Attracting wildlife with native plants

MACOMB, Ill. — A parent fed up with their child’s persistent use of technology (internet, video games, tablet, you name it) has decided to pull the plug on their sedentary habits.

They strip the devices from their child’s hands and throw them outside and say “Go play!” The child looks around. Before them lays their entire suburban property comprised of lawn. Looking left and right they see their neighbor’s yard, more lawn. To the back of the property where once ran a creek, now buried, is replaced by a smoothly graded ditch draining toward a culvert. This ditch is planted with what? Lawn, of course.

What the above-mentioned situation lacks is diversity, and without diversity, you can’t support a dynamic ecosystem that attracts wildlife.

Turfgrass is one of the largest irrigated monoculture crops in the United States. Researchers at the NASA Earth Observatory give a conservative estimate of “three times more acres of lawn in the U.S. than irrigated corn” or about 50,000 square miles of turf.

To put those numbers in greater perspective that would be like covering almost all of Illinois in turfgrass. If you desire to create an opportunity for exploration and learning for others, promote local ecosystem health, or for your sheer enjoyment, then consider creating a landscape that attracts wildlife.

Why wildlife?

For those who continually ward off deer and repair damage caused by squirrels or raccoons, you might shudder at the thought of attracting more wildlife into your yard. However, we’re talking more than just deer. I am referring to songbirds, butterflies, bees, reptiles and the occasional ruminating mammal.

Our development patterns have significantly fragmented, altered, and eliminated native ecosystems across the U.S. According to an article by entomologist Doug Tallamy, of the total land area in the United States, only about 5 percent is considered wildlife zones. Tallamy estimates this loss of habitat has imperiled 33,000 species of plants and animals rendering them “functionally extinct.”

Why Natives?

Using native plants is the best strategy to attract wildlife. Our birds, insects, reptiles, and mammals evolved right alongside our native grasses and forbs and, for some, their lifecycles are codependent.

Take the monarch butterfly as an example. Over millennia the monarch caterpillar developed the ability to withstand the toxic attributes of milkweed, even acquiring the ability to feed on the leaves without triggering the milky sap that gives the plant its name.

As I write this article, the goldenrod and boneset are in full bloom and loaded with insects of all shapes and sizes. Meanwhile, yellow finch feast on the seed heads of spent purple coneflowers. Afterward, you may value a native plant beyond its aesthetic appeal and instead admire the vast and complex web of life it supports, capturing the awe of a child, forced outside away from technology into a vibrant landscape.