Whether you’re excitedly planning a sprawling garden at your new home or are ready to revamp your current landscaping design, choosing the right plants for your area is essential. And while it’s tempting to cover your acreage in exotic plants from around the world, it turns out that locally grown plants are by far the best choice for your garden and the earth. While you might not be able to recreate a dense jungle in your own backyard, you can enjoy a yard that will flourish year after year.
Personal & Environmental Benefits of Choosing Locally Grown Plants
A yard filled with local foliage has more redeeming qualities than resilience: it will also keep money in your community and help you tread a lot lighter with your carbon footprint.
- Ability to Xeriscape: Coined by the Denver Water Authority in 1981, xeriscaping is a form of landscaping that makes use of less water to support your foliage. When you purchase plants locally, you’re purchasing plants that are ideal for the dry conditions here in the greater Colorado Springs area. If you import a tree or floral variety from somewhere like North Carolina or Georgia, the plant will need special resources to thrive and will probably need much more water to stay alive. Choosing locally grown plants will decrease the demands on the soil and help better manage runoff.
- Practicing permaculture: One of the key concepts of permaculture is the practice of sustainable land use – where the type and placement of landscaping is emphasized to preserve biodiversity of plant species. Much like the idea of xeriscaping, native plants that are adapted to the region in which they came from (indigenous species) will require less water and overall resources to thrive while benefiting other aspects of the community. The United States Environmental Protection Agency lists a few benefits of using native plants in your landscaping:
- Once well established, native plants are safer for you and your garden because they do not require fertilizers and pesticides to maintain.
- Choosing locally grown plants can improve your air quality. Because they require far less maintenance that would otherwise require lawnmowers, leaf blowers and other landscaping equipment; harmful carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and air toxins such as benzene can be reduced.
- Native plants attract butterflies, bees and birds that assist in naturally pollinating plants ensuring species survival throughout regions.
- You can get our feedback when you purchase from us. If you import plants from Hawaii and expect them to live in the arid Colorado climate, you might want to reconsider your purchase. Purchasing from us locally means we can guide you through your gardening learning curve and help maintain your foliage for years to come. We love answering questions about seasonal care for plants and flowers, transplanting plants and designing landscaping plans that will support your foliage choices. We’re familiar with the local terrain and can easily provide feedback on how your plants are maturing over time in relation to your personal property.
- The financial benefits add up for everyone. Local businesses make our community feel like home. When you support local businesses, everyone in the entire community benefits through innovation, service and well-made goods continually available. With fewer infrastructures to support, communities can keep taxes lower while keeping sprawl to a minimum. Having the ability to access what you plant locally means far less cost on transportation and burning of fossil fuels as well making it a sustainable choice with a big impact.
Not sure which locally grown plants will suit your yard? Contact the experts at Timberline – we’re perennial experts!
