What can I do?

The best way to restore biodiversity is to create habitat and cultivate native plants in our suburban landscape. Turf lawn and non-native ornamental trees create a mostly sterile environment that lacks a diversity of insects. While many people think of insects as pests, they are actually the group of organisms most directly responsible for transferring energy from plants to the upper levels of the food web – namely, us.

Take away native plants, and you take away these vital insects. Every time we plant a non-native ornamental instead of a native plant, we are reducing the amount of food in the ecosystem. As a bonus, native plants are adapted to survive in our clay soils and drought-prone climate. They require less maintenance and watering and can be just as beautiful as ornamental plants.