I would rather find myself in wilderness...
than lose myself in the city.
Beta Release
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All Green Thumbs
Wildlanders.com introduced the concept of Urban Container Native Plant Gardening (UCNPG) to our website in March 2004. For too long we have plowed under our native habitats only to replace them with roads, buildings, shopping centers, and airports. Wildlanders.com is an active proponent in sustainability and the first step begins with the re-establishing or reclamation of our native ecology to urban areas. That first step begins by empowering the average home owner, business or municipality with the ability to re-introduce native plants through native plant landscaping and the use of the age old tradition of potted plants.
Native plants can be grown by nearly anyone. If you have an outdoor patio or verandah, then you have the ability to utilize potted plants and support both the local flora and the local wildlife. Growing native plants provides many benefits:
Containment: Some native plants are wonderful ornamentals but tend to send out runners and otherwise colonize and invade outward into other areas. Intensive management is one of the reasons some natives are not utilized by landscaping companies. By growing these aggressive native plants in containers, you limit their ability to propogate to unwanted areas in your home or business landscaping. Containers also provide a means to ‘re-arrange’ your wildlife and landscape setting.
Habitat: Many of our native birds, animals, butterflies and other insects are in decline as a result of habitat loss. Habitat is primarily defined by an appropriate composition of native plants. Birds are the prime example. Nearly all indigenous bird species are dependent upon native plants. While some bird species will use exotic ornamentals for food, those same exotic plants may not have the appropriate habitat for nesting. The result many times is that the native bird species go into decline even though they have adequate food sources. Most wild birds have developed specific habitat requirements for nesting, courtship, cover, and feeding which the exotic ornamentals cannot replace. Ornamentals may replace one requirement, but the birds need all four requirements to successfully feed, mate, nest and otherwise sustain their populations.
Migration: Native plants that produce berries and seeds will also support birds and insects migrating during the spring and fall. As an example, the monarch butterfly is one native insect species that migrates in the United States. Lady bugs also migrate and are another example. Urban environments (Seattle/Tacoma, San Jose, Denver, New York, etc) have resulted in the loss of not just millions, but billions of acres of food sources that would otherwise support these migrations. In addition, our urban and rural farming have also replaced many of the native berry yielding shrubs and trees. Five hundred acres of cabbage has no ability to support the migration of waxwings and thrushes. The result is that entire geographical regions have become sterilized in regards to food sources for both year-round and migrating indigenous birds and insect species.
Native Wildlife Displacement: Native bluebirds in the US have, in part, gone into decline as a result of nesting competition with non-native english sparrows and starlings. English sparrows, in particular, have very low requirements for habitat and will easily occupy urban areas in vast numbers placing further competitive pressures on the few native species that remain. They will then invade the few remaining parks and open spaces in the city. In particular, English sparrows are very aggressive relative to our native species and will invade the nest of other birds, killing the eggs, young and even the parents that attempt to protect their nests or cannot escape the nest box. This is a common problem with bluebird species across the US and has been reported as one of the factors in bluebird declines. By providing native plants in urban environments, a wider variety of habitat is created providing additional nesting that in many cases is not preferred by the exotic english sparrows and starlings. Native plants may also provide for the re-introduction of the few species that can compete and drive off English sparrows.
Diversity: Nearly everyone finds value in a diversity of birds. But our cities are primarily havens for a very small subset of species (in most cases, the same exotic species mentioned above). By re-introducing native plants, you increase the diversity of habitat and, in turn, the diversity of wildlife species. Mountain Ash is a preferred feed of cedar waxwings. It is not uncommon to draw flocks of these beautiful birds to your apartment or home simply by adding one or two containers of this small to mid-sized shrub.
Please help us in reversing the trend of lost habitat in our urban cities. Commit to a life style that includes the growing of native plants. Lobby your native metropolitan district, counties, and cities - request the use of native plants in building and landscaping projects. Pass city ordinances that require businesses to landscape with native plants and otherwise provide for native habitat. Become actively involved in sustainability and the reclamation of our native ecology.
Be cool, be green, be seen… be a Wildlander!
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