Recently learning that two common plants I know and enjoy (coltsfoot and ground ivy) are imports, started me thinking about native vs. non-native plants.
If you aren’t familiar with the issue, here is a short and sweet intro. Many scientists, conservationists and home gardeners – among others – are avid in their stance that native plants are the only way to go.
Native plants are those which grow in a region, ecosystem or habitat without people having brought them from another locale.
Native species have many benefits because they’ve been growing together with other plants, the soil and wildlife for ages, ideally reaching a balance beneficial for all.
Native flowers attract and sustain butterflies and other insects we like to see. Flowers, trees and shrubs feed and provide habitat for birds – also good. Other native wildlife thrives off native flora.
You might have heard the term invasive species. This can obviously refer to animals as well as plants. I prefer the term non-native, and I’m not alone in this opinion. While some non-native plants are invasive and disrupt ecosystems, that is definitely a non-native subcategory.
A book I’m currently reading on permaculture suggests ecosystems usually take care of themselves, and while non-natives may seem disruptive at first, eventually they balance out. I found this idea appealing. I know it doesn’t always work this way, but it probably often does.
Take for example the aforementioned flowers – coltsfoot and ground ivy.
I’ve heard ground ivy can become quite a nuisance, but in my little ecosystem other flowers and grasses balance it, and pollinators seem to love it. Doesn’t seem to be doing much harm.
The only place I can find coltsfoot growing is along the edges of my road, in frequently disturbed soil where not many plants thrive..
From my observations this personal favorite early spring time harbinger doesn’t prevent other plants from growing – natives grow along with it and it grows in a limited area.
In my particular ecosystem these two imports are definitely not invasive. Other cases of non-native plants do not seem as harmless. Of course I wonder if systems left alone would deal with invasive species by balancing them with pests and other plants.
In situations where waiting and seeing aren’t worth the risk, I’m not opposed to trying to undo the spread of foreign plants. However, the examples I’ve seen of such attempts seem neither effective nor healthy.
Control of invasive species usually involves herbicides, often ineffective control and destructive of environmental health in my limited observations, mostly along road sides. Poisoning doesn’t make the already tough and disturbed space inviting for natives to grow.
Recently I relearned that honey bees are not native, and thrive with the help of non-native plants. Everyone loves honey bees and the much needed help they give us in growing food.
Our agricultural system is not set up to eat only food produced by native plants, and pollinated only by native bugs.
My conclusions from musing on the subject are that non-native plants is a complex issue. I support the practice of planting native species. It makes sense to me that such plantings are beneficial to the landscape and ecosystem.
If we want to eliminate non-natives, or even tip the ecological scales toward natives, we would have to totally change how we eat and farm. It would be an impossible task to get rid of all the plants brought in by humans – and wouldn’t be helpful to us or to the environment. Plants want to be spread and nature wants them to grow.
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