What exactly is a healthy landscape? Well, that term might mean something different to each one of you. But to me, as an ecological horticulturalist, it means how healthy is the landscaping in regards to overall habitat health. There are a number of factors which relate to whether or not a landscape can be deemed healthy. To some, a healthy landscape means you have no pest problems, the grass is green, and everything appears to be growing well. However, those are signs of an unhealthy landscape to me.
What are the factors that should determine whether or not a landscape is healthy? Well, the factors which help us to determine that are related to overall ecologival balances and life systems that are in play around you. They may include:
- % of native plant species
- % of introduced plant species
- Do you apply pesticides?
- Are you using synthetic or natural fertilizers?
- Do you have or use an irrigation system?
- Is your lawn a monoculture of grasses?
- The size of your lawn
- Does your landscape reflect the natural landscapes around you or are you trying to create Utopia?
The Role of Plants in the Landscape
Plants are the main feature in most landscapes. Whether it turfgrass, trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, annuals, or tropicals, every plant has a role. And that role contributes in making a healthy landscape, or not. While it is certainly allowable to have some percentage of introduced plants in every landscape, it has been recommended that at least 70% of the overall total number of plants should be natives. But what are considered natives? Natives are plant species or cultivated species of natives which can be found growing wild within 150 miles of your location. Some purists believe that it should be a 50 or 75 mile radius, but most agree on 150.
The plants you choose for your landscape go a long ways towards making it healthy. If you choose an over-abundance of introduced species, then you risk losing butterflies, moths, birds, and other species of wildlife. One of the most important considerations when designing a new landscape, is its impact on wildlife populations around you. If you are choosing more native plants than introduced, then you will be more likely to see pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.
While it is true that introduced plants have less pests and diseases, they also have less potential for promoting wildlife, whether bees, butterflies, or birds. So choose as many natives or native cultivars as possible.
Do You Use Pesticides or Synthetic Fertilizers?
Pesticides are chemicals, either synthetic or organic which are used to treat or kill diseases, insects, mites, or other pests. If you are using these in the landscape, can it be healthy? Why are you using them in the first place? If you are already using pesticides, there must be an unhealthy imbalance to the landscape. Most gardeners react with pesticides at the first outbreak of a pest that has overwhelmed the predator populations. Examples include aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, and sawflies. And even, sadly, caterpillars. They do not give natural processes time to overcome the quicker life cycles of pests. Most predators are already in place in a healthy landscape, waiting for an outbreak. But if the predators are wiped out with the prey, then the prey usually bounces back and the predator does not.
Pesticides are targeted to kill pests, but they almost always take out more than they proclaim. If you stop the use of pesticides, or reduce by 95% or greater, then the abundance and diversity of predators will increase.
Synthetic Fertilizers
I have had some good conversations with coworkers who use primarily synthetic fertilizers in row-crop production and research. And I see their point, in regards to conventional production agriculture. But with landscapes, we need to use a different mindset. Landscapes are an interwoven tapestry of plant materials, soils, and micro-organisms which are not re-disturbed on a large scale each time something is planted. Therefore, the use of synthetic fertilizers is not in the best interests of a healthy landscape.
The problem is that synthetic fertilizers do not add enough organic value to the landscape for healthy processes performed by micro-organisms. (For more detailed information please read Teaming with Nutrients or Teaming with Microbes by Wayne Lewis, Jeff Lowenfels). Synthetic fertilizers mimic or imitate the functions of natural or organic fertilizers like manure and compost. For healthy landscapes, you must start with healthy soils.
Is the Lawn Part of a Healthy Landscape?
Maybe. That is the best answer for the question. The problem is that most lawns are made up of just a few species of turf-forming grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, zoysia, or centipedegrass, depending on your location in the world. And because it is a monoculture of grasses only, the needs of lawn are quite different than that of the rest of the landscape.
If the lawn is minimalized down to areas of regular foot traffic, then it is more likely to be part of a healthy space. Or, if you make the lawn more of a mixture of grasses, sedges, and forbs. There are ways to do either and still get the clean look most people want from the lawn. One thing though is that it is very difficult to have an irrigated lawn in a healthy landscape, because lawn irrigation is rarely used correctly, and it contributes to water-logged soils.
