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Landscape With Natives
3/31/2008
Linda Langelo
Horticulture Program
Coordinator
Colorado State University Extension
Golden Plains
Area |
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Natives, how have we lived without them in our landscape? There
are 4,000 species to choose from across Colorado in the plains to the alpine
region. All these natives bring us more than beauty. Those pretty flowers at
the edge of the road that catch our vision can save us up to sixty percent in
water usage in a season. Most have either low-maintenance or no maintenance.
Native plants also reduce the need for pesticides.
These native plants
are environmentally adapted within a specific ecosystem. These plants are not
cultivated varieties of plants found in the wild from China, Japan, Asia or
Europe like many found in the greenhouses, nurseries and floral
shops.
Natives can be included as plant material in a sustainable
landscape. A sustainable landscape by Colorado State University's definition is
"an attractive environment that is in balance with the local climate and
requires minimal resource inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticides and water,"
stated by CSU Extension Agents Bousselet, Badertscher and Roll.
In order
to sustain a landscape on the eastern plains of Colorado, we need to consider
plants that are native or adaptable to our conditions of semi-arid/arid desert.
During a wet year on the eastern plains, we may have as much as 19 inches of
rain. Our local native plants are well adapted to an average rainfall which can
range from 10 inches to 20 inches in a year. When there is less rain, both the
plants and flowers are less prolific.
Plants that do not come from our
native environment will always require more care. This care can range from
moisture to being placed in a protected environment. Any plant from another
part of the world may be adaptable from the same zone as zone 5 on the
plains.
However, plants introduced from another part of the world are
more likely to become more invasive since there are no natural controls like
insects, diseases or foraging animals that keep its growth in
check.
Some are more invasive than others. Plants that are already
invasive may become even more aggressive when introduced to a new environment.
This can encompass natives outside of their natural range.
Most people
see invasive plants as weeds. A weed is any plant that is out of place within
the landscape. Some invasive plants are still popular in the landscape like
Russian Olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia and Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum
salicaria.
Invasive plants can grow easily in disturbed areas like
roadsides and construction sites. Why? Wherever a local ecosystem is disrupted
it leaves an opening for invasive plants to take hold. This can be other
natives out of their natural range or plants from another continent. Basically,
the most invasive plants can crowd out native plants. When this happens, it
reduces biodiversity.
In Old Town, Burlington, Colorado there is a
Native Plant Demonstration Garden which displays several native species of
plants that grow in the native range of the eastern plains. There are also a
couple of plant species which are well adapted to this range and are still
natives of Colorado. Some of the native plants are Prairie Coneflower, Western
Wallflower, Western Spiderwort, June grass, Needle and Thread grass, Dotted
Gayfeather and Narrow leaved Penstemon. There is a brochure by the cashier's
booth inside Old Town that tells more about the garden.
This Native
Plant Demonstration Garden is an educational tool to help support the Native
Plant Master Program. This is in support of a new program by CSU to raise
awareness of natives, invasive plants and sustainable landscapes.
Come
join us and see what can be a part of your landscape that requires little
effort to have great beauty. |
Page Created and Maintained by: Perry D. Brewer, Area
Extension Agent (Technology Education/Youth)
7/17/2008 |
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