Doug Tallamy Webinar - Launching Nature at Home sponsored by the North Carolina native Plant Society, Cape Fear Audubon, New Hanover County Coop. Ext. and Arboretum, and Master Gardeners of New Hanover County
This is great! I learned that I was doing damage by pulling up those little oak seedlings and pulling down the Virginia creeper. I will remove some of both but not all after listening to and watching Doug Tallamy..many thanks!
Planted an oak in our backyard a year or 2 after we bought our house 13 years ago. That oak was a little stick, maybe 6" tall. It is now 20 feet or more tall, and beautiful. What's not to enjoy?
I am now comparing and thinking about videos on sustainable gardening, low waste living and urbanism, and I am curious which approach is considered the best for our environment and our earth: 1. live in an apartment or condo in a city, walk or bike or take bus whenever possible, and let the city grow native plants in public area; 2. live in a single family house with a big yard and grow some native plants; or 3. live in a small urban single family house or town house with a tiny yard, grow a few food and non-invasive ornamental plants.
The best for the environment would always be using 100% native plants wherever you end up living. They're the foundation for all life, any space taken away from native plants is taken away from nature!
The problem with #1 is that most cities use native plants very rarely, they rely on nurseries and landscapers who still don't focus on natives, and when cities do plant native trees or shrubs they're often surrounded by concrete which menas they don't support insects, most of which need leaf litter or soft soil under the tree to pupate or overwinter. In #2, the recommendation is to use 70% natives and the other 30 can be ornamental non-invasive non-natives, food plants, etc. In #3, the same ratio applies, there are beautiful smaller natives, too. If you live in the mid-Atlantic region check out the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (MGNV) RU-vid channel and website. There's a ton of info there, even if you're not in the mid-Atlantic region the methods and design information are wonderful. The info sheets on their website are 1-page plant guides.
Although most food crops are improved and many are introduced, growing them at home has to be a win. Where will it be grown if not at your house? Even organic growers can have monocrops...
