I do not personally believe that wildlife gardens are nothing but an ugly, overgrown mess, but you’d be amazed at how many times I hear that from those who consider themselves “real” gardeners.
Unfortunately, the gardening world, like the rest of the country, is full of divisiveness, an US vs THEM attitude that can sometimes be very ugly:
- those liberal lawn police vs the “turfers”
- those native plant lovers vs the “real” gardeners
- those messy wildlife gardeners who wouldn’t know a thing about “proper” design
- those crazy “treehuggers” who care more about the forest than they do about people
The list can go on and on, but it seems pointless, childish, and condescending. It’s time to stop the finger-pointing and name-calling and learn to be a little more respectful. You know, like adults.
To that end, I am only asking two things of all of you:
Please, please, please add some native plants to your garden.
And just as importantly, please stop planting invasive plants.
These two things would make an enormous difference to our local wildlife, to the health of the environment around us, and ultimately to our own health.
And yes, those of us whose priority is the wildlife in our gardens sometimes get a little exuberant with our plants, and maybe we could learn a thing about the rules of good garden design. It’s just that a garden full of birds and butterflies makes us so happy.
And also yes, we could help some of you attract your first hummingbird to your very neat and well-designed gardens.
We have a lot to learn from each other. But none of us can learn anything at all while we are all shouting at each other. So lets all take a deep breath and learn to listen a little.
That’s my Holiday wish for all. Happy Holidays!
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