How to Grow a Mainly Native Garden

“I’m probably not alone among gardeners who respond better to a friendly suggestion than to a scolding. I so prefer, “Have you considered this?” to “Don’t do that.”

 

And maybe no other “don’t” has been shouted more loudly lately than the list of plants to avoid, the various nonnative, longtime nursery-industry standards that are now understood to cause environmental harm.

 

We’ve been told to remove the Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana) and butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), and uproot traditional ground covers that know no bounds, like Pachysandra terminalis. But then what? To complete the smarter-gardening equation we need to know what to plant instead — and how to make ecologically sound choices that have more than good looks to offer.

 

“Plant This, Not That,” a new book by Elise Howard, who gardens in New York City and Western Massachusetts, establishes basic principles for selecting, and using, natives in gardens around the country. In it she offers 200-plus examples of substitutions for invasive plants, and for some that aren’t, but aren’t big contributors to biodiversity, either, because they simply don’t earn their space by supporting pollinators or other organisms in the complex food web.

 

Her first tenet: “Aim for a mainly native garden.”

 

Citing guidance from Douglas W. Tallamy, the University of Delaware entomologist, as well as the National Wildlife Federation and other experts, she defines “mainly native” as 70 percent, “to do the ecological job that needs to be done.” She also reminds us that 70 percent native means locally so, not from another country or even another region.

 

It can be confusing. We might swap out the nonnative Pachysandra for native P. procumbens, unaware that its home range is actually quite small, mostly in Southeastern states and often uncommon or rare even there. It’s a better and beautiful choice, but maybe there is a closer-to-home native for the role if you haven’t achieved that 70 percent yet.

 

As we match plants to place and purpose, Ms. Howard also reminds us to heed nature’s example and plant in layers. In a woodland system, for example, the complex architectural scheme connects canopy trees with smaller understory ones — among her favorites are redbuds (Cercis), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) — with a shrub layer next, on down to the herbaceous and ground-covering plants.

 

“Even when you do a specimen tree in the middle of the yard, you want to think about what’s under that tree other than a ring of mulch,” she said.

 

Rather, she recommends designing a soft landing, a mixed under-planting providing habitat and shelter for Lepidoptera, bees and other beneficials. Such a mosaic might include regionally appropriate ferns, sedges (Carex), Tiarella, Heuchera or wild gingers (Asarum), among many possibilities.

 

Shrubs such as Rhus aromatica Gro-Low, a cultivar of fragrant sumac that stays under about two feet high, or even-lower red bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) could also perform as the ground-cover layer. Both feature spring flowers followed by red fruit.

 

Rethinking, and Enlivening, the Hedge

 

Ms. Howard helpfully groups the book’s recommendations by their landscape purpose, including hedging, screening, ground covers and foundation plantings.

 

No wonder hedges enjoy enduring popularity as elements of the designed landscape: Taller versions serve as privacy screens and buffer noise or wind, and hedges of any height can define garden areas, creating outdoor rooms.

 

But traditional hedging plants such as boxwood (Buxus) often fail to provide service to the ecosystem. The worst of them, like privet (Ligustrum) and Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), have proven to be highly damaging invasives, as birds and other animals have spread their fruit.

 

Where height is desired, Ms. Howard instead suggests one of the regionally appropriate native bayberries (Morella). To replace the evergreen element of boxwood, consider inkberry (Ilex glabra) in the East, or perhaps Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium) in the West.

 

Or rethink the single-species definition of a hedge altogether, she said, creating a palette of several possibilities, such as a commingling of ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) and one of the serviceberries (Amelanchier).

 

An alternative privacy screen could be achieved by training vines on a fence or other support. Two vining natives — the coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) in various Eastern states, and the orange honeysuckle (L. ciliosa) to the West — are beautiful powerhouses for the task. Their flowers serve bees, butterflies and hummingbirds; other birds enjoy the later fruit.

 

“Plant This, Not That” also coaxes us to consider whether within the genus of certain much-used landscape favorites — think hydrangeas, rhododendrons, viburnums and even roses — there is a native option. Of the five pink roses showcased for various regions (among about 20 U.S. native species) all are single-flowered, just the way pollinators like them.

 

Find Your Plants: Resources for Research

 

A single book cannot accommodate all the plants needing replacing nor their suggested substitutes for every garden, Ms. Howard acknowledges. Factors of region, site conditions and design intention all come into play — as does the reality of which locally appropriate natives will prove available to purchase.

 

“What you have to do is find the intersection of what’s beneficial, what you want to grow and what you can find,” she said, meaning homework is required. She shares key resources she turned to when creating the book — and her own garden.

 

“I’m hoping the book will be a jumping-off point for people to figure out how to do this research — how to find natives for their area,” she said.

 

Start by identifying the native plant society in your state or Canadian province in the North American Native Plant Society’s guide, she advised, and tap into their wealth of local advice.

 

The nationwide native-plant membership group Wild Ones has regional native-plant garden designs for inspiration, and as with your nearest native plant society, Wild Ones’ closest chapter can be especially helpful in finding nurseries specializing in area natives.

 

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website’s plant database is the go-to virtual native-plant encyclopedia. Two ZIP-code-based plant databases, from Homegrown National Park and National Wildlife Federation, home in on sound choices for your area, as do Pollinator Partnership’s ecoregional planting guides.

 

One of the North American Plant Atlas maps from the Biota of North America Program (BONAP) is featured with each suggested plant in the book, to show its native range.

 

The first step is always to remove invasives, like that Bradford pear. Ms. Howard’s research for its substitutes introduced her to various species of hawthorn (Crataegus), each appropriate to a distinct region.

 

Will this be the season you finally part with that Buddleja? Its flowers may deceptively be covered with insects, but butterfly bush cannot serve as a host plant to support the complete life cycle of any native caterpillar, and is invasive in some areas.

 

Ms. Howard learned that fragrant shrubs such as summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) and Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), and perennials like swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) or one of the Joe-pye weeds (Eutrochium) do a better job at every level.

 

Based on the diversity and number of customers lining up to partake of those alternative offerings, it seems the audience agrees.

 

“The message I want to share is the importance and the deep pleasure of gardening with native plants,” Ms. Howard said.” [1]

 

1. How to Grow a Mainly Native Garden: In the garden. Roach, Margaret.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Mar 17, 2026.