The True Benefits Of Planting An Indigenous Garden

Indigenous plants, having evolved locally over hundreds of years, need much fewer extra inputs to thrive in South African gardens

This means less watering, but also less fertilizer, pesticides and plant food. It’s a proven fact that these harmful chemicals make their way into groundwater and soil, saturating our natural world with unnatural substances.

If you leave the snails and don’t poison the birds by spraying pesticide, pretty soon you’ll have your own team of pest controllers flapping about.

But you know what’s better than hoping birds and beetles save your violets and roses?

Not planting them at all and opting for wild iris or other local flowering plants instead.

Love animals? Indigenous or so called “wildlife gardens” are sure fire way to save them.

Indigenous plants create a true circle of life. If you have been a fierce guardian of your violets, declaring war on all that creeps and nibbles, going indigenous will be an adjustment.

The small creatures that end up living and thriving in your new, indigenous garden become an important part of the greater wildlife food-chain, helping species that would otherwise suffer to urbanization, survive.