Thinking of expanding your garden at the cottage?
Then take a look at Grow Me Instead. It highlights a variety of native and non-native plant alternatives found to be non-invasive in Ontario. Whether you are adding new, attractive plants to your garden, starting a landscape project, or removing invasive plants, we hope this guidebook will be a valuable resource.
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Why should I use native plants?
- Native plants provide a beautiful, hardy, drought-resistant, low-maintenance landscape while benefiting the environment. Native plants, once established, save time and money by eliminating or significantly reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides, water and lawn maintenance equipment.
- Native plants do not require fertilizers. Vast amounts of fertilizers are applied to lawns. Excess phosphorus and nitrogen (the main components of fertilizers) run off into lakes and rivers, causing excess algae growth. This depletes oxygen in our waters, harms aquatic life and interferes with recreational uses.
- Native plants require fewer pesticides than lawns. Nationally, over 70 million pounds of pesticides are applied to lawns each year. Pesticides run off lawns and can contaminate rivers and lakes. People and pets in contact with chemically treated lawns can be exposed to pesticides.
- Native plants require less water than lawns. The modern lawn requires significant amounts of water to thrive. The deep root systems of many native plants increase the soil's capacity to store water. Native plants can significantly reduce water runoff and, consequently, flooding.
- Native plants help reduce air pollution. Natural landscapes do not require mowing. Lawns, however, must be mowed regularly. Gas-powered garden tools emit air pollution.
- Native plants provide shelter and food for wildlife. Native plants attract a variety of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife by providing diverse habitats and food sources. Closely mowed lawns are of little use to most wildlife.
- Native plants are a part of our natural heritage. Natural landscaping is an opportunity to re-establish diverse native plants, thereby inviting the birds and butterflies back home.
- Native plants save money. A study by Applied Ecological Services (Brodhead, WI) of larger properties estimates that over 20 years, the cumulative cost of maintaining a prairie or a wetland totals $3,000 per acre versus $20,000 per acre for non-native turf grasses.
Why not use grass?
We all love grass. It looks nice, is great underfoot, super to play on, and most of us have fond memories of doing some of our favourite things on grass. So why do the lake health experts tell us not to use it around lakes in the Highlands? Are they just spoilsports, or do they have valid reasons for their concerns with grass in Lake Country? Here’s the scoop….
Commonly used grass varieties are not native to Lake Country, and non native plants are not well-suited to life in the Highlands. They need water – something the experts say we may soon be short of, fertilizer, which pollutes our water and costs money, and cutting and trimming, which adds to Global warming. These extra inputs add nutrients to our lake,s increasing algae and weed growth, thereby decreasing the oxygen that fish need. We are told that no point in the Highlands is more than 500 metres from water….. how far from the lake is your septic system? Perhaps the biggest downside of grass is that it does not contribute to and, in fact, harms the health of our precious lakes. Why is that? There are all those reasons above, but the biggest one is that grass does not do a good job of intercepting and absorbing nutrients before they get to our lakes. Nutrients such as phosphorus come from our bodies, through our septic systems, where they leach into the soil and head down to water – our aquifers, streams, rivers and lakes, as well as coming from our pets, fertilizer use and wildlife such as geese, birds, etc. This picture shows why native plants absorb far more nutrients than non-native species such as grass.
While grass roots extend mere inches into the soil, the roots of native species extend many feet into the soil, searching for and absorbing nutrients such as phosphorus before they can damage our lakes. These long roots also do a better job of preventing erosion.
Commonly used grass varieties are not native to Lake Country, and non native plants are not well-suited to life in the Highlands. They need water – something the experts say we may soon be short of, fertilizer, which pollutes our water and costs money, and cutting and trimming, which adds to Global warming. These extra inputs add nutrients to our lake,s increasing algae and weed growth, thereby decreasing the oxygen that fish need. We are told that no point in the Highlands is more than 500 metres from water….. how far from the lake is your septic system? Perhaps the biggest downside of grass is that it does not contribute to and, in fact, harms the health of our precious lakes. Why is that? There are all those reasons above, but the biggest one is that grass does not do a good job of intercepting and absorbing nutrients before they get to our lakes. Nutrients such as phosphorus come from our bodies, through our septic systems, where they leach into the soil and head down to water – our aquifers, streams, rivers and lakes, as well as coming from our pets, fertilizer use and wildlife such as geese, birds, etc. This picture shows why native plants absorb far more nutrients than non-native species such as grass.
While grass roots extend mere inches into the soil, the roots of native species extend many feet into the soil, searching for and absorbing nutrients such as phosphorus before they can damage our lakes. These long roots also do a better job of preventing erosion.
