The Real Green Industry: Native Plants

The term native is defined differently among the many groups batting it around. Some have a strict view of natives -- plants that were growing in what’s now North America before European occupancy. Others consider some cultivated selections native. Whatever your definition, consider native plant production for a value-added product.

Natives require less maintenance and are cost-effective, both in the nursery and the landscape, said Bill Jones, owner of Carolina Native Nursery in Burnsville, N.C.

“They require less pesticides and fertilizer treatments, and they conserve water,” he said. “And natives are hardy. They’ve adapted to local soil types and climate.”

Carolina Native Nursery grows plants native to western North Carolina. Jones markets to landscape designers and architects, landscape installation and maintenance companies and garden centers. The nursery grows primarily 3- and 5- gallon plants.

Glacier Nursery in Kalispell, Mont., sells varieties native to the northern Rocky Mountains. Owner Brad Brown has steadily increased his native inventory during the last five years to keep up with demand. He also sells “nearly natives,” which he considers cultivars of natives, such as Amelanchieralnifolia ‘Regent.’

And there’s big money to be made in parts of Montana where homeowners are looking for native landscapes filled with large specimens.

“When people build homes here and the land is disturbed, homeowners ask the landscaper to make their property look just like it did before construction,” Brown said.

Native knowledge

Catskill Native Nursery in Kerhonkson, N.Y., grows 600 species of natives and collects most of its own seed, said owner Diane Groeters. Diane and husband Francis have relied a lot on trial and error throughout the years.

“One thing we’ve learned is to be patient. Trillium, for example, may not germinate for three years or flower for two years,” she said.

For growers new to natives, Groeters has some simple advice.

“Find out what that plant wants in the wild, and give it the same thing in the nursery,” she said. “Leaf mulch is native plants’ food in the wild. That’s all they’re living on out there.”

Catskill tries to buy plants from a colder USDA Hardiness zone than her own, especially with shrubs, she said.

“Our plants do well when we buy from Zone 5 and even to Zone 4,” she said.

Restoration market

Nurseries also grow natives for restoration and reforestation use.

Octoraro Native Plant Nursery in Kirkwood, Pa., has been producing container-grown, Mid-Atlantic and Eastern regional native trees and shrubs for 18 years. The nursery focuses on restoration projects, wetlands and stream bank buffers, said Jim MacKenzie, president of Octoraro.

“We help jumpstart Mother Nature and create an ecological condition that was there originally,” MacKenzie said.

Natives may have more resistance to diseases and insects, and may not require as much maintenance or water, but don’t market them as maintenance free, he said.

In the nursery, MacKenzie uses drip irrigation, which saves up to 80 percent of water compared to overhead irrigation. The water is applied directly to the root zone and is computer controlled.

Octoraro uses a soil-less medium mixed with leaf compost that supplies naturally occurring mycorrhizae.

The nursery stops all fertilization by the end of July so plants respond to natural growth cycles in early fall. The plants harden off naturally, which makes them hardier.

RECON Native Plants in San Diego began growing California natives but has branched into plant material for the Southwest. The nursery sells primarily to biologists and reforestation projects. RECON collects seed throughout California and into Arizona and Mexico, said John Holt, sales representative at RECON.

For growers who plan to start collecting their own seed, keep the hiker’s creed in mind -- leave only your footprint, Holt said.

“Make sure you’re not trampling other plants or destroying the understory plants,” Holt said.

Also, collect a percentage of seed that still allows for the native habitat to maintain itself.

Most importantly, make sure you have permission to be on someone’s land before collecting seed.

Breeding for non-invasive traits

Several plants on invasive lists throughout the United States are important to the nursery trade. Plants such as Norway maple, butterfly bush, Japanese barberry and miscanthus have been lucrative sellers. Thomas Ranney, professor of horticulture science at North Carolina State University has been developing seedless forms of some popular plants.

“Addressing invasiveness has become more important in the package of developing and introducing a new plant,” Ranney said. “We’re making good progress on developing seedless cultivars and may have a plant release as early as the end of this year.”

A case for natives

Why natives? There are numerous reasons, some of which are the same for non-native plants. It comes down to personal preference.

Diane and Francis Groeters, owners of Catskill Native Nursery gives five main reasons for natives: Aesthetics -- natives are ornamental; natives are adapted to the conditions where your customers garden; native plants provide habitat and food for wildlife; native plant populations are in decline; and exotic plants can be invasive.

When drought and water restrictions strike, “native plants are where it’s at,” said Bill Jones, owner of Carolina Native Nursery.

Natives also appeal to landscape contractors or builders looking for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The LEED green building rating system -- administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, -- is designed to promote design and construction practices that increase profitability while reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings.

