Bringing Nature Home

As the spring 2022 gardening season approaches, we need to reconsider our focus as it relates to our gardens, the landscape around our homes, and the ecosystems that support us.

Many species of insects (most notably pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and moths), birds, and animals have seriously declined in number over the past few decades due to human activities such as logging, housing developments, industrial farming, and the like. The consequences of our human activities can cause loss of habitat for the nonhuman inhabitants of our world causing their overall numbers to fall. The decline of these species endangers us as well since we need our insect partners to pollinate our food crops and feed ourselves.

The 20th Century American naturalist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)—who is arguably the father of the wildlife and wilderness conservation system in our country—dreamed of a time when humans would humbly accept their roles as citizens of the natural world. Leopold, who worked for the U.S. Forest Service and later taught at the University of Wisconsin, envisioned a time when land would not be viewed as a commodity to be exploited, but as the source of our continued existence. He believed that we could live in harmony with the land and each other, and that the same tools people used to disrupt the landscape could also be used to rebuild it.

Bees and butterflies have developed a sustainable relationship with our native plant community for thousands of years. What can we do to support them? The National Wildlife Federation—our country’s largest private, nonprofit conservation organization with over six million members and supporters—has a website that allows you to search by zip code to find the plants and trees that best support wildlife where you live.

For the Knoxville area, the following native trees and plants are the best choices to support our pollinators and wildlife:

• Oak, cherry, willow, birch, and elm are the trees that best produce food that fuel insects in our community.

• Goldenrod, aster, sunflower, strawberry, and Joe Pye weed are the best plant choices.

A list of both woody and herbaceous plant genera that are best at supporting local food webs in your area can be found at the National Wildlife Federation Plant Finder website:

https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/

Let’s all plan to add more native trees and plants to our landscapes to help ensure the survival of our ecosystems and bring nature home.

~ Monte Stanley