Get Your Wild Garden On!

People garden for many reasons, from growing vegetables and fruits to fresh-cut flowers. This year I'm gardening for caterpillars. Of course, I'm not planning on eating them, but rather I am inviting them to make their home in my little backyard. For many years, I lived on an organic farm where we grew the majority of our food. During this time, I waged war on caterpillars and other creatures who nibbled, gnawed, or gnashed their way through my plants. It was an, us against them mindset, as we bent the landscape to our will by eliminating uninvited nibblers and plants we considered weeds. It was a constant battle requiring late-night tactical maneuvers in pursuit of slugs and earwigs, early-morning groundhog reconnaissance, and daily caterpillar captures. But now, some would say my garden has gone wild — wild for wildlife. I've changed my outlook on what I want from my backyard garden. Yes, I still can't wait to harvest my first sun-gold tomato or bite into a juicy green bean warmed by the summer sun but I've grown not just tolerant but down-right obsessed with making my backyard garden a habitat for the native wild beings of our little corner of this world. Welcome once-upon-a-time weeds! Send your roots down, stretch your leaves out, and unfurl your blossoms. Come little golden beetles, stretchy baby caterpillars, and velvet-winged butterflies. And even, yes to the slugs, my garden is your garden! I'm not alone in this wild-centered approach to gardening. Ecologist, conservationist, and author Doug Tallamy wants all of us to create a Homegrown National Park in our backyards, front yards, window boxes, city parks, and everywhere in between. Think of it as one way we can all contribute to fostering and safeguarding biodiversity. By focusing on the native plants that have historically grown in your region and re-imaging a landscape aesthetic without the monoculture of lawns, our communities and neighborhoods can be part of restoring and rewilding our world. According to one of Tallamy's more recent blogs, "Chances are, you have never thought of your garden — indeed, of all of the space on your property — as a wildlife preserve that represents the last opportunity we have for sustaining plants and animals that were once common throughout the U.S." In a world where we can feel helpless, one of the most powerful ways of reclaiming hope is simply by putting roots down and repopulating our communities with plants that once grew there long before any houses ever stood. The wildlife will follow. It is like that line from the movie, "Field of Dreams," "If you build it, they will come." I saw this firsthand this past winter. I went messy this winter, leaving all the seed heads on my plants, instead of snipping them off as I have done in my past. My winter seed head garden was filled with the chirpy buzz of American goldfinches all winter long. Instead of buying seeds to feed them, they feasted on the standing seeds left in my flower garden. Join me and countless others and get wild about your garden this year! Here are three beginning steps to getting going: 1. Plant Native: Native plants are indigenous to a region, ecosystem, or habitat. They belong there and will thrive with little upkeep. To find out which plants are native to New England, check out the Native Plant Trust at www.nativeplanttrust.org. 2. Double Down on Invasive Plants: Familiarize yourself with the non-native invasive plants of New England. These plants are taking up valuable real estate and resources have little to no value to our region's wildlife. Learn how to identify these plants and make sure to follow best practices for the removal and disposal of these plants. Look once again at the Native Plant Trust to find out more about non-native plants. 3. Be a Lazy Lawn Mower: Lawns are an ecological desert, offering little value for their greenery. If you have a lawn, consider mowing it less. Research suggests that mowing every two weeks instead of weekly improves pollinator habitat and biodiversity in your yard. To find out more about how to make a Homegrown National Park, in your community, visit www.homegrownnationalpark.org and consider opening your garden gates wide to the wild world. Visit the Hancock, NH's Harris Center for Conservation Education's pollinator garden and grounds for inspiration on what to plant and how to go wild for gardening! For more information on pollinator gardens, check out https://harriscenter.org/trails-grounds-facilities/pollinator-garden.