by William Smithy

Created on: September 30, 2009

Landscaping with Native Plants

There are many advantages to landscaping with native plants. I live in Southern California, where one has to keep a constant eye out on watering one's plants. Miss a watering during the summer on some of those delicate foreign plants you got from the nursery and they'll shrivel up and die, cursing your name for leaving them to a fate similar to crucifixion. However, miss a watering on some native plants and they'll forgive you. Give them just half the care as the other home depot plants you got and they'll thrive and flourish. Don't get me wrong, the corporate suppliers are getting a little smarter about the plants they supply, but they are nowhere close to having even a handful of plants native to the area you live in. It takes a little research or just a keen eye for your surroundings to get to know what would work for your layout. Besides being more forgiving to those who get caught up in everyday life, landscaping with native plants can provide one with the benefits of bringing diversity to a garden, bringing in local wildlife such as birds and other beautiful creatures, and give your garden a uniqueness only available to your specific geographical location.

In Southern California, I have come to develop a deep appreciation for the different chaparral plants in the area. When treated with a little care they become beautiful specimens, and the talk of any garden. It is still surprising to me how rare it is to find these plants in the nursery. In all my years of visiting nurseries, there are still only a few nurseries that specialize in the native plants of my area. There has been so much knowledge that has been lost when it comes to knowing the wide variety of beneficial plants one can take from their own surroundings. However, they are all around, one just has to open their eyes to see the wide spectrum of choices that are laid out in front of them on a daily basis.

Every year at the end of the summer I am amazed at how hardy my natives are. Recently, I have become entranced with the agave and how tuff it is. It is like the Arnold Schwartzeneager of plants, it just won't die. It will live through weeks of 100 degree weather without being watered. Sometimes I even try to kill it so that I can brag how tuff it is when it comes back to life. The beautiful foxtail agave with its soft green appearance, will tolerate all kinds of abuse, which makes it an ideal transplant candidate. There was a huge clump of it growing in an

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