Using Native Plants for a Bird Friendly Habitat
Special Event
NBHA is hosting a Native Plant Swap from 10am to noon on October 26 at Blackwood Farm Pavilion. This event is open to Bird-Friendly Habitat program participants, NHBA members, friends and neighbors. All are welcome, if you have plants to swap or not!
Bring transplanted native plants in old nursery pots or bags that you are willing to part with. Folks who bring plants to “swap” will have an opportunity to pick plants one at a time from the available selection. Any extra plants will be free to take for anyone who does not have plants to donate. We will do our best to distribute plants evenly across attendees. Please RSVP here.
How to prepare your plants for the swap: When you dig a plant, get as much root as possible as well as some of the soil the plant is growing in. If you have clay, you may want to supplement with light potting soil or “soil conditioner” found where you buy bagged garden soil. You can make an inexpensive potting mix with equal parts compost and soil conditioner.
Once you dig a plant, immediately put it in an individual pot and water it.
Keep transplanted plants in a shady spot and water as needed until the Plant Swap.
Before the swap, label each plant with the common and botanical name (if you know it) and if it grows in the sun or shade. Any additional information would be an appreciated bonus! An easy way to label plants is with a marker on painter’s tape or masking tape, stuck to the pot or bag.
Consider bringing a small box, bucket or wagon to transport plants home.
*Thanks to the Georgia Native Plant Society for the plant swap tips.
To jump to a particular topic, please use these links:
Recommended Native Plants
Keystone Plants
Other plant lists
Recommended Sources of Native Plants
Native Plant Landscapers and Eco-Friendly Tree Services
Why natives? Our local vegetation evolved with insects, birds, and other animals to create complex food webs. Wildlife consumes fruits, nuts, and seeds for sustenance, while helping to propagate the regional vegetation. Native plants, especially some tree species like oaks, are also host to a large variety of insects, which in turn are eaten by birds and other animals. Young nestlings, in particular, must consume large numbers of insects in their first weeks of life.
Non-native vegetation can provide some fruits, nuts, and seeds, but it does not host the insects that are vital to birds and the web of life. As their seeds are spread by wildlife, many non-native plants become “invasive” by out-competing local vegetation and disrupting the local ecology.
New Hope Bird Alliance recommended native plants for the Piedmont
Plants native to our area are adapted to the soil and climate conditions of the area. However it is important to pick the right native plants for the variety of micro-climates on your property. Our recommended native plants list for the Piedmont tells you the sun, water and soil requirements of each plant. All the plants on our list are chosen to have benefit to wildlife, and specific information about that benefit is listed for each plant species.
View the list in a format compatible with smartphones and other mobile devices
View the list in a downloadable spreadsheet format
Keystone plants
Doug Tallamy has developed the concept of keystone species to describe the native plant genera that host the most insect biomass and thus are an essential foundation for the ecosystem. They also are the best food sources for songbird nestlings since they need to be fed insects to survive. The Keystone Plants spreadsheet lists the top 33 keystone plant genera for our area based on the National Wildlife Federation website. We recommend watching the first 24 minutes of this video from Doug Tallamy to better understand the important role of keystone plants.
You should strongly consider having some keystone plants in your bird friendly habitat and can find what you have or need in the keystone spreadsheet. You can look up detailed information about specific species using the lists provided in the previous section. Trees, having the most biomass, should be the one of the top ones to consider for new plantings.
The other recommended plants in our lists in the previous section must also be planted in addition to some keystone plants to provide all the necessary vegetative layers and to have plants that bloom throughout the growing season to provide pollen and nectar for the pollinators.
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Other native plant lists and resources
- North Carolina Audubon: Bird-Friendly Native Plants
- National Audubon: National Audubon’s Plants for Birds program
- North Carolina Botanical Garden: Plant Resources for Gardeners
- NC State Extension Service: North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox and Wildlife Friendly Landscapes
New Hope Bird Alliance recommended sources of native plants
Highly recommended:
These garden centers and nurseries:
- Sell a good selection of our recommended plants for the Piedmont.
- Have some method of identifying native plants to customers if they also sell plants not native to the Southeast.
- Plants are not treated with neonics or similar systemic insecticides. See this article for how to buy safe plants.