For more: Carolina Native Nursery, (828) 682-1471; www.carolinanativenursery.com. Glacier Nursery, (406) 755-2248; www.glaciernursery.com. Catskill Native Nursery, (845) 626-2758; www.catskillnativenursery.com. Octoraro Native Plant Nursery, (717) 529-3160; www.octoraro.com. RECON Natives Plants, (619) 423-2284; http://reconnativeplants.com. Tom Ranney, North Carolina State University, (828) 684-3562; www.ces.ncsu.edu.

- Kelli Rodda

April 2008

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Replace problem plants with non-invasive alternatives

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In the war against invasives, the United States National Arboretum has developed a battle plan for eradicating the invading plants. The arboretum created a list of alternative plants that share the desirable characteristics of the invasive species.

Problem plant	Desirable characteristics	Alternatives
Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda)	Showy flowers, fragrance	Phlox divaricata, Rhododendron canescens, R. atlanticum, Wisteria frutescens
Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)	Fragrant flowers	Clematis viorna, Gelsemium sempervirens, Lonicera sempervirens, Magnolia virginiana, Passiflora incarnata
English ivy (Hedera helix)	Drought tolerant, evergreen	Carex plantaginea, Dryopteris marginalis, Eurybia divaricata, Heuchera villosa, Meehania cordata, Pachysandra procumbens, Phlox stolonifera, Polygonatum biflorum, Polystichum acrostichoides
Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)	Drought tolerant	Euonymus americana, Myrica cerifera, Spiraea latifolia, Viburnum acerifolium
Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii)	Inexpensive, nice fruit	Euonymus americana, Hypericum prolificum, Ilex verticillata, Vaccinium stamineum, Viburnum acerifolium
Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)	Long flower season, tolerates wet soil	Asclepias incarnata, Clethra alnifolia, Echinacea purpurea, Liatris spicata, L. pilosa, Rudbeckia laciniata, Vernonia noveboracensis
Miscanthus spp.	Strong vertical plant, fall and winter interest	Andropogon ternarius, Panicum virgatum, Saccharum giganteum, Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans
Porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata)	Fast grower, colorful fruit	Cornus racemosa, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Viburnum nudum
Burning bush euonymus (Euonymus alatus)	Fall color	Amsonia ciliata, A. hubrichtii, Fothergilla gardenii, Hydrangea quercifolia, Leucothoe racemosa, Viburnum dentatum, V. nudum

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We’re all native to this planet

When we look at environmental issues we conceive of them at different scales. We look at climate change at a global level. We might see water quality as a regional issue linked to a particular watershed. At the local level we may be concerned with pollution from a facility on a particular site. Finally, at a personal level we are mindful of the effects on our own bodies from exposure to all the diverse materials we make things from in the 21st century.

The idea of being indigenous to a place is an important sustainability concept. It should inform our actions at every scale. As nurserymen and women we think about which species of plants are appropriate for a given place at a local or regional level.

Increasingly cities are becoming more and more alike. For example, it is not unusual to find companies building the same structure in Rangoon and Reykjavik; heating one and cooling the other. Where is the sense of place? Do you have any clues as to which city you are in? When we design we should do it with a sense of place built in.

At the largest scale we are all native to planet earth. This means we need a global awareness and a sense of global community as well as local community. We can’t pass one country’s, city’s or site’s environmental burden onto another.

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Ultimately, all sustainability is local. Global sustainability can be seen as the sum of all the local sustainability. So consider your actions at an individual and local level carefully. With more than 6 billion people on the planet, our choices, even the seemingly small ones, add up to a large regional and global effect.

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Connecticut growers to phase out porcelainberry

The Connecticut Invasive Plant Council agreed to let the state’s growers stop sales and production of Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry) instead of passing a law to ban the plant. The council’s about-face allows the green industry to self-regulate for a year.

“It’s a new era of cooperation between the green industry and the invasive plant movement,” said Bob Heffernan, executive secretary at the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association. “Our industry is committed to toe the line on this.”

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If this approach is successful, it will be a model for other plant bans. The council is likely to ban 10-15 more plants during the next few years, he said.

For more: CNLA, (800) 562-0610; www.plantsflowersinct.com.

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Green tags: The property rights to the environmental benefits from generating electricity using renewable energy sources. Green tags (also called renewable energy certificates or tradable renewable certificates) can be bought or traded. One green tag represents enough renewable energy to offset a typical home for a month with clean wind and solar power and is equal to:

* 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy onto North America’s power grids.

* 1,400 pounds of avoided air pollution.

* 1,500 miles of offsetting emissions from a standard car.

Pre-consumer waste: Paper that has not been used by the final consumers such as waste paper and trimmings generated at paper mills and unsold magazines and newspapers.

Tree free: Paper made with alternative fibers such as kenaf, hemp, flax or cotton.

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Greenwashing: The flawed assignment of an environmentally beneficial claim or label to a person, group or process to create a positive, eco-friendly representation.

Source: Allen Press.

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