Entomologist Doug Tallamy recommends planting a native garden, no matter how vast

Doug Tallamy is not necessarily interested in destroying your grass. He only wants to reduce its size.

Tallamy, an entomologist and novelist, is concerned about America’s decades-long fixation on the 4-inch-thick green carpets that our culture values and that some homeowners’ organizations require their members to maintain.

He is concerned because lawns interrupt the natural world, upon which all life depends, and the upkeep of this most extensive of all U.S. “crops” imposes a substantial expense on the environment. Americans use vast quantities of water, fertilizer, and pollution-emitting machinery to maintain approximately 40 million acres of ecological dead zones.

To lower the environmental costs of lawns, we must lessen their imprint. Tallamy stated that we should reduce the size of our lawns and replace them with native plants that were present before we imported grass from Asia to tame our surroundings.

Tallamy, 71, noted that there is no immediate need to rip up lawns. He stated, “The message is that there is room for compromise.” “I don’t say ‘get rid of your lawn’; I say’reduce it’.”

We will be able to assist humanity better adapt to a planet that is already undergoing fast change due to the climate catastrophe if we stop crowding out nature.

Traditional lawns provide little for insects.

A key issue for Tallamy, whose work involves the study of insects, is that for insects, lawns are like an empty buffet with little to offer. This is significant since the majority of birds and mammals do not eat plants directly for breakfast; instead, they devour the insects that eat plants.

If we exclusively grow the exotic ornamentals we formerly imported from Asia to satisfy our desire for exclusivity, insects will have little to eat.

According to Tallamy, for insects, lawns are like an empty banquet with little to offer.

Photograph by Doug Tallamy

In a world separated from nature and among a species that views itself as independent from nature, it is possible to overlook the essential truth: plants are the origin of life. They convert sunlight into energy and use it to produce food.

The global population of insects is already declining. If insect populations, or “the little things that govern the planet,” as naturalist E.O. Wilson defined them, continue to decline, so may the populations of all other organisms that consume them. This is bad news for the food web upon which we depend for sustenance.

Native landscaping improves ecological health.

It is simple to assume that there will always be sufficient food and water from nature’s invisible vending machine. However, according to Tallamy, there is no assurance that nature’s gift will continue to benefit humanity.

Tallamy stated that individuals should only grow native plants in their location. Local flora and fauna, especially pollinators, are provided with sustainable habitats by native plants.

Native plants provide wildlife with sustainable habitats.

Additionally, native plants have the added benefit of being easier to maintain. They have already adapted to the local climate, making them an excellent option for both rookie and experienced gardeners. There are drought-tolerant plants for Denver and prairie plants that “thrive even during dry summers and snowy winters,” according to Bre Bauerly, an outreach coordinator for native landscapes in Minneapolis.

According to Tallamy, who receives a deluge of letters including images of hummingbirds and butterflies that have returned to freshly native gardens, removing lawns to make room for more plant diversity is a “selfish gesture” that is “not only for fun.” “Not because we enjoy nature. Because we require it.”

It is the obligation of everyone, not just landowners.

Tim Stout, who has spent nearly half a century protecting 400 acres of woodland and farms in Vermont, recognizes the need to preserve environment. But he grew weary of hearing about what should be done and resolved to act.

Stout told Insider that raising a big amount of money would take time and come with restrictions. He used his own money and asked for grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to purchase trees for anyone willing to plant them. He stated, “A tree seedling costs ten dollars.” “So what if I donated thirty trees to the city?”

Stout, who has planted 28 oak trees, partially attributes the idea to Tallamy’s book “The Nature of Oaks.” Oaks are the gold standard for carbon storage, a major contributor to the global climate issue. Oaks support about 500 species of caterpillars. In turn, birds rely on caterpillars.)

Since 2021, Lisa Sabitini, an editor who has planted over fifty native trees and shrubs, has joined the “Native Plants of the Northeast” Facebook page, which invites newcomers. Participating in that conversation helped her determine what to plant in her garden.

Tallamy stated that everyone should plant the plants that are native to their region.

Minnesota Native Landscapes

Tallamy, who teaches courses on wildlife and entomology at the University of Delaware, stated that everyone may contribute. Taking out a larger lawn could have a greater impact, but sometimes “making a difference” can be as simple as placing a flowerpot of milkweed on a balcony for endangered monarch butterflies to utilize as a nectar stop during their migration.

Sometimes, according to Stout, it resembles the work of Tom Estill, a science teacher from Rutland, Vermont, who has planted more than 200 American chestnut trees in school and church yards over the previous decade. A fungal infection has reduced the number of American chestnut trees to less than 1,000, according to one estimate.

It doesn’t take much to get started

Bauerly advised individuals to begin a large seedling project using bare soil. If you already have a garden, you can begin by incorporating native plants.

Native landscaping is essentially geographical, however the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder can provide choices based on a user’s ZIP code. On the website of Tallamy’s group, Homegrown National Park, are tools such as locations in a dozen states where native landscapers can acquire plants and seeds.

Tallamy wants individuals to comprehend the stakes. “There are more people on the world than it can support, so we must be really cautious about how we treat it,” he said. “We’re not currently doing that. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility.”

Our predecessors conducted a millennia-long fight against nature, but in order to survive, we must restore it. Thankfully, according to Tallamy, interest is exploding, and the gospel of native plants appears to be spreading almost as quickly as the invasive Oriental bittersweet plant.

“Nature is not optional,” remarked Tallamy. “Not just tree huggers” are dependent on healthy ecosystems.