One of the best ways we can start to restore the health of the land and ecosystem that surround us is by planting native plants. Native plants are crucial for local ecosystem health because they have longstanding and productive roles to play in your area’s particular web of living connections. They feed local species of insects which in turn feed the local birds. They feed birds and other animals directly with their nuts and berries. They sustain local pollinators, which in turn help to support the broader reproductive health of the surrounding plants (which require pollinators to make new seeds). Local species require less watering because they are well adapted to the local climate. And there are countless other interactions that native species have with one another that make the local ecosystem healthy, resilient, robust, and life-generating. It is ironic that the most beautiful garden in the world can actually be a food desert for the local ecosystem if it is planted entirely with non-native species, because the local insects and other animals simply don’t eat the leaves, nuts, or fruits they produce. So planting at least a significant portion of your garden with native species is key.
A little while back, I had a conversation with a family friend who is a landscape architect, and his personal soap box, for a long time, has been native species. He spoke to me about the crucial need for them to be planted and this got me to start rethinking how I managed the land I had stewardship over. I began to imagine a movement where everyone started to treat at least a portion of their garden or yard as a local nature preserve – a place devoted to supporting and sustaining the local ecosystem.
What if the land we have stewardship over – whether it’s a little square in front of our house next to the street, or a more substantial back yard – doesn’t exist for us to use only for our own pleasure? What if God has given us whatever land we have as a place to tend so that it might be a productive and healthy contributor to the local ecosystem? What if the land isn’t really ours at all, but rather God’s – and we have been entrusted with the ancient Gen 1-2 calling to tend it, protect it, and nurture it so that it can be fruitful?
Biblically, I think this is very clearly our calling – to tend to whatever plot we have and intentionally support its health and, by extension, its productive contribution to the broader health of the local ecosystem – plants, animals, air, water, and people. And one of the best ways we can do this is by planting native species.
There is an organization called Homegrown National Park (www.homegrownnationalpark.org) that is a wonderful resource for planting native species. The whole concept behind the organization is that we, together, plot by plot, garden by garden, might plant more and more native species and through this build the ecological health of our neighborhoods so that our normal living spaces might become increasingly supportive of the network of local life. The website has an interactive map where you can register your home and continue to update it with more and more native species as you plant them. It also has numerous resources on what kinds of native species to plant and where you can buy them.
Restoring our local plots harkens back to our original calling in Genesis 1-2, as well as the great restoration inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection and envisioned in the Rev 21 Renewed Heavens and Earth. We stand in between these two Biblical sign posts and in the midst of a global ecological crisis, with two hands, a heart, the Spirit of God, and whatever small land we have. We can start a restoration movement here, in our own homes, gardens, and yards.
I’ve planted a bunch of native species this spring and registered on Homegrown National Park. I invite you to join me – and please let me know if you do!
RESOURCES:
Homegrown National Park: www.homegrownnationalpark.org
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education native plants sale: https://shop.schuylkillcenter.org/native-plants
“Regreening the Desert” Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDgDWbQtlKI
“Kiss the Ground” documentary – you can find it on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play, and Amazon Prime
Tree Tenders (PHS): https://phsonline.org/programs/tree-programs
HP Community Garden – Contact Mike Wilcox at huntingparkgarden@gmail.com
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