Green Gardening seems like a redundant idea, but the landscaping industry isn't always eco-friendly. Conscious Choice magazine published a recent article stating that the average American spends 60 percent of their water on lawn care, and power-mowers and leaf-blowers burn through 800 million gallons of gas annually.
One of CC's suggestions for keeping your garden green: Go native. Even if you only have a container garden on your deck, native plants require less water and attract birds and butterflies.
We took their advice and visited the EPA's webpage for Landscaping With Native Plants...
The page is text-heavy and a little difficult to navigate, but loaded with valuable information. The site is specific to the Great Lakes Region, and you can download PDFs listing native plants here.
The list includes:
• Black-eyed Susan (shown above)
• New England Aster
• Heath Aster
• Butterfly Weed
• Daisy Fleabane
• Sneezeweed
• Turk's Cap Lily
• Purple Coneflower
• Blazing Star
• Sawtooth Sunflower
• Purple Coneflower
• Prairie Violet
• Culvers Root
What's in your garden? Any locally grown recommendations?
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Comments (2)
Along these lines, try googling "xeriscaping" and your part of the country. There are many more sites that are easier to navigate than the EPA's.
Good post! I am so sick of the exotic invasives taking over my yard. I so prefer having native plants around me, than say, the 25' palm trees my next door neighbor had installed everywhere after yanking out all the silver maples and water oaks!
Becky
Thank you for this post! I had just asked one of the green bloggers candidates for this very information! Much appreciated!