Since urban/suburban areas are the fastest growing habitat in Georgia many homeowners are adding native plants to their yards in hopes that local food webs will be reestablished. While some people have replaced all of their introduced ornamentals with native plants, most folks choose to slowly replace their noninvasive introduced ornamentals with native plants.  While most gardeners realize that adding a smattering of native plants will not recreate a self-supporting natural habitat, they want to know how many natives they need to incorporate in their landscape to begin making a difference.

     According to noted ecologist Doug Tallamy, our gardens need to be composed of a minimum of 70% native, noninvasive plants.  This threshold is needed to support native insect populations. One of the reasons this is important is these small critters are eaten by 96% of the nation’s terrestrial birds.

     It is often best to have a goal in mind when you embark on such a project. Since most of us will not try to accomplish this goal in a single season. Each time you replace ornamentals replace them with an equal or greater number of natives. Over time, you will eventually reach the 70% goal.