Choice of Plants
Although some exotics may also be included, the wild garden will usually predominantly feature a variety of native species. Generally these will be a part of the pre-existing natural ecology of an area, but managed in a way that is enhanced rather than damaged by the process of cultivation.
As in other forms of gardening, aesthetics plays a central role in deciding what is 'right', but constraints regarding issues such as seed provenance also apply. Wild gardens are by definition examples of water-wise gardening, as the natural species of any ecoregion or micro-climate are those optimal for local water supplies.
There are a few super-beneficial plants that bloom for a long time, and yield abundant nectar and pollen, or bear fruit throughout the year. These plants, such as the Joe-Pye weed, wild figs (Ficus species), and Sandpaper Raisin (Grewia flavescens) support a whole community of beneficial insects and small vertebrates. Goldenrod is another example.
Essential to any true understanding of the wildlife gardening concept is an appreciation of the symbiotic relationships between plants and animals. This interdependence is the result of species evolving alongside of one another over millennia. When one wildlife gardens, one acts always in accordance with the idea of keeping plants that are native to the area preeminent in the garden. Exotics, though they may provide shelter or food, will not compete well with those plants the native animals have always depended upon, either for the nectar and fruits they bear, or the invertebrates they attract.
It is also a good idea to replicate a natural habitat (even if only partially) in the garden, especially if that habitat was the original vegetation of that area, before urbanisation erased it. A good example would be forest in England; Cape Flats fynbos in Cape Town, South Africa; or prairie in the middle USA.
Read more about this topic: Wildlife Garden
Famous quotes containing the words choice of, choice and/or plants:
“Come and take choice of all my library,
And so beguile thy sorrow.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Once women begin to question the inevitability of their subordination and to reject the conventions formerly associated with it, they can no longer retreat to the safety of those conventions. The woman who rejects the stereotype of feminine weakness and dependence can no longer find much comfort in the cliché that all men are beasts. She has no choice except to believe, on the contrary, that men are human beings, and she finds it hard to forgive them when they act like animals.”
—Christopher Lasch (b. 1932)
“... feminism is a political term and it must be recognized as such: it is political in women’s terms. What are these terms? Essentially it means making connections: between personal power and economic power, between domestic oppression and labor exploitation, between plants and chemicals, feelings and theories; it means making connections between our inside worlds and the outside world.”
—Anica Vesel Mander, U.S. author and feminist, and Anne Kent Rush (b. 1945)