Welcome to nature!

Native flora bringing life into private and public gardens

by Dr Reinhard Witt

A brief glance at the majority of gardens and parks says it all: We can see mainly sterile lawns, raked and cleanly mulched borders, rhododendron, forsythia, thuja hedges and exotic flowers. In contrast to all this, the following article by Dr Reinhard Witt is informing you about the manifold benefits of native plants.

It is paradoxical: To most people garden center plants are more familiar than the native flora of indigenous meadows or dry and steep grassland. Who is familiar with the hollyhock mallow or the harebell (veronica teucrium) or with its distinction from the long-leaved speedwell (veronica longifolia)? What about the black broom (cytisus nigricans), a beautiful, honey-scented small shrub? They all would be splendid bee forage plants. Yet they are nowhere to be found.
The results are fatal, not only as regards man’s general alienation from nature, but also for nature in particular, because only the native wild plants guarantee the survival of wildlife. Their ecological value is immense: On average an indigenous plant species is the forage base for ten herbivores, especially insects. And without herbivorous insects there is no fauna – no wild bees, caterpillars, leaf beetles, no grasshoppers and hoverflies. And therefore there are hardly any birds in gardens and parks, apart from common species like blackbirds, jays, magpies and Co., and there is no spotted flycatcher, because it hunts larger flying insects occurring only in places where many indigenous plants grow. And thus no goldfinch, because it eats the seeds of wild shrubs. Therefore natural gardens and green spaces are residual spaces for fauna and flora – and also for the human species.

The concept of the natural garden

Natural gardening can be realised if we use the native wild plants of our country. Here we distinguish between urban and rural areas. In the urban area, we use all the domestic wild plants, in free agriculture preferrably only regional species. According to the guidelines of specialized firms for semi-natural green areas, a genuine natural garden consists of at least 60% indigenous plants, but there are often 80% or more. Accordingly, it consists of a maximum of 40% non-native species and varieties, that is cultivated forms and exotics. It is of course entirely up to you how many native wild plants you will plant. Even gardens with less than 60% native wild plants are a valuable contribution to the preservation of our basis of life, especially in urban areas. Each native species is an improvement and a benefit for nature!
All landscaped habitats in the urban area might generally be semi-natural, or at least closer to nature, for example private gardens, public parks, traffic stripes, - islands and roadsides, experimental nature spaces such as schoolyards, kindergartens, playgrounds, commercial and industrial areas.

Many benefits

The natural garden concept combines many benefits: It is not only cheaper in the setting up and in the upkeep, but also environmentally friendly and resource saving. There is not so much need to interfere, because evolution (natural succession) and alteration (dynamics) are the core ideas. Correspondingly shaped areas are even more durable and resilient, especially when used intensively. With this approach pioneer, stress-tolerant and competitive plants are skillfully combined. It offers a variety of design options and phenotypes with onion plants, annuals and biennials, shrubs, small and large groves, and semi-natural roses. Here native animals are settling by themselves. Thus a diversity of experiences is created which appeals to all the senses, to large and small, to old and young. And what is best: Such a paradise, created by the work of human hands, will persist over very long periods of time, without us having to interfere significantly. This is exactly the principle of sustainability! By this term, meanwhile being excessively used for anything and everything, we mean the following:
-    regional potential of soil and building materials,
-    friendly use of materials and energy,
-    semi-natural rather than technical construction methods,
-    seeding and plants adapted to location and utilization,
-    natural propagation by seed or runners,
-    long-living (native) plants or semi-natural, self-renewing varieties,
-    crops of high ecological value for animals,
-    dynamic evolution and alteration,
-    sensitive accompanying maintenance.

Some disadvantages

Despite all these benefits there are also some disadvantages. In the late summer, for example, the semi-natural areas are no longer representative. Instead of many colorful flowers brown shades are dominating. From nature’s view this is hardly surprising, because for the wild plants it is now all about seed production, which in turn pleases the goldfinches and other seed eaters. Moreover, they are less attractive. Nature does not provide the same highly cultivated, effect-seeking varieties of plants as the world’s breeding laboratories. In addition, the natural garden idea often requires explanation. It must be accompanied by good press and public relations work, so that a layman can understand that the most beautiful flower meadows grow on gravel or rubble, and not just on rich topsoil. And finally, semi-natural flora has often been misunderstood and copied by pseudo-experts and thereby brought into disrepute.

How it works

Native shrubs and especially groves need time before they can develop their full strength, since their survival strategy consists in more or less longevity. In the worst case it may take a few years, which sometimes requires much patience. Skillful, habitat appropriate plant selection will certainly lead to success. If garden centers, nurseries and DIY markets are no reliable source of indigenous seeds and plants, where will we get these species from? This is no problem: 22 years ago the Verein für naturnahe Garten-und Landschaftsgestaltung/Naturgarten e.V. (Association for natural gardening and landscaping) was founded precisely for this reason. In its nationwide network all the wild plant lover’s heart desires can be found.     •

Source: Allgemeine Deutsche Imkerzeitung  ADIZ (General German beekeepers newspaper)
No. 7/2012

Contact: Dr Reinhard Witt, Quellenweg 20,
85570 Ottenhofen; Germany
E-mail: reinhard@reinhard-witt.de
Internet: www.reinhard-witt.de
Recommended reading
Reinhard Witt, Nachhaltige Pflanzungen und Ansaaten. Kräuter, Stauden und Sträucher. Für Jahrzehnte erfolgreich gärtnern.
Naturnah, praktisch, klimafest. Unkräuterlexikon und Pflegestrategien.( Sustainable plantings and seeding. Herbs and shrubs. Successful gardening for decades. Semi-natural, functional, in any climate. Weeds glossary and maintaining strategies.)

Order via book store: www.reinhard-witt.de

Information on the Internet
www.naturgarten.org
Association for natural gardening and landscaping
www.naturgarten-fachbetriebe.de
Certified specialized companies for planning, design, wild shrubs and seeds in cooperation with Bioland
www.naturgartenplaner.de
Certified organic natural gardens, school yards, playgrounds, kindergartens, public parks

(Translation Current Concerns)