As you think about new plantings for your landscape, consider native plant species. This is a growing trend in gardening, so you should be able to find suitable plants at your local nursery. Whether you're looking for trees, shrubs, vines, perennials or annuals, native species were there before your Lakewood Ranch home and they deserve a space in your landscape. Here are some reasons why:
• They grow well. Native species of plants evolved in your area,
so they are well-adapted to your local climate and
conditions.
• They are being pushed out of their natural habitat by
non-natives. People have been planting species from Asia, Europe,
Australia-you name it -- for centuries. As a result, most people
have no clue about which species are native and which are not.
The vast majority of landscaping plants are not native to where
they are planted.
• Plants are the base of the food web in any ecosystem. When you
replace the native plants with non-natives, it changes
everything: the species of insects that feed on the plants, the
birds and other animals that feed on the insects, and so on,
leading to the extinction of some species. The world becomes
homogenous rather than diverse.
If you begin this spring and add a few native plants to your landscape each year, you'll be bringing nature back to your Lakewood Ranch home and helping the ecosystem.
If you're looking for a new Lakewood Ranch home where you can start planting, call Realtor® Ellen Ferber Evans at 941-773-6907 or Alan Evans at 941-773-6906 or email us at alan@lakewoodranchareahomes.com.
REMAX Alliance Group, 5411 University Parkway, Sarasota, Florida 34201.
Links:
Native plant species
http://plantanative.com/index.html
Insects
http://www.xerces.org/2011/12/29/insects-the-neglected-99-percent/
