Ron Houser – Bring Nature Home – How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants
By Ron Houser, Photography By Savannah Dean
Let’s face it, selecting plants for our yards usually comes down to price and local choices. We tend to use “traditional” mostly non-native plants, that require lots of water, fertilizer, and chemicals. But homeowners who use native plants have found a better way. Native plants don’t need much upkeep as they have adapted to their habitat. In his book Bringing Nature Home – How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy expands on the reasons for using natives, showing us that using these plants is actually necessary to save wildlife. He details why we should encourage insects as a vital element of the ecosystem.
I learned that only 10 percent of our remaining natural areas have been undisturbed by human activity. This is rapidly contributing to the extinction of many animal species. Tallamy points out that there is a 1:1 ratio of habitat loss and number of animal species lost. So, if an area loses 90% of its natural areas it will also lose 90% of its animal species. Tallamy shows us that the way to slow the rate of extinction is by widespread use of native plants in suburban landscapes. Doing so is an important element in slowing or preventing extinction of our native wildlife and it will eventually act as a mini-oasis to insects, birds, and other animals.
Like Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, Tallamy raises awareness of the complex associations between animals and plants and has changed peoples’ ways of thinking and acting. He reminds us that once we become better-informed gardeners we then become naturalists, interested in more than just growing plants. Tallamy is a professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. He received the Garden Writers Association of America’s Silver Medal in 2008 for the book, which he updated and expanded in 2009. I consider it “a game changer” in helping us understand the connection between plants, insects, and wild life and a “must read” for anyone who cares about the environment.
About Ron Houser
I am a retired surgical physician assistant, having worked locally for over 25 years. I have Bachelor of Science degrees in Medicine and Marine Biology and have been a medical technologist in the U.S. Navy and in local hospitals. I am active in the Bay County Audubon Society as its current President, a founding board member of the Bay County Conservancy where I act as a land manager, and am an active member of the Sweetbay Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. My hobbies are birding, nature study and photography, hiking, biking, gardening, and presenting nature programs to local groups. I was awarded Conservationist of the Year by the local Audubon Society in 2015. I have been married to my wife, Diane, for 30 years and consider myself a Bay County native.