By Pat Dray
The Garden Spot
Pat Dray
You may have recently heard about a new trend in landscaping called rewilding. I didn’t know that what I’ve been doing in my backyard had a name, but in landscaping it refers to the intentional practice of restoring native plants in urban, suburban and rural landscapes.
It’s essentially about allowing a non-wild area to return to its natural state, no matter how big or small that space may be, creating a habitat that will support biodiversity. A few years ago, an old white oak on our property line fell during a winter storm and my neighbor offered to remove it. But I decided it would be the start of a great habitat for some bugs and pollinators. This is a perfect example of what some would call laziness but is rewilding.
Here in the US we certainly love our lawns. Turf grasses cover an area roughly the size of Florida at a tremendous environmental and economic cost. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, to keep weeds and insects at bay, homeowners dumped around 59 million pounds of pesticides and herbicides onto their residential landscapes in 2012. Those little yellow signs telling you to keep off indicate the toxicity of these products.
Rewilding your property involves reducing turf, encouraging beneficial insects, reducing herbicide and pesticide use, pruning less and planting more native plants. By doing this, you encourage biodiversity, reduce your carbon footprint, improve soil health and save time and money. If you’re interested in rewilding your own garden, consider these steps.
One of the easiest things to do is to continually expand your existing beds. Plant natives that support local wildlife. I love to use some native “creepers” like creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) or cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) at the edges of the beds – as they move into the turf, I let them go. Remember not to “over tidy” the beds – leave the insects in the debris so the pollinators can have a good meal.
You can also create areas of interest and create privacy screening using native grasses. One that will grow in pretty much any environment is Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii). It grows in clumps that reach heights of four to six feet and has nice color changes throughout the fall. I like to leave the grass up until mid-spring to provide some winter habitat.
Even small-scale rewilding efforts can make a significant impact on local ecosystems and contribute to a healthier planet. To learn more about native plants of Connecticut, visit nativelandscapingsmallpdf.pdf (ct.gov).
Pat Dray is a past president of the Garden Club of Orange and a master gardener.