By Susan Palmer-Wetherald

A volunteer oak tree seedling protected from the deer with a wire basket. Susan Palmer-Wetherald

When we moved into our new home in Woodstock two years ago, with its large lawn and more traditional and non-native landscape, it seemed so quiet and still, with few birds and insects – not what I remembered from my childhood days here. Our observations align with the scientific reports of wildlife decline. Cornell reports that North American bird populations have dropped by nearly 30% since 1970, and native bees and other pollinators have experienced similar declines, threatening agricultural productivity and our natural ecosystem. Wanting to take action, we learned about the role of native plants in supporting wildlife, and that the National Wildlife Foundation (NWF), among others, recommends that yards strive for 70% native plants to promote biodiversity. With that goal in mind, we began planting native plants. As a complete newbie to gardening, I’ve made a few mistakes along the way, but I hope that my lessons learned may be of use to those wanting to plant more natives.

My first step was to get a general picture of the plants on our property – trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns, sedges, and grasses – identifying what’s native, non-native, and invasive – mostly by using apps on my phone. NWF and other sources showed me what is native to our specific ecoregion. I identified prevalent natives, such as milkweed, asters, and Black-eyed Susans, many typical non-native ornamental plants, and highly detrimental invasives like burning bush. We’re using multiple methods to remove the non-natives and invasives and replacing them with native plants.

I learned that it does not take much effort to promote and protect the native plants we found. We saw the emergence of native wildflowers, ferns, sedges and tree seedlings simply by decreasing our mowing area and removing sod, which allowed patches of wildflowers and other plants to spread. With heavy deer pressure, I’m protecting the oak, maples, and pine seedlings with wire baskets, and will fence them as they become taller. In our meadow, which seemed to be mostly old lawn area, I weed whacked areas of non-native grass in the fall and spread seeds from the already present milkweed and goldenrod.

I learned that it’s not necessary to spend a lot of money to buy native plants. Buying many mature plants the first year was an expensive misstep. I was eager to see an immediate impact and my impatience blew my budget. But the upside was that we quickly saw more pollinators – a great incentive to keep on going. Another mistake was the purchase of some cultivars, rather than true natives; cultivars (plants selectively bred or cloned by humans for specific traits like color or size) are not as beneficial for wildlife. I also learned of the importance of keystone plants, which play a critical role in holding up the ecosystem, so I prioritized those native plants. Growing native plants from seed, such as by winter sowing, is economical and is my main method now. Asters, yarrow, bee balms, mountain mints and native grasses are some plants that can be grown from seed sown in April and May.

Native trees and shrubs have enormous environmental and wildlife impact. After purchasing more mature potted trees and shrubs, I learned that bare-root trees and shrubs are much cheaper and can be less prone to failure. I also planted acorns in the fall and am hoping for oak seedlings this year. Oaks are a powerhouse keystone tree: 445 caterpillar species use this tree as a host. Entomologist Doug Tallamy has found that “Ninety-six percent of terrestrial birds rear their young on insects.” A pair of chickadees, for example, needs more than 5,000 caterpillars to raise their chicks.

We’ve not yet seen the results of our most intensive initiative. We dug up part of our lawn and sowed a native grass and wildflower meadow mix. It will take another two years to see this area fully in bloom, but replacing the lawn monoculture with such a diverse and large amount of plants should have a significant impact on wildlife.

We are fortunate in this area to have so many useful resources on native planting, such as Sustainable Woodstock, Vermont Center for Ecostudies, garden clubs, plant sales held by the C.R.A.F.T. program at WUHSMS, and numerous Vermont and regional retailers that sell ecoregion-specific plants and seeds. NWF and other science-based online resources and publications by Doug Tallamy and others have been key to my education. While getting to 70% of native plants on our property is our goal, I can see that even one plant makes a big difference. Last summer, I saw our first hummingbird ever, feeding on a cardinal flower we had planted. I’m looking forward to what this spring will bring.