by Brittany Fulton | Nebraska Extension
Lincoln, Neb. —Native plants are great choices for your landscape. When planted in their natural conditions, they require almost no maintenance once established. While establishing, native plants might need supplemental watering. It can take as little as a few weeks for natives to become established and rarely takes longer than one growing season. Planting natives can mean a significant reduction in the amount of pesticides and fertilizers released into the environment.
The act of planting for a purpose is the very definition of gardening. By planting native plants to restore wildlife habitat, you become a wildlife habitat gardener. We need to reconnect our neighborhoods back into the ecosystem they were once a part of by planting native plants that supports wildlife. Wildlife habitat gardens support twice the wildlife and a greater diversity of species compared to a conventional landscape.
How can a garden save wildlife? Reading plant tags will give you important information that will help you make your plant selections. Cultivars and hybrids of natives aren’t necessarily bad choices for wildlife, and often they’re the only options available through retail garden centers. Sticking to the native plant species or cultivars that are as close to the native in appearance as possible is the best plant.The remove-and -replace approach. Remove the plants that are invasive or have little value to wildlife and replace them with native species that are appropriate for your site. In this way, you can slowly change your landscape into a more productive one. A benefit of the approach is that you can mimic popular garden designs, replace non-native plants with similarly sized and colored native plants and make as many or as few changes as you want.
You might think that wildlife conservation is something that only happens in wilderness areas, but your landscape is needed! It is your connection with nature, where you live in a personal way. It can be about spreading your knowledge to help others. When creating a wildlife habitat garden, remember to make a place for you. A wooden bench under a shade tree can be your own private haven.