Designing Yards for Nature
By Ron Honig, Horticulture and Agronomy Agent
I listened to an interesting presentation last week from Douglas W. Tallamy, professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware.
Professor Tallamy’s mission is to stop the decline of wildlife species through the reintroduction of native plant species on which wildlife thrive. What is interesting about his approach is that he is not calling for large government programs to provide these native plant species, but rather individual homeowners. He is calling on amateur gardeners with unused lawn space to look for ways to introduce more native plants back into the microenvironments we call our yards.
The decline of pollinator insects has been well documented. Tallamy illustrates one study showing four species of bumblebees that have declined 96 percent in the last twenty years.
In his presentation, Tallamy said there are approximately 40 million acres of yards in the United States, an area greater than many of our national parks combined. His mission and dream are to see a large percentage of that yard acreage be transformed from lawn grass to native trees and flowering plants that support an array of native insects, birds and mammals. The native plants being returned to our yards will vary, of course, depending on our location in U.S.
Tallamy gave examples of the importance of oak trees for supporting wildlife across the nation. He talked about a study using cameras to count the number of caterpillars mother chickadees use to feed a nest of chicks to maturity – 6,240 to 9,120 caterpillars, and then what plant species support caterpillars. His vision is to have ordinary people transform a portion of the roughly 76 percent of privately-owned land in the U.S. back into natural areas supporting wildlife.
The flipside to much of this thinking is understanding that nature is not always pristine in appearance. In order for birds to feed their young on caterpillars, we must allow the caterpillars to survive in our yards, which means feeding on something for a while before being eaten. Important to this concept are the reduction of insecticide and fertilizer use in our yards. Some beauty and control have to be given up for Tallamy’s idea to work. That becomes an individual decision for each homeowner.
Tallamy’s ideas do not completely eliminate the use of non-native species in our yards, but rather to see the value of adding back some native plants though they may not be as showy and colorful as our other flowers and shrubs.
For the millions of urban/suburban acres in the U.S., Tallamy’s ideas certainly make sense. For us gardeners in the western, rural areas, we only have to drive to the edge of town to see native plants for as far as the eye can see. However, there are a number of regionally native plants that can bring new colors, forms and textures to our landscapes without giving up the beauty many homeowners strive for in their yards. More information on those plant options will come later.
Professor Tallamy has written a bestselling book on this topic entitled Nature’s Best Hope, published by Timber Press. It is widely available for purchase and I have a copy in the Extension office for anyone to look through as well.
Professor Tallamy’s parting thought is that we should not try to change the whole world but just the little part in which we control. Certainly, interesting reading and food for thought.