- Sell no invasive plants that are on the NC Invasive Plant Council Shun list
Name | Type | Location | URL |
---|---|---|---|
Country Farm and Home | retail | Pittsboro | chathamfarmsupply.com/ |
Deep Roots Natives | retail | Durham | deeprootsnatives.com/ |
Carolina Habitats (formerly Dirtbag Gardens & Niche Gardens) | retail | Orange County | dirtbaggardens.com/ |
Dog Fennel Farms | retail by appointment | Orange County | www.dogfennelfarm.com/ |
Dutch Buffalo Farm | wholesale and retail | Pittsboro | www.dutchbuffalofarm.com/ |
Field to Cottage Nursery | retail by appointment | Raleigh | www.fieldtocottage.com/ |
Flowering Earth Natives | retail | Durham Farmer's Market | durhamfarmersmarket.com/vendor/flowering-earth-natives/ |
Growing Wild Nursery | mail order & local pickup | Siler City | www.growingwildnursery.com/ |
Haw Honey Native Nursery | retail | Hillsborough Farmers' Market and Saxapahaw | https://hawhoney.com/pages/native-wildflower-perennials-for-pollinators |
Mellow Marsh Farms | wholesale and retail by arrangement | Siler City | mellowmarshfarm.com/ |
North Carolina Botanical Garden | retail | Chapel Hill | ncbg.unc.edu/ |
Rachel’s Native Plants | retail | Pittsboro | https://rachelsnativeplants.com/ |
Recommended with conditions:
These garden centers have a selection of native plants but do not meet one or more of our conditions for being highly recommended. When shopping there you will need to do the following.
- Use the New Hope Bird Alliance recommended list of native plants to make sure it is a recommended native plant.
- Ask whether the plant has been treated with neonics or similar systemic insecticides and don’t buy it if it has or they can’t tell you. See this article for how to buy safe plants.
- Don’t buy any plants on the NC Invasive Plant Council Shun list
Name | Type | Location | URL |
---|---|---|---|
Durham Garden Center | retail | Durham | www.durhamgardencenternc.com/ |
Fifth Season Gardening Company | retail | Carrboro | fifthseasongardening.com/ |
Living Landscapes | retail | Graham | livinglandscapesnc.com/ |
Southern States | retail | Carrboro | www.southernstates.com/farm-store/store-locations/75647/ |
For very detailed information on growing conditions, wildlife supported, and a host of other information, look-up each plant that is of interest to you on the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.
Native Plant Landscapers and Eco-Friendly Tree Services
We often are asked if we know of landscapers who work primarily with native plants. The landscapers in the table below have indicated to us that they are knowledgeable about local native plants and strive to use native plants to the extent possible. They also have indicated familiarity with the invasive plants, and in several cases, can remove invasive plants from your property.
We also are asked about tree service companies that share our values, so we have begun to add these to the list below.
In finding a landscaper who best fits your needs, it will be best to ask for references, see examples of their work, and get estimates of cost. Be sure to let them know that you want to use native plants to the extent possible and refer them to our lists of native plants.
Name | Website, email, phone | Brief list of services (see website for more information) |
---|---|---|
Alan Johnson’s Landscape Services | www.alanjohnsonlandscapes.com 919-619-6923 | Landscape design and consultation; advice on and general garden maintenance; plant id of native, non native, and invasive species; installation of smaller projects. |
Ann Gayek Landscapes | www.alanjohnsonlandscapes.com 919-619-6923 | Landscape design, installation, and maintenance. |
Ecological Landscaping | www.alanjohnsonlandscapes.com 919-619-6923 | Landscape maintenance, design, and new installation. |
Garden Environments | garden-environments.com/ | Landscape design and installation with indigenous plants, hardscapes, water features, fences & walls, and outdoor living areas. |
Leaf & Limb | https://www.leaflimb.com/ 919-787-9551 | We care for trees because we love our planet - we don't cut them down. If you need tree care services, advice from our Treecologists, new trees, a Piedmont Prairie, or want to learn how to help heal our planet, let’s chat. |
Native Designs LLC | https://nativedesigns.net [email protected] | Consultation, design and installation of native gardens including pollinator gardens and meadows, and diverse stormwater control measures such as rain gardens, bioswales and pocket wetlands. We promote environmentally responsible landscaping practices. |
Piedmont Environmental Landscape and Design | www.piedmont-environmental.com 919-960-6856 | Cultivation and management of plants and landscapes; landscape design and landscape contracting; installing deer fences; invasive plant species removal |
Preston Montague Studio | www.prestonmontague.com/ 336-558-6137 | Landscape architecture specializing in ecological planting design for pollinator gardens, green infrastructure, and climate-resilient landscapes. Also natural resources inventory, master planning, woodland restoration, and education/outreach. |
Reconnect Landscapes | www.reconnectlandscapes.com/ | Landscape design, consultation, and installation of smaller projects. Specializing in ecological planting design: bird habitat, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, naturalistic style. |
The Treeist | www.TheTreeist.com/ 919-260-8970 | We value educating our community about their trees, not scaring folks into unnecessary services. Tree services include removal of specific trees, hazard/conflict issues, pruning, health assessment/management, and long-term care and maintenance. |
Transformative Gardens | www.reconnectlandscapes.com/ | Transformative Gardens is about using native plants and making meaningful differences. Services include: consultation, design, and installation. |
Wild Earth Landscaping | [email protected] 910-391-4799 (Corey Bax) 919-260-4041(Tim Mainiero) | Maintenance of native gardens dealing with most weeds by hand-pulling; installation, amendment and mulching of new planting beds; pruning; leaf removal; removal of invasive plant species. |