Homegrown National Park Unites Backyard Gardeners to Support Biodiversity
Backyard gardening is among the most popular ways for homeowners to enjoy the outdoors. The US is one of the top three gardening countries with most gardeners spending an average of five hours a week with their hands in the soil.
As backyard gardens become more popular, according to RubyHome, it is crucial that gardeners become aware that foreign-born plants have invaded great swaths of garden space and pushed out native species and the wildlife that supports them. Happily, help is already here with a project that replaces these non-native plants.
According to Reasons to be Cheerful, University of Delaware entomologist Dough Tallamy has been leading the charge to replace invading plants with native species for more than 20 years. Homegrown National Park (HNP), the organization Tallamy started to expand backyard biodiversity, has grown to include more than 52,000 registered participants who care for more than 187,000 acres. It now goes from coast to coast.
Ripping Out the Invaders
It all began in 2003 when Tallamy and his wife bought their 10-acre Pennsylvania property. After the sale, he walked through the grounds and discovered invasive foreign plants had taken over the garden. The couple immediately began ripping out the invaders and replacing them with native species, a process that proved simple and inexpensive.
“I think in the last 26 years we spent about $100,” he told reasons to be cheerful. “Because I simply go get seeds and put them in the ground.”
Tallamy’s experience transforming his garden inspired him to found HNP to help other gardeners restore their gardens to a more natural state. Participants can register their efforts on a nationwide biodiversity map and track the project’s success.
“The real argument is that natural systems are generating your life support,” he explained to reasons to be cheerful. “They make your oxygen, they manage your watershed, they minimize extreme weather conditions, sequester carbon to help [mitigate] climate change. They’re doing all kinds of things to keep you alive on this planet.”
Every Garden Supports Biodiversity
Reconnecting Ecosystems agrees that HNP’s efforts are “inspiring” because it emphasizes that every garden, no matter how small, can become a thriving habitat for wildlife. Anyone can create a space that attracts pollinators, provides food for birds, and supports beneficial insects simply by replacing a portion of lawn or non-native plants with native species. Even adding containers of native plants to a balcony can make a difference.
It points out that HNP is about more than planting native species in the yard. It is about creating a ripple effect that builds toward a collective change.
Combining Gardening With Birdwatching
Bird lovers, for example, can join a new HNP project that combines gardening with a love of birding. The Willimsport Sun-Gazette reports HNP just launched a partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Garden for Birds. The program will provide free monthly advice to participants about using native plants to attract birds.
“You could just have a patio or a window box in your apartment and still choose to add native plants to experience caterpillars feeding on them or birds foraging on them,” Becca Rodomsky-Bish, Garden for Birds’ project director told the Sun-Gazette.
According to the Nature Conservancy, the key to helping native plants thrive is by avoiding bringing invasive plants into the garden in the first place. The Conservancy recommends that homeowners consult with a knowledgeable expert who can identify invasive species before purchasing new plants.
Alien plants don’t require a battle to keep them from invading the garden. Simple vigilance and careful planting choices will help home gardens blossom into models of biodiversity that support plant, bird and insect life as nature intended.
