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One of the best ways to support local wildlife is to ensure that most of the plants you grow are native to the area. Many types of wildlife need specific native plants for food or space to reproduce. Invasive or introduced plants can outcompete native plants, greatly decreasing their numbers and availability to wildlife.
Native plants to use in Durham include:
Trees: Native Oaks (White, Willow, Red), Black Cherry, Native Plums (Wild, Chickasaw), Carolina Cherry-laurel, River Birth, Black Willow, Maples (Red, Southern Sugar, Chalk), Flowering Crabapple, Hickories, Pines (Shortleaf, Virginia, Longleaf), Elms (American, Winged), Hawthorns, American Beech, Ash (White, Green), Native Dogwoods (Flowering, Silky), Redbud
Shrubs: Native Blueberries (Sparkleberry, Smooth Highbush, Deerberry, Rabbit Eye), Tag Alder, Native Roses (Carolina/ Pasture, Swamp), Viburnums (Blackhaw, Southern Arrowwood, Maple-leaf, Possumhaw, Downy Arrowwood), Serviceberries (Eastern, Downy), Native Azaleas (Sweet, Flame, Swamp)
Perennial Flowers: Goldenrods (Rough, Wreath), Native Sunflowers (Appalachian, Woodland, Swamp), Common Boneset, Crimson-eyed Rose-mallow, Ironweed, Wild Indigos, Southern Sundrops, Black-eyed Susan, Green-headed Coneflower, Milkweeds (Eastern Swamp, Butterflyweed), Beebalms (Spotted Horsemint, Wild Bergamot, Scarlet Beebalm), Native Fall Asters (Eastern Aromatic, Smooth Blue, Largeflower), Wild Columbine, Coreopsis (Threadleaf, Lobed Tickseed, Star Tickseed, Greater Tickseed), Cardinal Flower, Blazing Star
Grasses and Sedges: Switchgrass, Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Yellow Indian Grass, River Oats, Pink Muhly
Vines: Coral Honeysuckle, Virginia Creeper, Lanceleaf Greenbrier, Jacksonbrier, Trumpet Creeper, Yellow Passionflower, Cross-wine, Butterfly Pea, Pipevine
The plants listed here are important species that support large numbers of caterpillars, butterflies, birds, and other species.
Native Dogwood
Native Redbud blossoms
Native wetland plants at the Museum of Life and Science provide habitat for many fish, amphibians, birds, and other animals.
Benefits of using native plants:
They are well adapted to the area and climate, and they require less water and fertilizer to thrive. They can also be resistant to native pests.
Native wildlife have adapted to plants found in their habitats, often getting more nutrients and better taste from them.
Plants have also adapted to native wildlife, like bees, to better attract them and attach pollen to them, allowing for easier pollination.
They also protect water sources and prevent erosion by stabilizing the soil and filtering sediment and chemicals to keep waterways clean.
So are all non-native plants bad? No!
Reasons to use some non-native species include having plants that flower and fruit earlier in the season than natives, which provides extra support for pollinators. Some are also used for their beauty and unique appearances. Using non-native plants in your garden can be beneficial as long as the plants aren't invasive. Invasive plants grow and spread rapidly, often destroying native plants or wildlife in the process.
Invasive plants are non-native plants that are introduced into an area and outcompete native plants by taking over space, resources like sunlight or nutrients, or attention from pollinators. Wildlife might still be able to eat or use them; however, they may not be as nutritious or edible and may be more difficult to pollinate for native pollinators.
Invasive plants that should be avoided include:
Vines: Japanese Honeysuckle, English Ivy, Chinese/ Japanese Wisteria, Winter Creeper, Clematis, Vinca (Periwinkle), Sweet Autumn (Leatherleaf), Kudzu
Grasses and herbs: Japanese Stiltgrass, Sericea Lespedeza, Chinese Silver Grass, Exotic Bamboo
Trees: Mimosa, Tree of Heaven, Bradford Pear, Princess Tree
Shrubs: Chinese Privet, Japanese Privet, Multiflora Rose, Bushclover, Thorny Olive, Autumn Olive, Japanese Barberry, Japanese Spirea, Fragrant Honeysuckle
Non-Native Forsythia
Invasive Autumn Olive spreads quickly, dominating large areas and overtaking native plant species.
Want to learn more about pollinators and native plants?
Watch this video to hear from Bobbi Jo Holmes, the Manager of Horticulture at the Museum of Life and Science!
Introduced crayfish reproduce quickly and destroy native wetland plants.
Plants aren't the only invasive species in Durham! Wildlife kept as pets, such as the bearded dragon seen at the top of this page, are sometimes released when their owners can no longer care for them. These animals or insects have few or no native predators and so may reproduce and spread unchecked just like invasive plants. If they're able to adapt and survive in the new area, they deplete resources needed for native wildlife and often damage human resources as well.
Invasive wildlife in North Carolina include:
Feral Swine- wild hogs from Europe and Asia that cause tremendous damage by uprooting plants, killing young deer and ground-nesting birds, and transmitting diseases to people and wildlife.
Emerald Ash Borer- beetles from Asia that tunnel into ash trees to eat their tissue, killing the trees.
Nutria- rodents from South America that outcompete native wildlife for food plants and also eat agricultural crops.
Zebra mussels- mussels from Asia that damage watercraft, clog water filtration pipes, and decrease recreational use of beaches.
What else can we do to coexist with local wildlife in outdoor spaces? Visit the next page to find out.
All photos and videos were taken by Kate Hankins.
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