We learned about the importance of having trees, shrubs and plants because they absorb, then store carbon in their tissue instead of releasing carbon into the air.

However, we didn’t discuss the importance of planting native trees, shrubs and plants. You see, native trees, shrubs and plants attract our native insects who lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars.  The nutritious caterpillars are eaten by birds, their young and other creatures.  Birds & other creatures are then eaten by larger animals and us.  This process is called “the web of life”, without the web working WE can’t survive.

Since WW2, diverse native plant communities have been indiscriminately bulldozed and replaced with concrete, buildings and non-native plants, especially turfgrass.  Turfgrass of all our plantings contributes the least to the web of life.  Many of our insects have lost the greenery they need to reproduce and that is why so many species are becoming extinct.

Won’t you help regenerate lost habitat by replacing a little of your lawn with native trees, bushes & plants or adding native plants to your patio containers? If you need help to do this, here are some helpful resources…..

Good resources:
Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy; https://homegrownnationalpark.org/
https://xerces.org