Wild, but Loved
Perhaps the only problem with naturalized areas is the lack of ‘design’. Of course people who do actually design these spaces will say otherwise. Where horticulturists or ‘people who know better’ can see the precise and thought-out placements, most people see weeds. I heard of even our school, which has that wildflower/naturalized area, has people complaining how messy ‘nature’ looks. Until you put up a sign. *Aha!* In order to get more public support for these ecologically-beneficial areas more imagination and thought needs to be put into the design to make it both work and be ‘pretty’.
When we think wetland we envision a home, made for frogs, birds, chirpy things as well as a natural lake/pond cleaner. When the public hears wetland they think swamp. They think of mosquitoes, algae-infested, smelly, quicksand deathtrap bogs, Kermit the Frog and redneck swamp people. Doesn’t really do much for my property value does it? Might as well park my old sofa out in front of my double-wide and open up a beer. It’s so sad that they don’t see the beauty in it. So we have to make them see it. Why not exploit its charms? Tall beautiful grasses and cattails with bright green frogs jumping from flowering lily pad to lily pad, giant white and blue herons, the beautiful chorus of bullfrogs singing to their mates, crickets chirping and loons hooting while fireflies dance around like little stars are only a few I think of. It also makes me think of The Little Mermaid scene where the pond is singing ‘Kiss the Girl’. I don’t know how anyone could not like the look of birds and flowers in a waterscape. You usually have to pay extra for that. We could also work to make them more accessible. One cool thing I love about the wetlands in Eden Prairie is that there is a pathway through it. It eventually ends up at a dock with a bench and became one of my favorite places.
What we really need to do is stop trying to change, fix; improve nature. That’s about as bad as a 3 yr old trying to fix a masterpiece with his crayon. One example I think of is the problem with kudzu (Pueraria lobata). Kudzu is an Asiatic native that was introduced to help soil erosion problems. Though later we find that it grows way too well in the southeastern states! The main problem with kudzu is not just its rapid growth (up to 60 ft a year!) but it covers natives in a sun-less mat, eventually killing them. It was declared a weed in 1972 and even with 18+ years of research nothing can hurt it! With some herbicides it takes repeat applications for 4 to even 10 years until it finally dies. One herbicide was found to actually make it grow better! There are no insect predators of this vine, and I remember talk during a class last year that scientists were hoping to bring one from its native Japan/China. *Beat* Really? Really?! I swear some scientists either don’t know what they are doing or they are fans of ‘let’s just see what happens…’.
People don’t know the difference between native, invasive, or alien when it comes to the garden, all they know is pretty. Best thing we can ever do as plant lovers is learn how to take mostly natives and plant them in a way that makes people want to replicate. This style of design I now deem ‘Wild, but loved’. I think it is probably the best hope for the future of our native species.
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