Why native plants?
Native plants are ideal for landscaping for many reasons. Because they have adapted Kentucky’s climate over millions of years, they don’t need chemicals to help them grow, they can tolerate our cold winters and hot summers winter, they have very deep roots which allow them to be more drought resistant, they have developed defenses against harmful native insects, and can serve as habitats for native wildlife (consider planting for butterflies, hummingbirds, or songbirds!). The deep roots of native plants also makes them ideal for rain gardens because they create channels in the soil which allow water to soak in quickly (see diagram below to compare the root depths of some native vs. non-native species). Look on our website under Resources for the contact information for several native plant nurseries in central Kentucky.
