Green Leaf Report

I just read an excellent book: Requiem for a Lawnmower by Sally Wasowski.  It amazes me that this book has been available for over almost fifteen years and I’d never read it before!  I was tipped off to the book when I went to find plants at a local nursery.  I talked to the nursery owner and explained my low supplemental water usage and my need for tough, preferably native plants, and this owner wasn’t very supportive.  She told me she’s heard about native plants, and heard about Requiem for a Lawnmower, but didn’t believe it.  I went to a library that afternoon and checked out a copy of the book.  I love this book; I need to buy copies for all of my friends and family.  The underlying message is that bringing non-native plant species into our suburbs stresses our water supplies and leads to ground water pollution through the use of fertilizers and other chemicals.  But even if we plant non-native species that adjust well and don’t need much additional water or any chemicals, we create a green desert for the local wildlife that hasn’t adapted to these new plants.  We’re removing the food sources for our wildlife and calling them weeds.  We’re creating a pretty wasteland.

I ordered a pile of wildflower seeds yesterday from a company that collects them locally.  I’ve just planted two native vines for hummingbirds, as well as a couple of native berry bushes.  I’m searching for a buffalo grass seed that is native to this area, and I’m trying to make sure the trees I’m about to plant on the west side of my house are local varieties. 

Most of our Bermuda and St. Augustine grass died a natural death over the summer from our lack of supplemental watering, and the extreme heat.  I hope by this time next year, my little micro-environment is closer to the meadow that it used to be.