Using Native Plants for a Bird Friendly Habitat

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Photo By Barbara Driscoll

Recommended Native Plants
Keystone Plants
Other plant lists
Recommended Sources of Native Plants
Native Plant Landscapers

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

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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

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New Hope Bird Alliance recommended sources of native plants

Highly recommended:
These garden centers and nurseries:

1. Sell a good selection of our recommended plants for the Piedmont.
2. Have some method of identifying native plants to customers if they also sell plants not native to the Southeast.
3. Plants are not treated with neonics or similar systemic insecticides. See this article for how to buy safe plants.
4. Sell no invasive plants that are on the NC Invasive Plant Council Shun list

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.

1. Use the New Hope Bird Alliance recommended list of native plants to make sure it is a recommended native plant.
2. 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.
3. Don’t buy any plants on the NC Invasive Plant Council Shun list

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.

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Native plant landscapers

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.

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.

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