By Jill Draper
Homeowner Pam Frost looks out from her porch at hundreds of tulips, daffodils, iris, Lenten rose and naked lady lilies growing in the yard and issues a stern verdict. “They’ve all got to go.”
Those plants are beautiful, but not that exciting for the local birds, bees and butterflies she wants to attract and support, says the former master gardener, who dug up most of the grass in her small Brookside lot more than 20 years ago. Back then she assumed anything that bloomed, including “the latest, greatest, pretty hybrids” was good. “I wasn’t picky at all,” she says.
Now she knows that attracting and supporting are not the same thing. For example, butterflies may flit from one exotic blossom to another, but caterpillars (their juvenile stage) can only survive by eating certain plants. And many baby birds can only survive by eating caterpillars. It’s all connected, and plants that come from Asia and Europe as well as hybrids that are a mix of two species usually are not part of that connection.
What’s so great about a yard that supports birds, bees and butterflies? “Such a silly question,” answers Frost, who says the beauty of nature and the pleasure of being out amongst it is one of the best things in life.
When Frost was training to be a master gardener, she wrote a research paper on the history of lawns, discovering that grass mixed with clover, violets and other broadleaf plants was tolerated in lawns until after World War II when chemical companies began marketing to a new customer—suburban homeowners. Today’s lawn is expected to be a perfectly green monoculture of grass. This feat almost always requires weedkillers, she notes.
“I don’t think people realize the harm they’re doing to themselves—and their children and dogs and cats—as well as nature,” Frost says. “Poisons are not our friends. They make things beautiful, but it’s a false beauty.”
In search of a truer beauty, Frost has decided to hire a local landscaper who specializes in native plant design. One firm she’s considering is Down to Earth. Owner Will Gibson offers design, installation and maintenance—a combination of services not easy to find, she says.
“I don’t have a great sense of design and I don’t have as much energy as I used to,” says Frost, who turns 80 this summer. Her goal is to keep some favorite existing flowers and shrubs while planting a minimum of 70 percent of her yard in natives.
She already has some native plants acquired from local nurseries and seasonal sales over the years, relying on useful resources such as Grow Native!, Deep Roots KC and master gardening classes. “There’s more information coming out all the time. The idea is not to totally get rid of your yard, but to reimagine it. If you can do even a little bit, that helps,” she says.
Gibson, whose Down to Earth business includes the retail nursery Green Thumb Gardens, applauds her mission. “Conventional landscapes are deserts. There’s nothing there for an animal to eat,” he says. “We’re getting a lot more people wanting to convert whole parts of their yard rather than just a bed. They’re wanting an ecologically responsible landscape, and we can do that with native plants in both formal and wild settings.”
One of the biggest issues in the green industry is that there are not enough skilled workers who can prepare an area properly, identify true native plants, create an attractive design and manage it through the early years when plants are still getting established, he says. “It’s dangerous when native plant beds fail because people are put off by it. I’m looking into becoming more education-focused in the future.”
Native plant tours
Two years ago Missouri Organic Recycling sponsored a contest for a climate-friendly yard makeover in the KC area. The company received 72 applications and chose three. On Saturday, June 15 the public is invited to tour the makeover sites located in Raytown, Lee’s Summit and the Northland. Details will be announced on greenabilitymagazine.com, says Stan Slaughter, the company’s director of outreach and education.
Deep Roots KC, a nonprofit working to increase native plant landscapes, is selling tickets to tour private native gardens and wildlife habitats around Kansas City each month on second Saturdays. See deeproots.org for details.