In Defense of Nature

Removing “Invasive” Plants for...More Lawn?!

 

With neither a hint of use by people nor wildlife, huge lawns represent an enormous waste of land.

ALL TEXT AND PHOTOS © Marlene A. Condon

 

While channel-surfing (on December 26, 2020), my husband came across a TV program called “This Old House: Trade School”. The host of this program, Kevin O’Connor, guides the viewers through home improvement projects.

To be honest, I cringe watching these kinds of programs. Whenever I’ve seen these folks engaged in what they call “landscape architecture”, which is typically employed to mean the design of outdoor areas to achieve aesthetic outcomes, I am saddened by the complete disregard for the environmental outcomes of their “beautification” projects.

 

In this case, the man in charge of the landscape project talked to Kevin about removing the shrubby growth at the back edge of the yard to give the owner 25-30% more lawn, even though there was already an abundance of lawn to be seen behind the men. The presence of “invasive” vines growing up some of the trees provided them with a virtuous spin for removal of this wild space; a big deal was made of the vines’ supposedly negative qualities, such as strangling trees, pulling them down, and killing them.

 

This situation exemplifies a very real problem with the push by activist scientists, environmentalists, and government entities to get people to remove supposedly invasive plants. Somehow, these nativists don’t understand that the vines and the other undergrowth cut down provided extremely acceptable habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, salamanders, and insects and other arthropods.

 

The folks creating the big ruckus over so-called invasive plants also don’t grasp that removal of these plants does not automatically guarantee a replacement of them with native plants growing in a structured manner that will sustain wildlife. As in this case, where lawn was replacing a thicket, we witness yet another disastrous setback for the environment that is already reeling as a result of people’s activities.

 

“Invasive” plants are vilified, as if they have no redeeming qualities, which simply isn’t true. In the TV program, for example, bittersweet and grape vines were seen only as attackers of trees, as if that were oh-so-wrong! But vines exist because they are useful to many animals in many ways.

 

The flowers of these two vines feed pollinators and the resulting fruits feed mammals and birds. If the twining plants did indeed kill some trees, well, bravo! Woodpeckers and wood-boring insects can’t exist without standing dead trees. And reptiles and salamanders can’t exist without logs on the ground. Every bit of this dead wood provides sites for each of these animals to reproduce.

 

I should also point out that it appeared the removal of the woody plants was taking place in late spring or summer, as they were fully leafed out. What that means is that the environment was taking yet another hit as adult animals and their eggs/young in that area were chopped up by a humongous brush-cutting machine.

 

As for the soon-to-be-planted lawn, its presence would increase the burden placed upon the environment. In addition to the loss of habitat, there’s the weekly mowing that might keep the “invasives” from returning (as stated by the man in charge) but which spews small-engine pollution and noise upon the air, land, sea, and people. And, of course, we mustn’t forget all the chemicals applied to grass.

 

It’s never been clear to me why people prefer practically lifeless lawns over the natural environment with all its fascinating critters. If you are lucky enough to own nature-friendly habitat, be bold enough to keep it! You can feel proud that you’ll be helping wildlife that is desperately in need of your assistance.

NATURE ADVICE: 

You can almost effortlessly replace at least some of your lawn area with plants useful to wildlife. Lawn does not persist without constant care. If you leave it to its own devices, other plants will quickly begin displacing most types of lawn grass. Hillsides and slopes are especially good areas to transition away from lawn as they can be dangerous to mow.

It’s fun to identify the plants that show up without any effort on your part, and once you do, it’s your choice as to which ones you want to encourage by pulling out the others.