Native Plants Matter

 by Adrian Willing

Native plants are crucial to preserving what remains of our region’s indigenous biodiversity and ecological heritage. Without native plants, our region becomes an ecological desert for the pollinating insects that are essential to our survival. 

Virginia native plants provide food for pollinators that pollinate over one-third of Virginia’s fruit and vegetable crops. They create healthy, attractive communities, high-quality wildlife habitat, and are foundational to the health and well-being of our ecosystems.

Biodiversity: Countless insect species rely exclusively on natives as host plants for their complete life cycles. Non-natives occasionally provide nectar or shelter but cannot sustain local insect populations. Without soft-bodied Lepidoptera caterpillars, birds cannot raise their young. A typical clutch requires 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars before fledging.

Food Security: Native plants support numerous wild pollinators and other beneficial insects that are critical to food and other crop production. Despite an overreliance on the non-native European honeybees that have left farms vulnerable, researchers estimate that wild pollinators account for half of the pollination services under current practices.

Clean Water: Native plants tend to have deeper root systems, which are effective in stabilizing soil erosion and treating stormwater runoff more effectively than non-native plants.

Sustainable landscaping: Native plants are generally less maintenance-intensive than non-natives. They require less fertilizing, irrigation, and mulch, therefore it’s not only sustainable but more cost-effective compared to traditional non-native plants used in commercial landscaping.

In addition to planting natives, merely leaving as much natural landscape intact as possible when new buildings/additions are constructed protects the local soil and retains the mature trees that provide food and shelter for wildlife as well elevates the aesthetics of any area.