I am definitely taking advantage of the natives that do pop up in the yard, giving them every advantage and letting them slug it out with the aliens. But I do think that visiting the nurseries and making my preferences known has got to be a small step. Of all the homeowners, gardeners, and landscapers, many don't know the consequences of spreading alien species, or even know which ones are alien. So many non-natives have become naturalized that even many of the "knowledgeable" believe some are native simply because they're seen growing "in the wild". If the only plants available at Home Depot are non-natives, and no one knows the difference anyway, that's what they'll buy. We need the landscapers' help here, and we need to get the money-makers to start selling the natives so that they will be more available and obvious to everyone.
CD Wayne Tyson wrote: > Dear Carrie and Forum: > > I love to eat all sorts of weeds, but I'm personally a little chary > about eating them from my yard (which dates back to the 1920's) as it > might qualify as a "brownfield" site from all the arsenic and other > (intentionally manufactured and incidentally) systemic poisons that > decades of gardeners and landscapers have foisted upon the land > (which once supported a highly diverse ecosystem, including now rare > and endangered species). Site chemical analysis, including soils, > leachate and tissue, from known accumulators and "not-known" possible > accumulators and their effects on human health, not to mention the > fingers of nearby ecosystem remnants which try to creep, fly, blow, > and brazenly walk into the territory which we call our "home grounds" > might well be number six on my partial list to the group(s) making > the inquiry. > I do wonder, how much of what we purchase includes those same things? I have read studies that make me leery of the items in the grocery store, as well! > > [[Not to mention NOx, VOCs, and other noxious stuff, the infernal > noise, and the footprint that goes with their manufacture, transport, > and disposal, and nauseam, ad infinitum. And don't get me started on > "leaf-" (should be known as dust-blowers) and other gardening > equipment, materials (nets, pots . . . ), and poisons. WT]] > Oh, geez, I could rant all day on those blowers!
