Native plants versus non-native plants for your garden

Plants of all kinds exist in the environment. Native species They are those that grow, develop and reproduce in a territory. That is to say, they originate from the place where they develop or grow, which have not been introduced by man from parts other than the place where they are found. It is sometimes confused with an endemic species. These are the ones that are only found in a certain geographic area.

In this post we are going to see the importance of native species for the environment and especially for gardening, if you want to have plants at home or in your garden.

Native plants and their importance

Native plants are important in order to maintain the stability of ecosystems. Native plants coexist with other living beings in harmony and are part of their cycles. In other words, many animal or plant species have adapted their way of living to indigenous species and without them they could not survive.

The native plants of the place have associated insects that help plant growth or control pests, etc. They also serve as food for other animals. What happens when an exotic species enters an ecosystem? Well, it can become a pest because there are fewer insects or animals that can feed on it. Between native species there is an ecological balance by which the number of individuals in the populations is controlled according to the available resources and the territory. However, non-native or exotic species do not participate in this balance, since evolution has not affected them.

Native species in gardening

For a sustainable use of irrigation water, native plants offer better performance since they are adapted to the environmental conditions in which they live and have developed. However, non-native species they require other amounts of water and are not adapted in the same way. Therefore, it contributes to an increase in water consumption and wastage.

The natives are used to weather conditions, flooding, drought and type of soil. The exotics often cannot bear the physical and biological conditions of the new place and die. Some aquatic and marsh species, which grow densely on the banks of rivers, serve as a refuge for birds and other species of aquatic fauna, which purify the waters.

In addition, in terms of competition between species, the alien plants act as rivals and compete for the resources of the territory with the native ones. Sometimes they are capable of becoming predators, carriers of disease, or disrupting the natural habitat.

What must be done to have a sustainable garden?

We have to avoid acquiring non-native plants for our garden even if they are showy and pretty. There are many native species such as trees and shrubs that are also very beautiful and have an ornamental function. You should avoid taking ferns from the mountains, or any plant that is in its natural habitat. Since there are many at risk of extinction and it is also very difficult for it to adapt to the conditions of another site.

There are also techniques such as reforestation of the land where we have built a country house or cabin with native species of the area. This favors the regeneration and formation of the soil. When there is no vegetation in an area, the amount of water that seeps from rain into the subsoil is reduced, and without that infiltration there are no permanent springs that help rivers carry water throughout the year.

When we have native plants in our garden, a natural balance will be created between the water, the insects that pollinate the plants and between the cycles of the plants themselves that, in harmony, will develop. Otherwise, with non-native species, the balance would be brokenirrigation patterns would change, insects would have no plants to feed on, and the plants themselves could become pests.