Natural landscaping, also callednative gardening, is the use ofnative plants includingtrees,shrubs,groundcover, andgrasses which arelocal to the geographic area of the garden.
Natural landscaping is adapted to theclimate,geography andhydrology and should require nopesticides,fertilizers and watering to maintain, given that native plants haveadapted and evolved to local conditions over thousands of years.[1][2] However, these applications may be necessary for some preventive care of trees and other vegetation.
Native plants suit today's interest in "low-maintenance" gardening and landscaping, with many species vigorous and hardy and able to survive winter cold and summer heat. Once established, they can flourish withoutirrigation or fertilization, and are resistant to most pests and diseases.
Many municipalities have quickly recognized the benefits of natural landscaping due to municipal budget constraints and reductions and the general public is now benefiting from the implementation of natural landscaping techniques to save water and create more personal time.
Native plants provide suitable habitat for native species ofbutterflies,birds,pollinators, and other wildlife.[3] They provide more variety in gardens by offering myriad alternatives to the often plantedintroduced species,cultivars, andinvasive species. The indigenous plants have co-evolved with animals, fungi and microbes, to form a complex network of relationships. They are the foundation of their nativehabitats andecosystems, or natural communities.[4]
Such gardens often benefit from the plants being evolved and habituated to the local climate, pests and herbivores, and soil conditions, and so may require fewer to nosoil amendments,irrigation,pesticides, andherbicides for a beautiful, lower maintenance, and moresustainable landscape.
However, while localprovenance plants have adapted to local conditions (which includes climate, soil, and other native plants and animals), there will often be instances, especially in cities, where one or more of these will have been radically altered.
Examples include:
Manyweeds in an area are usually the result of imported plants. These plants become invasive because there are no natural controls such as disease, weather, or fauna in their new environment. They take over native habitats, reducing shelter and food for local fauna. Using local provenance plants increases thebiodiversity of and is important for the health of a region's overallecology.
Much of the wild areas have been destroyed to make room forurban development. Housing developments have replaced native habitats withornamental plants andlawns, pushing thewildland–urban interface further out. While development won't be stopped, gardeners can keep wild areas and green spaces filled with native species on their lots and in their communities.
Despite this, there are usually plenty of indigenous or native plants which will grow and thrive in the area one is trying to establish a native garden.
The use ofnative plants in a garden or landscape can both preserve and protect natural ecosystems, and reduce the amount of care and energy required to maintain a healthy garden or landscape. Native plants are adapted to the local climate and geology, and often require less maintenance than exotic species. Native plants also support populations of native birds, insects, and other animals that theycoevolved with, thus promoting a healthycommunity of organisms.
Plants in a garden or maintained landscape often form asource population from which plants can colonize new areas. Avoiding the use ofinvasive species helps to prevent such plants from establishing new populations. Similarly, the use of native species can provide a valuable source to help these plants colonise new areas.
Some non-native species can form anecological trap in which native species are lured into an environment that appears attractive but is poorly suited to them.
However, in Britain research by theUniversity of Sheffield as part of the BUGS project (Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield)[5] has revealed that for manyinvertebrates – the majority of wild animals in most gardens – it is not just native plants which can sustain them. The findings were published in popular form inKen Thompson's bookNo Nettles Required: The truth about wildlife gardening.[6] He confirms the approach which Chris Baines had promoted inHow to Make a Wildlife Garden.[7]
Some ecosystems may benefit from any increase inbiomass, from the introduction of certain non-native species, or any increase inbiodiversity. In the case of disturbed areas some exotic/non-native plants may fare better than the displaced, native inhabitants, in the process increasing the biodiversity and biological biomass.[8]
Native gardens include the following kinds:
"Wildflower" in some nations denominates the numerous showy flowers from some drier climates, most notably southwestWestern Australia, southernAfrica, andNorth America.
Some wildflower gardens attempt to recreate aprairie, including native grasses along with flowering plants, i. e.forbs. Such gardens benefit the local wildlife, often attracting birds,butterflies, and smallmammals. By carefully choosing the plants for the garden, some of these animals can be encouraged to visit the garden. One popular type of wildflower garden specializes in attracting butterflies and is thus denominated a "butterfly garden".
The native plants cultivated in wildflower gardens often have deep roots, and therefore are effective selections for absorbingsurface runoff and allowing the water to infiltrate into the localwater table.[9] Wildflower gardens cultivated for capturing runoff in this mode are denominated "rain gardens".
Rain gardens absorb rainwater from gutters andimpervious surfaces and function much better when planted with native plants which tolerate the alternation of flooding and drying.
In new construction, builders can either avoidclear cutting or clearing an entire property and disturbing other large flora or builders can completely clear an area of all flora to save construction time and replace the clearing with juvenile specimens once the job is complete. The downside to this is additional costs involved with purchasing replacements. The builder may also choose to plant additional native trees and other flora after construction to help the property blend with natural surroundings.
In someplanned developments, natural landscaping is the requirement. Builders may not remove trees larger than a specific diameter and owners may not arbitrarily cut trees without a permit.
Throughout the world, forested areas are often turned intocattlegrazing or farmland. Often this land is then turned into residential or commercial use property. By returning the land back to its original state prior to human disturbance, vast amounts of energy usage and increasing pollution can be reduced. Natural landscaping costs less to install than traditional landscaping and, after the initial few years, reduces maintenance costs, combatserosion, and accommodates storm and flood waters better.
In many parts of the world there are societies, clubs or local groups, such asBushcare orAustralian Native Plants Society in Australia, theNorth American Native Plant Society, Pennsylvania Native Plant Society,[11] or theCalifornia Native Plant Society, which are made up of gardeners interested in growing plants local to their area, state or country. In the United States,Wild Ones—Native Plants, Natural Landscapes[12] is a national organization with local chapters in many states. TheNative Plant Trust[13] andLady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center[14] also provide information on native plants and promote natural landscaping. These organizations can be the best resources for learning about and obtaining local native plants. Many members have spent years or decades cultivating local plants orbushwalking in local areas.
Native plant gardens that are designed to take advantage of local conditions and reflect prevailing ecological processes often are less work than high-maintenance formal beds and borders, and they blend more gracefully into the landscape.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Because food for all animals starts with the energy harnessed by plants, the plants we grow in our gardens have the critical role of sustaining, directly or indirectly, all of the animals with which we share our living spaces. The degree to which the plants in our gardens succeed in this regard will determine the diversity and numbers of wildlife that can survive in managed landscapes.
