Hello all,
For my dissertation project I am going to partake in an investigation in relation to native planting.
The proposed question is:
As a garden designer, why is it important to incorporate native plants into our planting schemes/Garden designs?
So key issues that could be considered when looking at this question may be:
- Biodiversity
- Sustainability
- invasive plants
- Pro's and con's of non-native plants
- PESTEL-Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal issues.
- Plants growers, plant nurseries, garden centres etc.
These are all issues around the subject area that should be considered during this investigation.
All of your views and opinions will be extremely useful for my research, so I invite you all to get stuck into this discussion.
Many thanks
Joshua Handrick
Comments
how about asking 'is it important...' rather than pre-supposing that it is important? I used to be a bit evangelical about native planting, and now I've seen lots of evidence that non-native can sometimes be more beneficial to wildlife in terms of diversifying the flowering periods and choice of fruit etc. It's obvious that birds really benefit from the Cotoneaster and Pyracantha family, and butterflies famously love Buddleia and Sedum (OK, we have some native Sedums, but many garden varieties which are well used by insects are not native). Nigel Dunnett's Pictorial Meadows mixes have been developed to give a longer season of flowering than is possible using just natives. Britain actually has an unusually limited number of native species, a result I believe of the islands getting cut off by the ice age.
However, there are occasions when it's important to use native species, or even native provenance. For example, apparently much of the Hawthorn used in hedgerow planting on road schemes comes from the continent, and flowers at a time which our native insect species are not synchronised with. If a garden is close to the open countryside, it may be important not to use non-native species so as not to cross pollinate with important populations of wild flowers, eg native daffodils in the Forest of Dean. Equally, use of native species in these situations may help the garden to sit more comfortably in its setting - I don't like seeing blue Cedars, Purple Plum or variegated Maple drawing attention to themselves in an otherwise muted and harmonious landscape. Even here though, there are non-natives which are more 'naturalistic' than others and which will not look out of place. Another consideration is care over species which can be invasive - not just well known thugs like Canadian Pondweed and Himalayan Balsam, but Quercus ilex and Cotoneaster horizontalis are also on the list.
Then of course there's the age-old question of what is a native? Sycamore has been in this country for many centuries, but strictly speaking is not native. Many discriminate against it on these grounds, but studies show that the great volumes of aphids it supports are valuable food for our native birds when chicks are fledging, and you have only to see it growing as a shelter tree next to an isolated farmhouse on a wind swept hillside, a beautiful rounded sturdy tree, to feel it is the right plant in the right place.
www.chameleongardens.co.uk
Thank you for your views so far, all I am trying to gain at the moment is some general views and thoughts on native planting in gardens. I will soon be posting a survey from survey monkey which you are all more than welcome to complete.
I thought Rose's comments were very perceptive. When I grow native wild flowers from seed I find that they are easier to grow than many other plants and that they attract a big range of insects, including pollinators. Not surprising as the insect and bird life here will have developed in synch with their food sources ie plants and other animals that use plants, so native plants are some of their easiest food sources. You could have a look at the recent TV series 'Bees butterflies and pollinators' (or similar title) that was on BBC2 with Sarah Raven. That really underlines the importance of pollinators and also how we can make a difference by using plants that attract them, many of which are native (though of course buddleias and marjoram aren't.) ....It's a good Q for an essay as you can't assume it's automatically a good thing.
One thing you could put in which is v subjective is the feeling of linking to our native countryside by using these plants. And if you are near open country then using natives can visually link your garden to its surroundings.
Have just thought of another reason which is to preserve our native plants given they are under threat in their native habitat.