it is,” says ecology author
and University of Delaware
professor Doug Tallamy.
“The single biggest thing
you can do to make an
impact on local habitat
and rainwater absorption
is planting trees,” says
Peterson.Buy plants from a
good nursery that
grows locally.
Native plants are also
known as “local eco-types.”
A beech tree grown in
Florida won’t do well in a
Pennsylvania winter even
if it’s the same species, so
ask nurseries about the
provenance of the plants.
Once you find a good nurs-
ery that takes eco-type into
account, tell them about
your site, and they can help
you select good choices for
your yard. You can also find
local plant sales through
native plant societies and
conservation districts. If
you research how plants
propagate, nature will
donate to the cause.Another
Reason to
Shrink Your
LawnCarbon
sequestration
(or storage),
which helps
mitigate glob-
al warmingLAWN
stores 120 lb
of carbon/
acre/yearMEADOW
stores 3 ,000 lb
of carbon/
acre/yearFOREST
stores 3 , 500
lb of carbon/
acre/yearSTEP 2
Design
Your
Space
Now that you’ve
observed, ask...
What plants will thrive in
my yard? In other words,
What does nature want?
And what do I want?
Where these desires meet
will be the foundation of
your design.
Is it a priority to have an
extremely low-maintenance
landscape? Keep your selec-
tions simple. Don’t bring in
too many plants with dif-
ferent care requirements.
(Always factor mainte-
nance into design.) If floods
are an issue in your area,
think trees or a rain garden
full of evergreen plants that
like having wet feet. Do you
want to attract butterflies or
birds? Consider what canopylayers you have in your yard—
groundcover, small shrubs,
large shrubs, small trees,
large trees, recommends
Susie Peterson, backyard
habitat certification pro-
gram manager for Columbia
Land Trust and the Portland
Audubon Society. “Different
birds, different bees, differ-
ent kinds of wildlife, live at
different levels.”Choose your plants
Long-term, native peren-
nials will create a more
stable, low-maintenance
landscape. While native
plants are essential to local
wildlife— especially the
keystone genera (which
make up only 5 percent of
the area’s native species
but produce 75 percent of
the food) Ninety percent of
insects only eat the leaves
of plants with which they
co-evolved. They, in turn,
feed the birds and other
animals. The more diverse
an ecosystem is, the more
species it contains, the
more stable and productiveIt might be a more natural yard, but it still has to be planned.(^76) July/August 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com