How Do You Save Native Plants In An Urban Landscape?
Native plants require less maintenance and provide better wildlife habitat than exotic, nonlocal species. Saving native plants in an urban landscape can present significant political challenges if area residents and developers prefer formal lawns and aesthetically slick, decorative green spaces to native shrubbery and less-showy wildflowers. Native plants may also face threats from exotic invasive species as well as loss of habitat conditions. Use a native plant identification guide to locate and identify indigenous grasses, herbaceous plants and flowers, shrubs and trees in the desired urban location. Form a committee of neighbors or interested students to survey areas too large to be canvassed by a single person. Mark the native plants on an area map, or draw a map with pencil and paper. Assess the primary threats to each of the native plants you have located: Are they being choked out by invasive species, dying out due to asphalt over their roots, or in danger of being plowed under
