By Cynthia McQueen

It’s low cost, low maintenance and highly sustainable to invite native species of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals into your garden landscape.

Planting native species means you’re gardening with the good knowledge that you are helping preserve Canada’s rich seed resource, while creating a landscape that requires as little maintenance as a wildflower meadow.

There are economic benefits to thinking ecologically too.

Because native plant gardens do not require what Doug Kennedy, Native plant nursery owner at Green Side Up Environmental Services, calls life support they’re a money saver.

“Native plants do not require any chemical or mechanical treatment, can be left out all year and do not need watering,” Kennedy said.

The list of economic benefits goes on.

According to Kennedy, native plants are generally cheaper because the growers are usually the sellers, meaning no franchises or big box stores inflating the prices. 

The difference between native plants and non-native plants is also a question of economy.

Nancy McPhee, Garden Centre Manager at Evergreen said, “Replacing non-native plants that did not over-winter each year can be costly.”

Non-native plants are not acclimatized to the extreme temperature and moisture variations in Ontario and are therefore more costly to breed and more difficult to keep alive.

As for bringing non-native species into your native plant garden, they are a welcome addition to any garden, but some can be invasive.

According to the Royal Botanical Gardens, it’s hard to know the exact number of invasive species or “garden escapees,” but many can do severe damage. In the Southern United States, the infamous kudzu vine has run amok and can grow so fast as to overtake homes.

McPhee went on to list the virtues of native plant gardens. They are more resistant to diseases and bugs. They grow quickly and are low maintenance compared to most hybrid plants sold at conventional garden centres, meaning less fertilizing and watering.

Before you start planting consider if your garden is marshy or dry and plant according to your ecoregion or ecozone.

Plant flowers and shrubs in clumps and clusters like they would appear in a forest. With the right finesse, some mature native plant gardens can resemble old growth forests.

In order to become the green Snow White, remember evergreen and coniferous species provide food and shelter for wildlife through the winter. Hyssops provide food for several insects and are successful at drawing wildlife in. Ants eat wild ginger and spread the seed and berry-producing shrubs provide food for winter species of birds.

Online Resources:

North American Native Species: www.nanps.org

Evergreen Native Species Database nativeplants: www.evergreen.ca

Cynthia McQueen is a freelance journalist and the copy editor of Corporate Knights Magazine in Toronto.

Corporate Knights, Cynthia McQueen, ecological, economical, environment, native species, Royal Botanical Gardens