Do you want to save the environment? Start by planting native plants, at your own home or workplace.
The future of songbirds, frogs, and all the other wildlife we love is dependent on our making room for their habitat on our properties. The crucial first step for creating habitat is to use native plants, because most of the caterpillars and insects that larger wildlife need to eat can only themselves eat the native plants with which they evolved over the millennia. They are incapable of surviving in a landscape dominated by turf grass or other plants that were introduced from other parts of the world, which are increasingly dominating our land.
Do you also want a beautiful property with little maintenance required? Native plants are the ones for you! There are hundreds of native species to choose between, all of them adapted to our particular growing conditions and therefore requiring no fertilizer or pesticides, and watering only until established. Many are familiar to any gardener - phlox, dogwood, redbud, and black-eyed Susan are examples.
All the information you need to get started in Northern Virginia can be found at www.plantnovanatives.org.