Native Plants for Living Landscapes

Senior Education Conference

14 November 2019

Matt JonesExtension Agent – Horticulture

NCCE Chatham County Center

https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/

What are living landscapes?

Managed landscapes that:

• Meet our needs

• Require few inputs once

established

• Support local ecosystem health

Healthy Ecosystems

Provide services essential

to human survival

• Pollination

• Water and Air Purification

• Soil Formation

• Balance Pest Species

Plants Have Many

Ecosystem Functions

• Protect soil from erosion

• Help cycle nutrients

• Help cycle water

• Support soil microbes

• And…

Most Important Function:

Foundation of Food Webs

Plants capture and convert

the sun’s energy into a form

that can be consumed by

other organisms

Within Ecosystems, All Plants Are Not Equal

• Herbivorous insects have strong

host-specificity

– Evolutionary history

• Native insects need native plants

Asclepias are the only plants Monarch caterpillars can feed on

Trees as Foraging Hubs

• Leaves of native trees are caterpillar food

• Most caterpillar species feed on narrow

range of related species

• Feed for part of life cycle – usually 2-4

weeks

• Caterpillar feeding rarely threatens tree

health

Caterpillar Hunters

• Nearly all Passerines rear their

young on insects, not seeds or

berries

• Non-native trees do not

support caterpillar populations

birds need to rear their young

Natural areas replaced

by managed landscapes

Managed Landscapes

• Often dominated by non-

native plants

• Do not sustain natural

communities they replaced

• Not able to support healthy

ecosystems

The Good News

Beyond Merely Ornamental

• Living organisms - Part of the

local ecosystem

• Should support other species

• Should not require excessive

resources

A New Paradigm

• Select landscape plants based upon

traditional factors:

– Appearance

– Performance

– Adaptation to site conditions

• PLUS ability to sustain native species

and support ecosystem health

New Paradigm: Living Landscapes

• Not dominated by lawn/turf

• Home to many different plant

species, majority native to local region

• Replicate natural communities - have

layers

What is native?

“A plant or animal that has evolved in

• a given place

• over a period of time

• sufficient to develop complex and essential relationships

• with the physical environment and other organisms

in a given ecological community”

Given Place

• Greatest benefit – plants

from local ecoregion

• Piedmont

• Southeast

Native Range: Geography and Habitat

Amsonia tabernaemontana Amsonia hubrichtii

Native Perennials

• Critical nectar and pollen source for

pollinators and beneficial insects

• Most benefit:

– Plan for something to be in bloom spring-fall

– At least 3 different species in bloom each

season

– Plant in groups, 3+ of each species

Green and Gold

Chrysogonum virginianum

• Light to part shade

• Moist or well drained soil

• Wildlife: pollinators, birds

Bluestar

Amsonia tabernaemontana

• Sun to part shade

• Moist to well-drained soil

• Wildlife: butterflies

False Indigo

Baptisia spp.• Sun to part shade

• Seasonally moist to well-drained

• Bees and butterflies, larval host

Baptisia australis

Baptisia alba

‘Ca

roli

na M

oo

nlig

ht’

‘Pu

rple

Sm

oke’

Baptisia cultivars

Tickseed

Coreopsis spp.

• Several species native to NC

• Most full sun

• Many pollinators, birds

Threadleaf Coreopsis

• C. verticillata

• Drought tolerant

Joe Pye Weed

Eutrochium spp. • Sun to part shade

• Wet to moist soil

• Pollinator bonanza

Aromatic Aster

Symphiotrichum oblongifolium

• Sun

• Well drained soil

• Pollinators, birds

• Late blooming – Oct-Nov!

Oaks

Quercus spp.

Support hundreds of species!

– Acorns

– Leaves

– Habitat

Oaks in Landscapes

• Most commonly planted:

• Willow oak Quercus phellos

• Pin oak Quercus palustris

More Oaks

• Shumard Oak Quercus shumardii

• White Oak Quercus alba

• Swamp White Oak Quercus bicolor

• Overcup Oak Quercus lyrata

• Red Oak Quercus rubra

• Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea

River Birch

Betula nigra

• Part sun-full sun

• Variety of soil types

• Caterpillar host, seeds for

birds, habitat

In spring, aphids may cause leaf distortion but

attract ladybugs and do not damage tree

Redbud

Cercis canadensis

• Part shade to sun

• Range of soil types

• Pollinators, birds

Leafcutter Bees

Redbud Cultivars

‘Forest Pansy’, ‘Merlot’, ‘Burgundy Hearts’

‘Hearts of Gold’, ‘Rising Sun’

‘Royal White’

• Sun to part shade

• Moist or dry soil

American Beautyberry Callicarpa americana

Rustic Sphinx Moth

Sweat Bee

Possumhaw Viburnum

Viburnum nudum

• Sun to light shade

• Moist to wet soils

How to determine soil pH?

Soil Testing from the NCDA!• Only reliable method to asses soil nutrient content and pH

• Boxes and forms available from NC Cooperative Extension

• Analysis is free for NC residents (Apr.-Nov.)

• $4/sample: Dec-Mar

Chatham MGVs deliver

soil samples monthly

during the free period!

How to Take Soil Samples

• Avoid thatch or mulch

• Take a ‘slice’ of soil

• Turf: 4” deep

• Landscape beds, Vegetables: 6” deep

• Mix subsamples together to make one composite sample for each unique area

How to Sample Soil

Sample different areas separately

– Plants/Crops

– Topography

– Soil texture

– Plant health

Avoid areas that will obviously skew results

– Compost piles

– Burn piles

– Animal ‘minefields’

Take 5-10 subsamples per area

Where to Find Sample Results

http://www.ncagr.gov/agronomi/pals/

We will help

your interpret

the soil test

report!

Pollinator Paradise

• At Chatham Mills

(Pittsboro)

• NC Coop. Ext.

– Debbie Roos, Sustainable

Agriculture Agent

Going Native Portalhttps://projects.ncsu.edu/goingnative

/index.html

NCSU Plants Toolbox

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/

Extension Gardener Handbook

• Available online for FREEhttps://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook

• Full-color, hardback copy available

from UNC Press ($60)

Need help? Contact:

Plant Clinic: MW 1:00-4:00, F 9:00-12:00

chathamemgv@gmail.com

919-545-2715

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Thank you!