What Does Your Landscape Look Like?
If your landscape looks like you just stepped out of a Colorado ski lodge in summer and you live in Tucson, AZ, then your landscape is not healthy. That has become one of the biggest landscaping problems in the United States. We think we can do whatever we want without consequences, no matter where we live. But by doing so, we are creating unrealistic expectations for the health of the landscape.
If you live in the desert southwest, then your personal landscape should mimic nature around you as much as possible. The same goes no matter where you live. Some places have multiple landscape styles in which to mimic. For example, I live near a lake among a remnant of oak-hickory forest within 30 miles of the Missouri River. There are also a lot of remnant prairie pastures nearby. Therefore, I mimic forest edges and meadows within my own person landscape.
Creating A Healthy Landscape
So what then does it take to create a healthy landscape, if we cannot use synthetic chemicals and have to mimic natural plant communities around us? Slow and steady. When my wife and I bought our property 11 years ago, we were not really thinking about the plant community around us, nor about conservation or ecology. But I already had an inkling of what I wanted it to look like, and what I wanted to see. It was a blank slate, except for some trees. But over time, I started to plan my landscape to see more and more of what I wanted; bees, butterflies, birds, and more.
Using iNaturalist to Map Data
As I started creating a healthy landscape by eliminating pesticides, and mimicking nature, I also started using iNaturalist to record data within my landscape. By recording insects, animals, fungi, and other species over multiple years, I began to see an upwards trend in species diversity. Over a four year period, I had increases of species in the following categories:
- Moths went from 168 to 347
- Spiders went from 21 to 37
- Fungi went from 24 to 50
- Beetles went from 41 to 109
- True bugs went from 22 to 75
- Flies went from 25 to 59
- Bees went from 9 to 16
- Assassin bugs went from 4 to 11
Reptiles, birds, butterflies, wasps, amphibians, and dragonflies all hovered around the numbers I first collected in 2021, when I started the project. If you want to create your own project, first create a place with a map in iNaturalist, and then tie a project to that place.
How to Deal With Pests
The biggest pest problems in my landscape are invasive species. Japanese beetles, Emerald ash borer, and Chinese mantids are my only real problems. All other things are completely taken care of by natural processes. For Japanese beetles, I use traps placed in May, over 55 gallon water barrels. The beetles fall through the pheremone traps into the water, where I scoop them out daily to feed my peacocks, chickens, and ducks. The ducks are also allowed to forage on their own. Assassin bugs, soldier bugs, and some diatomaceous earth take care of most of the rest. I still get feeding damage on the plums and apricots, but most things get very little damage.
As for Emerald ash borers, there is nothing I can do. I let it happen because I only have a few ash trees on the property, and they are small. I do not wish to treat trees with systemics and risk harming other, native insects with chemicals. In fact, I may have an increase in woodpecker species because of EAB. As for the Chinese mantids, most gardeners see them as beneficial. But they are too voracious in their habits, and I prefer to see native Carolina or Prairie mantids. The only method of control for Chinese mantids it to squish either the egg masses or the adults. And I do both.
What About the Lawn?
I have never understood the Great American Lawn. Yes, it does look nice. But no one uses it. There is nothing practical about it. Now, if people used their lawn as a place to play or have picnics, or whatever, then maybe I could understand. But there is no purpose to most peoples lawns, except to just look good.
My own lawn, therefore, is a path between garden beds. And it is not the monoculture of the “normal” lawn. Instead I encourage the growth of clovers, sedges, and broadleaf “weeds”. What I get in return is a place where ground nesting bees thrive, pollinators can find nectar as early as March, and I and my kids can walk barefoot without the risk of chemical exposure.
Conclusion
Having a healthy landscape means having a healthy ecosystem. If your landscape is not inviting to birds, bees, and other wildlife, would you consider it inviting? I would not. I want a landscape where I can take my shoes off, lay in the lawn or under a tree, and see all manner of life around me. That is a healthy landscape.
Happy planting!
