Gardening

In 2017, Alaskans should reconsider use of imported plants in landscaping

Do we Alaskans need to change our landscaping practices? This is a question I have been asking myself lately and I think it is one that we should at least start discussing. Simply put, do we really want to continue the tradition of landscaping our homes with lawns developed in Kentucky, trees native to Europe and perennials first discovered in China?

Yeah, yeah, I know. Jeff Lowenfels has been promoting these things, and very loudly, in more columns than anyone: Yards need to be properly landscaped with lawn areas; the envelope needs to be pushed when planting exotic perennials; and you need trees for bird feeders along with enough shrubs to hide foundations and afford a bit of privacy.

Oh, and you need to exhibit all manner of colorful annuals.

Sure, much of this ranting was helpful cleaning things up — getting rid of the old refrigerators and broken cars that seemed to grace most yards. But more and more I have been having flashes about how wrong the white-picket-fence notion of landscaping is, and not just for Alaska. I am struggling for an answer.

The question started when I realized just how few of the perennials on our palate are natives. (Most of these come from China, by the way.) Regardless, each has the potential of becoming invasive and many already have. Worse, none could possibly support the biodiversity of life — mammals, insects, fungi, bacteria, etc. — that natives do, having evolved together with those species.

The question comes to me as I mow one of my patterns into our lawn. The mono-culture (OK, "duo-culture" — there are massive numbers of dandelions too) that I so admire could not possibly have the diversity of life that the meadow and woods it replaced did. And I am betting, for example, that our only amphibians, the wood frogs, are not really that fond of that lawn.

I reflect how we landscape and what we use to do it every time I read an email from the Committee for Noxious and Invasive Plants Management, the ad hoc group of government stalwarts who are monitoring and trying to prevent invasive plants from taking over here. And when I read that European mountain ashes are starting to choke riparian banks or that poor man's orchid (Impatiens balfourii) are doing the same thing, I know we are not headed in the right direction.

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I used to think native plants didn't matter in Alaska yards. We have so much wilderness, I thought, that the biodiversity required to keep things in balance could never be lost. And planting exotics in such a relatively small area couldn't hurt things. Now I am not so sure. All I need for proof is to look along our highways, now laden with exotics brought into the state in the treads of tires by unwitting drivers.

Closer to home, I recently found a beloved Ligularia in my woods and I know I didn't put it there.

So, in my humble opinion, this is the year we all should read Doug Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home" and Thomas Rainer's "Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes." Both books stand for the proposition that we incorrectly landscape and use the wrong plants, driving important wildlife from yards (I am not talking moose here) to our detriment and the detriment of that delicate balance we need.

Thus armed, we should be able to then have an intelligent and useful discussion of how we should proceed here in Alaska. Alaska is different, for sure, and neither book fully considers our unique climate, so we should really do it for ourselves before it is too late. I know I intend to prod and push a bit. Read the books so you can push back it need be. We need to have this discussion.

Ah, but one thing is for sure: We will still need to exhibit all manner of colorful annuals.

Happy New Year, Alaska gardeners!

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar

Recycle Christmas trees: Do not put your tree on the curb. Recycle it. It is sooooo easy. Bring naked trees to the designated areas at Carrs/Safeway stores in Anchorage, Eagle River and Palmer. No wreaths or plastic bags or ornaments of any kind. This program is sponsored by ALPAR, Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services, Carrs/Safeway, Carr Gottstein Properties and media sponsors: MIX 103.1, KBEAR, Alaska Dispatch News and GCI.

Recycle dead strings of lights: New this year. Recycled at the Anchorage Recycling Center or Total Reclaim through the holidays.

Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Lowenfels has written a weekly gardening column for the ADN for more than 45 years. His columns won the 2022 gold medal at the Garden Communicators International conference. He is the author of a series of books on organic gardening available at Amazon and elsewhere. He co-hosts the "Teaming With Microbes" podcast.

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