Pollinators – Sustainable Ewing Green Team

Fill Your Landscape with Native Plants to Sustain Our Native Wildlife

April is officially Native Plant Month, and the Ewing Green Team is committed to increasing awareness of the critical role that native plants play in supporting a healthy environment and thriving wildlife populations. During this month, and every month, we encourage you to learn about the benefits to our local ecosystems gained by planting native trees, shrubs, and perennials that support bees, birds, butterflies, and all wildlife.

What could be better? Native plants are underrated beauties that, once established, weather the vicissitudes of climate change better than non-natives. They generally have deeper root systems, which can search down for water in times of drought such as we are experiencing now. They also anchor in and absorb stormwater runoff during times of excess rain, all while offering support in terms of food, cover, and shelter to our declining wildlife populations. They require fewer artificial inputs: no fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, no soil amendments, and limited watering. Finally, they offer a truer enjoyment of the natural world as we experience not only its beauty but also a deeper connection to nature as we observe our landscape used as habitats. We urge you to plant natives because wildlife matters and is worth protecting.

What exactly are native plants? And why are they important?

Plants are considered to be native to an area where they occurred naturally over time and developed symbiotic relationships with insects and other wildlife that have evolved with them. Since evolution is not a quick process, this means over hundreds, or even thousands, of years in a particular area or region. Only plants found in this country before European settlement are generally considered to be native to the United States. And, plants that are native to other areas of the country such as the west or northwest, California… may be native to the United States, but are not considered to native to our area in New Jersey. Some plants may have a very wide native geographic range, and others may be much more limited. When selecting plants for your garden, it is important to pay attention to their native range and to choose plants that are native to our Central Jersey area.

Did you know that New Jersey is home to over 3000 species of native plants (as defined by the New Jersey Native Plant Society), offering tremendous variety as well as diversity of habitat and sustenance to the critters that evolved alongside with them? Mercer County also has its own unique set of plants defined as native to the county.

Since New Jersey’s animals, insects, and microorganisms have evolved in conjunction with our regional gasses, ferns, wildflowers, shrubs, and trees, they have developed symbiotic relationships and depend upon each other for their survival. Our native plants will attract and feed birds, bees, butterflies, small mammals in your yard and you can feel good about sustaining the food web in the habitat they need to survive.

So, how to choose

While our NJ natives always provide sustenance for some wildlife, there are some that provide special ecosystem value for their relative biomass, supporting the greatest number of wildlife species. They are called keystone native plants and are critical to the food web, and necessary for many wildlife to complete their life cycles. Every region of the country has different native plant communities. (Here in Ewing, we are in the Eastern Temperate Forests, Ecoregion 8. )

wildflower garden — Rudbeckia and Echinacea

If you have the room, you will get the biggest wildlife bang for your buck by planting a tree, particularly oaks. The Red oak (Quercus rubra) is NJ’s state tree and is particularly beautiful, but there are numerous oaks that are native to our state that provide great wildlife value. The Northern red oak grows up to 100 feet tall and is a good choice for a street tree because it is salt resistant. Oaks in general support over 436 species of caterpillars alone. Willows (in the shrub category) support 289 species. And then there are the flowering perennials. Top among them are the goldenrod and asters, Black-eyed Susans, and more. This author particularly loves the perennials that flower later in the season as they support butterflies and other insects as they begin their fall migrations, or prepare for the winter hibernation.

Members of the team will regale you with their favorites during the coming weeks. Through our promotion of Native Plant Month, Ewing and its citizens can engage and make a difference in our home landscapes. As invasive species overrun more and more of both our cultivated and wild spaces, native species that support local biodiversity play an increasingly important role. We ask that during Native Plant Month you start to dedicate some space, whether it be a container, your patio, or yard to make a difference and sustain our wildlife.

Every garden matters and can make a difference in our world of threatened ecosystems and loss of biodiversity. The Ewing Green Team created “Wild About Ewing” in 2018, an initiative in pursuit of certifying Ewing gardens with the National Wildlife Federation to support wildlife. Through this program, the Green Team encourages all Ewingites to create gardens that are more than just personal sanctuaries, but also refuges for birds, bees, toads, frogs, and many other small creatures with whom we share this world. Refuges where they can find a home that offers food, water, cover, a place to rear their young. Places that are free of unhealthy chemicals. If you are doing this, you are gardening for wildlife.

During National Pollinator Week we are reminded of the need to provide food and habitat for our threatened pollinators. These include bees, butterflies, beetles, moths, wasps, flies, and even the birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles that also assist with pollination chores. This need is critical because of the essential role these pollinators play in producing many crops. The sharp decline in their numbers is due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change.

Things You Can Do for Pollinators

Plant native plants (trees, shrubs, perennials, ground coves…) for pollinators. Use plants that provide nectar and pollen sources.
Eliminate or reduce the use of pesticides.
Provide a water source. Wildlife needs clean water to survive. It need not be large. Backyard ponds, bird baths, and puddles have immense value to creatures always looking for a clean, reliable source of water.
Plan out your garden to establish continuous bloom throughout the growing season so that there is food throughout the growing season.
Help pollinators to find your garden by creating large swaths of color of native or non-invasive plants.
Plant true native species. Avoid cultivars as they are bred for our pleasure, not that of our pollinators and other insect friends. Changing a native plant’s bloom period, color, fragrance, or flower shape could have serious detrimental effects on the hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife that may use that plant. Cultivars also lack the genetic diversity that will enable them to best adapt to changing environmental conditions.
Harsh weather and predators are constant threats to wildlife. Cover, such as rock or brush piles, evergreens, snags, and even man-made birdhouses and butterfly houses, all provide needed protection and places to nest. Pollinators and wildlife need wild areas.

If you too are alarmed about the extent of this crisis, we invite you to join us in being “Wild About Ewing” and gardening for pollinators this week and every week. To learn more, you can contact the Green Team at ewinggreenteam@gmail.com.