York County's magnificent forest ecosystem that once dominated this part of Pennsylvania is now a fragmented, species poor, relict of isolated patches of woods. Now only 28 percent of York County, it is no longer one of constantly changing various plant communities providing the life giving needs for the diverse species dependent upon them. Farms, commercial enterprises, roads, and homes have disrupted their web-of-life.
Pennsylvania is home to approximately 2,100 native plants. Although, 106 Pennsylvania plants have been extirpated since European settlement, the number of individual populations of existing plant species lost is devastating, not only to the survival of the impacted native plants, but also to the animals dependent upon them. In York County, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lists 93 native plants of conservation concern. But again, the decrease in the number of individual populations of each plant species is alarming. For example, less pawpaw trees mean less zebra swallowtail butterflies.
Fortunately, we have to look no further than our lawns to realize that we can take individual action to help return a portion of the York's landscape to one that reconnects the food-chain. This reconnection begins with the planting of native plants in your yard.
Adding native plants to your yard, in addition to lessening the possible harmful effects of chemicals, air pollution, and the introduction of invasive species to York's natural ecosystem, partly helps answer Harvard Professor Emeritus E.O. Wilson question -- "As biodiversity continues to hemorrhage all around us, we face a momentous moral decision that can be put in the form of a question: What kind of a species are we to treat the rest of life so cheaply?"
Below are links to native plant resources. They will help you share part of your landscape with native plants, pollinators, and the birds that travel vast distances to York each spring to raise their young on caterpillars feeding on native plants. Each link is numbered for reference purposes for each topic.
Topics
- Landscape Design: 1, 2, 5
- Native Herbaceous Plant Selection: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11
- Native Tree and Shrub Selection: 3, 5, 6, 8
(trees and shrubs provide early flowers for pollinators; food for butterflies and moths; berries for migrating birds and winter resident birds; and, cool sites for hot pollinators exposed to a lot of impervious surface area) - Where to Obtain Native Plants and Seed: 4, 11, 12
Resource Links
- Snetsinger Butterfly Garden at Tom Tudek Memorial Park: Planting for Pollinators - http://www.snetsingerbutterflygarden.org/planting-for-pollinators.html
- CornelllAB/Nature Conservancy Habitat Network: Native Landscaping Makes Sense - http://content.yardmap.org/learn/natives-50-percent/
Removing Lawns to Make Way for More Habitat - http://content.yardmap.org/learn/removing-lawn-to-make-way-for-more-habitat/ - Audubon Plants for Birds: Native Plants - https://www.audubon.org/native-plants
- Xerces Society: Pollinator Conservation Resource - http://xerces.org/pollinators-mid-atlantic-region/
Xerces Society Seed Mixes - https://www.ernstseed.com/xerces-society-seed-mixes/
Mixes Pennsylvania Native Seed Mix -
http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MidAtlanticPlantList_web.pdf - National Wildlife Federation: Create a Sustainable Garden that Helps Wildlife - https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife
Native Plant Finder - https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder - University of Maryland Extension: From Turf to Trees: Converting Lawn to Forest - http://extension.umd.edu/node/1937
- Penn State: Pollinator Food - https://ento.psu.edu/publications/pollinatorfood
- PA iCon: Plant Smart Native Plants http://www.iconservepa.org/plantsmart/nativeplants/index.htm
- Dr. Doug Tallamy: What to Plant: Your Best Bets to Attract Butterflies and Moths in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region - http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/what-to-plant.html
- DCNR: Pennsylvania's Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants http://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/WildPlants/RareThreatenedAndEndangeredPlants/Pages/default.aspx
- DCNR: Landscaping with Native Plants in Pennsylvania -
http://www.dcnr.pa.gov/Conservation/WildPlants/LandscapingwithNativePlants/Pages/default.aspx
Listing of native plants - www.docs.dcnr.pa.gov/cs/groups/public/documents/document/DCNR_20031352.pdf - Pennsylvania Game Commission Howard Tree Nursery: http://www.pgc.pa.gov/InformationResources/GetInvolved/HowardNursery/Pages/default.aspx
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Prepared by Rodger Waldman MAEscapes Advisory Committee
