Plant More Natives

Plant More Natives, LLC was established in response to a growing concern over habitat fragmentation and overuse of non-native plant species in our residential landscapes.

Once upon a time, the eastern half of our country was canopy covered. Yes, canopy covered by trees. How do we know this? When a farm field is abandoned and left to natural succession, massive hardwoods, such as Oaks, Maples, and Hickories, eventually take over and provide an environment for the growth of understory trees and other shade-loving plants.

Over the last 400+ years we have modified 95% of the natural landscape for farming, housing, and commerce without an understanding of the long-term implications. Seventy percent of the contiguous forest along the eastern seaboard has been eliminated, leaving behind ever-shrinking habitat islands for wildlife and more than 32 million acres of the default non-native landscape.... the lawn. These habitat islands lack the plant diversity necessary to support a diverse group of insects and animals.

Simultaneously, we have backfilled our modified landscapes primarily with non-native plants from all over the world. Preliminary results from ongoing research suggest that non-native plant species simply cannot support enough insect biomass required for healthy ecosystems. Because we need insects to transfer energy from the first trophic level (plants) to higher trophic levels (animals), when insect populations struggle to survive, higher life forms will begin to struggle as well.

Through our landscape design business, we encourage customers to carefully consider how much lawn they really need for play, entertaining, and transitions between areas of the yard. We then design and plant the remaining space with predominantly native trees, shrubs and perennials, creating a diverse and continuous canopy of vegetation (food) for insects. We remind everyone that terrestrial birds feed their chicks protein-packed insects, not seeds and berries. If we feed the bugs, we will ultimately feed the birds, their chicks, and many other animals within the food web of which we all are a part of. We hope you'll take a moment to read our posts, visit our store, and then Plant More Natives... https://www.plantmorenatives.com