Planting a garden or landscaping can bring tons of joy and beauty to your home. However, finding the best plants for your yard can be difficult, as one Redditor points out.
In a Reddit post in the subreddit community r/gardening, one user posted a question about local plant shops. The title of the post reads "Why don't flower shops sell local native seeds & native plants? (But they sell invasives?)."
"It's been so tough to find natives," OP wrote. "I have to buy seeds and plants online because no one around here sells local native plants. … Which I find ridiculous and almost a crime."
The OP also explained how there isn't much awareness around the dangers of invasive plants.
"They're basically encouraging invasives to keep spreading. What's the deal with not selling local natives?"
Invasive plants are flora not indigenous to a specific area — as such, they cause harm to that ecosystem. These species compete with natives for sunlight and other nutrients, taking the things these plants need to survive. Invasive species in your yard also affect food sources for the animals in your area. According to the National Wildlife Federation, approximately 42% of endangered or threatened species are at risk in part because of invasive species.
Invasive plants are also detrimental to humans by reducing flood control, damaging properties, limiting recreational areas like parks, contributing to public health crises, and more. Once introduced to a community, it can be very difficult to remove an invasive species.
Native plants, on the other hand, provide food to animals and pollinators in the ecosystem, reduce planet-warming air pollution, and provide comfort to the community. They are also much easier to preserve and use about 60% to 80% less water than other landscaping plants.
In the Reddit thread, users shared their experiences and knowledge about why it is so hard to buy native plants.
🗣️ How much time do you spend taking care of the plants inside or outside your home?
🔘 Several hours a week 🧑🌾
🔘 One hour a week ⌛
🔘 Less than one hour ⏳
🔘 I don't have any plants 😢
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"Some of it is simply the [economies] of scale," one user shared. To their point, native plants tend to be more expensive than other forms of flowers that are more readily available.
"The other is the people many people are still conditioned to see and think of natives as weedy and not-attractive," the user continued. Thankfully, the conversation around native plants is gaining momentum as people continue to showcase the beauty and importance of native gardens in our yards.
"I work in a Cali nursery and unfortunately natives are hard to come by," another user said. "We have one grower who does quite a few but they're just not widely available."
Other users shared that they have access to native plants, with nurseries, government entities, and even libraries providing needed access. However, that isn't the case everywhere.
"Why don't you grow a bunch of native seeds and start selling them locally?" a user suggested. "Seems like it's something that is missing in the market.. get off of here and go cash in on it."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
