Gardening with Native Plants

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that people everywhere value nature for its beauty; its grandfather redwoods, its orange poppies, or its yellow and purple lupines. It’s become uncommon, however, to see nature as not separate from humanity. To see us as a species like any other, and to see us as having our own niche. It is revolutionary to think that instead of jungles of turf lawn, birds of paradise and palms, houses should be landscaped with patchwork native habitat. That blankets of chaparral, oak woodland, or gorgeous riparian forest should decorate our neighborhoods.

It is the next necessary step that people need to make to maintain the balance of life, and keep fragile wildlife species afloat through our changing climate. Even more tantalizingly, it is a step private homeowners everywhere can make, free from the slow governmental process plaguing wild lands now.

I implore every reader to go, and not just enjoy and preserve public wild lands, but bring wild lands to your land, with this question, “Was my land and wild land ever really separate?”

The plants are purple nightshade, golden currant, manzanita, woodland strawberry and black sage.

Written by Liam Bense, Green Valley Project Communications Intern.