naturescaping: how biodiverse native plantings create healthy watersheds and happy residents
TRANSCRIPT
Naturescaping:How biodiverse native plantings create healthy watersheds and happy residents
Janet S. Davis, Hill House Farm & NurseryMarch 2016
Conventional landscaping ideas
Static landscapes--more or less the same all the time, everywhere
Eliminate “weeds”
Use ‘industrial’ plants
Lots of lawn
Higher costs, increased pollution
Little, if any, habitat
So...what can we do?
Naturescaping
Manage our landscapes differently--and better:
“Naturescaping”
• Creating DYNAMIC gardens• Layers of plants (not mulch!)• Less water usage• More watershed protection!• More pollinators, more birds, more Life• “Enhanced livability”
Use Native Plants! Create Layers of Diversity
Altitude diversityTemporal diversitySpecies diversity
What is “Native”?
Plants that have evolved in a specific ecoregion over a
sufficiently long enough time to have developed
plant communities and relationships with local fauna.
TheFOOD WEB
Insects & Pollinators!*The food for other
creatures*Aerate and enrich the
soil*Pollinate the vast majority of flowering plants
*Sustain Human Health
Healthy Habitat = Pollinator Diversity = PEOPLE FOOD
Karen Rexrode
John Magee Design
s
Where in your landscape can you...
• Add more layers? Start high, go low.
• Create additional habitat? Add hedgerows, plant thickets.
• Plant or maintain a meadow? Mow less...
• Add water; use water?• Let your hair down?
Leave the leaves, pile the prunings...
5 First Steps
• Mow less grass!• Control exotic invasives.
• Avoid using insecticides.
• Practice ‘benign neglect’.
• Plant a “Powerhouse”!
5 First Steps
• Mow less grass!
• Control exotic invasives.• Avoid using insecticides.
• Practice ‘benign neglect’.
• Plant a “Powerhouse”!
5 First Steps
• Mow less grass!
• Control exotic invasives.
• Avoid using insecticides.• Practice ‘benign neglect’.
• Plant a “Powerhouse”!
5 First Steps
• Mow less grass!
• Control exotic invasives.
• Avoid using insecticides.
• Practice ‘benign neglect’. • Plant a “Powerhouse”!
5 First Steps
• Mow less grass!
• Control exotic invasives.
• Avoid using insecticides.
• Practice ‘benign neglect’.
• Plant a “Powerhouse”!
OAKS!!!Scarlet Oak, Quercus coccinea
White Oak, Quercus alba
American HollyIlex opaca
VA Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana
Smooth AlderAlnus serrulata
Virginia RoseRosa virginiana
Spice bushLindera benzoin
Cephalanthus occidentalisButtonbush
Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’
Lonicerasempervirens
‘John Clayton’
Wildlife benefits
