Hi everyone! I am very new to this forum. My questions are: Is it bad to plant non-native plants? and Are gardens actually good for the environment, because they steal pollinators away from other plants?
I'm interested to know what you want or what are you expecting from your own garden? How are you going to use it and what are your priorities? Gardens are very personal spaces..in my view you've got to create something 'for you'. Creating a garden based on what other people or equally what the media would like you to do is folly. You've got enjoy the hobby..it's not a guilt trip.
In reality, we have very few truly native plants, most arrived across the ice bridge.
Pretty much the same as the people 😉
Its important to remember that you can’t have the pollinators if there aren’t the right plants for their larvae to feed on … and also remember that a diversity of flower forms is important to cater for the differing requirements of different pollinators … the nectar of some flower types is inaccessible to some pollinating insects.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Not far from my home is a lovely piece of woodland, managed by a wildlife group and open to the public. There are thousands of trees. We were chatting to a warden, some time ago, and my husband, who is a tree buff, remarked that he had spotted a beautiful young red oak. Just the one. Oh yes, cried the warder, we're taking that out! What? It's not a NATIVE. His tone suggested a degenerate of such depravity that he could hardly admit to having neglected this purge for so long. When we spoke of its beauty - and singleness- he clearly could not understand. We were in different worlds. Yet the birds and red squirrels didn't seem to mind. And it was just one....
And it's also worth noting how easily this type of concern can be co-opted by xenophobia and some mad pursuit of some imagined "purity". The simple RHS advice on what our gardens can contribute to the wider ecosystem, is to aim for flowering plants spread through the seasons so pollinators can find food. With so many gardens paved over and covered in plastic, whenever we put the effort to grow something it's a net benefit to the environment. Just remember a domestic garden isn't a nature reserve, but it can be a friendly place for lots of creatures.
But the pollinators have got to exist in the first place ... they don't appear fully formed ... they are caterpillars that need specific host plants to feed on ... just any old green plant won't do ......... so alongside flowering plants we need to provide their 'nursery plants' or, no matter how many flowers we've got, if there aren't any caterpillars turning into butterflies and moths ..... there won't be any butterflies and moths.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Space is also finite in the average garden...time to talk to the neighbours too if we want to be more organised. I never said that advice was the end of it all but a good principle to keep in mind.
I'd just like to know the reason for the initial questions. Perhaps @tinkeradrewLFpEbi5E could enlighten us
As with most things in life, a balance is what's needed, but that's easier for some people than others. People certainly shouldn't feel guilty about what they plant in their gardens. Bit too much 'up on a soapbox' creeping into everything nowadays IMO. It isn't a case of 'it has to be one thing or the other', but it seems to me that many people are being made to feel that it is.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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How are you going to use it and what are your priorities?
Gardens are very personal spaces..in my view you've got to create something 'for you'. Creating a garden based on what other people or equally what the media would like you to do is folly. You've got enjoy the hobby..it's not a guilt trip.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Its important to remember that you can’t have the pollinators if there aren’t the right plants for their larvae to feed on …
and also remember that a diversity of flower forms is important to cater for the differing requirements of different pollinators … the nectar of some flower types is inaccessible to some pollinating insects.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I don't think so. They are just concerned with wildlife in free fall. I'm certain I have never heard anyone argue that people shouldn't have gardens.
Oh yes, cried the warder, we're taking that out! What? It's not a NATIVE.
His tone suggested a degenerate of such depravity that he could hardly admit to having neglected this purge for so long.
When we spoke of its beauty - and singleness- he clearly could not understand. We were in different worlds. Yet the birds and red squirrels didn't seem to mind. And it was just one....
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Perhaps @tinkeradrewLFpEbi5E could enlighten us
As with most things in life, a balance is what's needed, but that's easier for some people than others. People certainly shouldn't feel guilty about what they plant in their gardens.
Bit too much 'up on a soapbox' creeping into everything nowadays IMO. It isn't a case of 'it has to be one thing or the other', but it seems to me that many people are being made to feel that it is.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...