Townsend, DE Native Gardening

What is Native Gardening?

You have probably heard of native gardening, but what exactly is it? Well it is the use of indigenous plants, including trees, shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers within a landscape design. Your next question may be why is this important? We all have heard about why Bees are important, but if you enjoy watching birds, butterflies, or our native creatures, native gardening is very important. In a nutshell, in order to preserve our bird, bee, and butterfly population, we need to plant host plants for these creatures. Nonnative plants do not supply our native friends with the correct food sources needed for survival. Just like Monarch Caterpillars, which only eat Milkweed (Asclepias), most other insects are also very specialized in what they eat. Without insects we have no birds, and without birds, our ecosystem begins to fall apart. Planting natives will increase how many birds and butterflies you see in your garden, who doesn’t want that?

How can you incorporate native gardening in your backyard?

Now you know why the use of native plants is important. So how can you get involved? Here at Endless Summer, we strive to use native plants in our designs. Not only are native plants great for the environment, but you will begin to see more butterflies and birds visiting your garden, as well as enjoy plants that thrive. Native plants are often much more suited to our environment because nature designed them to be that way. So no more sickly-looking plants that are struggling to survive. Another important aspect of native gardening is knowing which plants to avoid. We may not always want strictly native plants in our gardens, which is just fine! However, it is important to know which plants are considered invasive and therefore should be avoided. Invasive plants are plants that spread rapidly and choke out native plants both in gardens as well as in our native forests or fields. The Endless Summer team is well versed in native gardening, setting us aside from most landscaping companies.