‘The Beauty and Ecology of Native Plants in the Landscape’

COURT HOUSE – Clemenson Farms Native Nursery presented “Growing Native: The Beauty and Ecology of Native Plants in the Landscape” Feb. 11 at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County. The goal of the presentation was to educate those in attendance about native plants, where they are found, biodiversity, invasive alternatives and invasive control. Master gardeners, landscapers, homeowners and educators attended the event.
Christine Clemenson and her husband own Clemenson Farms and have an inventory of 95 percent native plants, and the rest are specific for pollinators. The farm is wholesale and caters to landscapers and municipalities. However, three times a year, they transfer the farm into a retail market. These sales end up being a busy time for the farm as they try to bring in more activities such as garden trains, talks and demonstrations on butterfly gardening. “Trying to educate people – that’s one of our goals,” Clemenson said.
Clemenson’s presentation focused on native plants and the beauty and benefit of planting natives in a garden. She explained that native plants get their name because they evolve and/or originate in a particular location and have adapted to the specific environment. That environment is made up of soil, microbes, rainfall, climate and temperature. These plants also become part of the community and work with the animals and other plants in the area.
During the presentation, Clemenson went through the benefits of planting native and one of those, which is a motivating factor for a gardener, is that once the native plant is established, there is then less maintenance for the gardener. While this does not mean a gardener can establish the plant and then leave it alone, it does mean that it requires less watering and less grooming than non-native plants.
Not only did Clemenson explain what native plants are, she also went into detail about the effects that pesticides and herbicides have on wildlife in the area. Sixty to 70 million birds are poisoned annually. The pesticides and herbicides also affect water, but New Jersey has high-quality lakes and streams that need proper drainage to keep the pollutants out of the water. Native plants prevent runoff from polluting the lakes, streams and other bodies of water because of their deep roots. Rain gardens are a great way for homeowners to get involved in reducing runoff.
The benefits of planting native include water pollution and also lack of many foods that are consumed daily because non-native plants are not attractive to the pollinators. However, there are also economic benefits to planting native. Fishing, hunting and bird watching are all popular careers and past times in the Cape May area. Without native plants, the birds wouldn’t be attracted to meadows and forests. If deer have no food to eat in the forests, there will not be many left for the hunters.
One of the most important things to know about native plants is that just because a plant is native to New Jersey, that doesn’t mean that it is native to the particular area that a person lives in. There are different physiographic regions in New Jersey, Cape May County being in the outer coastal plains. The differences in soil among the regions will affect how some native plants in one region grow in another. Hydrangea, lilac, peonies and impatients are examples of acceptable non-native plants that will still provide nectar the insects.
Invasive Plants
The second part of the presentation was given by Evelyn Lovitz and focused on invasive plants, which are defined as organisms that did not originate in a given area and are harmful to local ecology. Bugs will not eat these plants and they compete for space, sun and water with other plants.
Invasive plants have no natural predators so they are stronger than native plants and are harder to get rid of. They also draw pollinators away from native species. Evelyn explained that these species can be introduced both accidentally and intentionally, although not maliciously.
Invasive species can be introduced accidentally on clothing, shoes, or even on ships. However, they have been introduced intentionally for soil erosion control and medicinal purposes. While there are efforts to eradicate invasive plants, that will take time and may never happen fully.
For more information on Clemenson Farms Native Nursery, go to www.clemensonfarmsnativenursery.com.
To contact Jennifer Post, email jpost@cmcherald.com.