This postcard was inspired by two emails I received last week. One of them said this:
“I am curious about your thoughts on the role that influencers and Volunteer educators can play in the effort to reduce availability of invasive plants. Here in Canada, specifically Ontario, there does not seem to be an appetite for provincial or federal regulations to ban specific plants. knowing that, I think the best step is to basically dry up demand for them. This is a combined effort between garden centres, growers, designers, landscape architects and contractors, as well as influencers. The topic can be contentious as we are both aware, however it is worth the fight I believe. So, i am curious about your thoughts on this, and if you think my approach is on the right path.”
My answer was this:
As in many areas, not just gardening, people are swayed by “what’s in the air.” Articles in newspapers, magazines and online blogs. Posts on social media. Speakers at conferences and what’s being promoted by influencers and garden centers can make a difference. I think that the way to do this, however, is not through the shaming of people who want or already have those plants, but by the enthusiasm for the alternative. In some parts of the US it’s the Pollinator Pathway groups that are spreading the word with their enthusiasm for supporting bees and butterflies (the poster children for pollinators). Come up with a slogan that makes people feel empowered to make a difference. Gardens Ontario Empowered, for example. Pair that with a short explanation that people can make a difference by removing invasive and planting a diversity of things that aren’t invasive, including natives.
If you google “plant this not that” you’ll find many more.
When it comes to independent garden centers, offer them things that they can post online and on their socials that are in the “plant this not that” lists. Develop a speaker’s bureau and offer free talks – in person or virtual – for garden centers. In those talks, push the plants that those garden centers stock so that your mission to discourage invasives gives positive alternatives and drives sales for those IGC’s.
Bottom line: lead with the positive. People like to be a part of something good.
May The Force be with you!
Burning bush can no longer be sold in Massachusetts. Many people say to me, “I have one and I never see seedlings.” My response is that they don’t see the offspring because the birds have “planted” the seeds elsewhere…usually on the edges of woodlands. This time of year is a good time to spot them.
Another email was from a listener asking if I thought she should remove the fountain grass, Cenchrus setaceus or Pennisetum species. I responded that while we can say that “The horse is out of the barn” about such plants, by removing them we can at least know that we as individuals have done what we can to prevent them from taking over. I recommended some of the wonderful varieties of switch grass, Panicum virgatum, to plant instead.
There are so many native plants that are beautiful in the fall, we don’t have to depend on non-native grasses. Here, a Tiger Eye Sumac struts its stuff behind Aster Raydon’s Favorite and Vernonia lettermanii Iron Butterfly.
Remember that there’s a difference between invasive and aggressive. A native plant might be aggressive (Canadian goldenrod comes to mind…) but it is not invasive. Invasive plants are non-natives that crowd out indigenous plants.
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