There was a little old black lady in Tulsa many years ago whose entire front yard was a mix of native plants and garden. It was very nice and organized, nothing tacky at all. City rolled up and razed it flat. She was crying on TV, I was some mix of enraged and crying.
One winter I lost every plant I owned, and that loss kept me away from houseplants for over a decade. I cannot imagine her pain.
Anyway, where I’m at now I’m basically free to treat our house like white trash. No one can say jack about how I’m keeping it and I’ve shared some ecosystem success stories in this thread.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Where i grew up you could have an edible native plant that mosquitoes hate, fixing nitrogen as your ground cover, but no the hoa says grass not mint. I wanted to do guerrilla gardening with wild strawberries there too, but never got around to it.
That said, one non native plant belonged there, the earth made the dandelion one of her greatest and most beloved children, and who am I to disagree.
shalafi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I was taught as child to hate and fight dandelions. Learned in college that “weeds” like that pull nutrients up from deep in the soil. When they die and rot, those deep roots turn into channels for water.
In the same sense that nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, a little bit of killing goes a long way towards making a desert.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah they aren’t native here but they’re good at playing nice with native plants. If you notice them outcompeting native taproot plants then go after them, but they’re pretty, they pull water from deep while helping keep deeper soil nice and soily, pollinators often like them, and they’re not only edible but good for you.