, my privet is big now, and it stands guard beside my garden gate. I cannot imagine it not being there. It would take years to replace.
  • As you enter the gate, the butterfly bushes lie straight ahead, curving round and enclosing the patio where we often eat in summer. As you know, if you have any of these shrubs, they are quite beautiful in bloom, and not half bad through the winter with their grayish-green foliage.
  • Past the butterfly bushes you see the corkscrew willow, a star of our garden show. It’s 30 to 40 feet tall, has a gnarly trunk three or more feet in diameter, and shades our small patio where we sit sometimes to watch our grandchildren play. The tree reminds me of a girl with long, wavy hair as its canopy of curly leaves blows in the breeze.
  • The lilac, forsythia, bridal veil spirea and Rose of Sharon shrubs are old, having been planted many years ago by a previous owner. But they add character and charm to the garden that I would definitely miss.
  • The smoke plant is part of a pond grouping that I planted, and I adore its reddish color in summer and the glorious colors it turns in the fall.

Once You Know, You Can’t Un-Know

My first reaction was to declare that I would not be taking out any existing plants, period. I would think about plant origin going forward, and plant more natives over time. In other words, I would have my cake and eat it, too.

The trouble with that idea is this: Once you know something, you cannot un-know it. Now I know these plants are not pulling their weight in the landscape to attract and support wildlife, however beautiful they may be. Consequently, I am beginning to imagine pulling out the butterfly bushes and replacing them with viburnums or perhaps button bushes. The spirea is another shrub I can imagine replacing.  I could replace the forsythia, though it is a huge job that would require help. All the others, though, I think I will keep, and replace them only when they die of their own accord. I feel a little guilty about that decision, but just cannot imagine Serendipity Gardens without these plants.

On a more positive note, I can do a number of things this year and in years to come to change my garden so that it will be more wildlife-friendly:

  • Leave an area of grass without mowing to see what comes up.
  • Sow lots of white sweet alyssum and cosmos seeds in various beds.Call to Action2
  • Plant a few wildflowers and milkweeds and perhaps a new native shrub or two. How about elderberry?
  • Plant all my pots with flowers that attract butterflies and bees.
  • Learn to identify more bugs and caterpillars so I will know who my guests are.

Are you having a similar dilemmas about replacing any of the plants in your garden? What will your solution be?

 

One thought on “Thoughts about “Going Native” in Serendipity Gardens”

Please leave a comment!