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Environment Blog
06/26/09
Variety is the Spice of Life (and the Landscape)
Those in the know in the plant and insect world have been dreading the day the Emerald Ash Borer would show its ugly face in Minnesota. Unfortunately, that day arrived in the Twin Cities with this insect’s discovery in damaged ash trees in St. Paul earlier this year.
To find out more about this problematic pest that prefers the ash trees so abundant (900 million!) in Minnesota, please check out http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/eab.htm.
While it is very important to (1) learn how to recognize these pests, (2) treat plants properly that are affected by them, and (3) further prevent their spread, a development like this also reminds us of the extreme importance of diversity in our landscapes. When planning and planting your home landscapes, or having your favorite landscape professional plan and plant for you, you can make a difference in future potential pest problem situations by choosing and using a wide variety of plant species whenever possible. Not only does this give you a visually stimulating, enjoyable and unique landscape, but it is an excellent practice to prevent huge problems if a new pest or disease should turn up in an area. With more plant diversity, fewer individual plants will be affected by a bug with a particular taste for one species. So, march to the beat of your own drum and choose new plants that are interesting to you that you’ve never grown before. See how they perform – and don’t be afraid to experiment! Don’t grow the same bread-and-butter plants everyone on your street has. Get a fabulous, unusual plant that none of your neighbors have seen and be the talk of your block! Use GardenMinnesota.com to find an MNLA Certified Professional and then encourage that professional to be creative when you hire them to work up a landscape design for your property. You will be glad to learn from these valuable resource people and will certainly not end up with the boring cookie cutter landscapes many properties seem to have. Remember, a defense of plant diversity is a terrific offense against pests and disease. by Stephanie Girgen
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