Bring Wildlife To Your Yard With Native Plants

BY JIM TAYLOR

While having birds and pollinators such as monarch butterflies in the yard is often viewed as desirable, many do not cultivate their yard space to help attract them.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, most plant-eating insects such as butterfly caterpillars can only eat native plants. Planting native plants rather than wide swaths of grass will help draw plant-eating insects, and there are hundreds of kinds, which will in turn draw birds and other wildlife that eat the insects.

Native plants are plants that were growing in the state before the arrival of European settlers. Many plants that grow ubiquitously here are not native, such as dandelions.

Many plants sold by nurseries are nonnative; some are even invasives. A yard filled with various native plants will provide the requirements that birds and butterflies need to survive.

William DeRosa of Wildflower Meadows Landscaping said that wildflower meadows with native plants is the “newest trend” and is “much more ecologically friendly” than other landscaping options in the past.

“Now gardens have more purpose, in designing landscapes that encourage local wildlife and pollinators,” said DeRosa. “Nurseries are really embracing native plants.”

DeRosa said that forests, wetlands, native plants and meadows are disappearing at an exponential rate. With increased land clearing for commercial use, and overly manicured and sterile landscapes at homes, humans are continually diminishing the natural resources that native plants, wildlife and pollinators demand to support ecological balance.

“We believe this can be counterbalanced with sensible landscape design and practices that create havens for nature in all of its forms,” said DeRosa.

“We all have an opportunity to change the way we look at our properties as just being functional and organized, where in fact [they] can be beneficial and beautiful. Everyone can make a difference, even with minor changes to their outdoor spaces.”

DEEP says that one of the biggest threats to local wildlife is “loss of habitat,” as “half of the lower 48 states has been converted to cities and suburbia.” This denies wildlife areas to find shelter, food to eat, water to drink, and enough space to find all that they need to survive and reproduce.

But, DEEP says, homeowners can help provide the necessary habitats right in their own yards.

DeRosa said that encouraging native plants was part of the “mission and focus” of his business.

With bees and birds “in trouble,” DeRosa said that homeowners can help “support the entire ecosystem” with plantings that will attract bugs, such as beetles and caterpillars, that will then be able to be eaten by birds. Additionally, native plantings draw pollinators such as honey bees and bumblebees.

“Plants are the starting point, and the building blocks are placed on top of that base,” said DeRosa. “But you need the right plants. Non-native plants only support some pollinators.”

DeRosa pointed to the declining monarch butterfly population, noting that they are specialized to live on milkweed.

“That’s why we need to get back to native plants,” said DeRosa. “They’re beautiful, anyone would fall in love with them.”

Additionally, native plants are more deer resistant that non-native plantings, as they are adapted against deer, and natives are less susceptible to fungus and diseases.

People are becoming more “in touch with their yards” since the pandemic.

“There’s a lot more interest in going back to native plants,” said DeRosa. “I think a lot of people are becoming more attuned to this.”

According to the University of Connecticut Home and Garden Education Center, many meadow mixes contain mid-western and western native wildflowers as well as seeds from exotic wildflowers and vibrant annuals. Planting one of these mixes in New England will probably result in a colorful meadow the first year but most species will disappear the next season. Very few will self-sow.

Grasses are found in many meadow mixes and provide a golden touch of color in late fall. Recommended meadow grasses include big and little bluestem (Andropogon geradii, A. scoparius), sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), lesser quaking grass (Briza minor), prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heteropepis) and sheep fescue (Festuca ovina).

Vigorous grass species such as tall fescue (Festuca elatior), orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) and rye grass (Lolium erenne) should be avoided as they will outcompete flowering species. As a rule, grasses should compose no more than 10 to 15 percent of the mixture.

Some native plants recommended by UConn for pollinator meadows include Bee Balm, Bird’s Foot Violet, Black-Eyed Susan, Chicory, Common Milkweed, Compass Plant, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Evening Primrose, Goldenrod, Great Blue Lobelia, Joe-Pye Weed, Lady’s Bedstraw, Liatris, New England Asters, OxEye Daisy, Queen Anne’s Lace, Red Clover, and Yarrow Achillea.

Associate Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.