The plants growing in communities surrounding Rose Creek (and other wild places), large and small, have a direct impact on the Rose Creek eco-systems. We have volunteers out at the creek trying to remove the non-native invasive species to make room for native plants that support wild birds and other creatures. What you plant in your yard, has far greater impacts than you might imagine.
The impact goes far beyond Rose Creek. To gain a better understanding of how and why, what you plant at home, impacts Rose Creek and the local wild spaces in your community, check out this series of articles in the Los Angeles Times.
Basically, every plant in your garden can be broken down into three categories:
- Natives – plants that grew on that spot or in the immediate area 600 years ago.
- Non-Natives – plants that were not found in the area 600 years ago such as an orange tree or a rose bush.
- Invasive Non-Natives – a subset of non-natives, but ones that spread rapidly and take over the native plants – along Rose Creek that includes ice plant, pampas grass and many others.
When ever possible, landscape your garden with natives or non-invasive non-natives. This is where things get tricky. A plant that’s deemed invasive along Rose Creek, may not be invasive in Northern California. For more information, check out the California Native Plant Society website. For a more detailed explanation of distinguishing the difference between a wildlife frienly non-native and invasive non-native (based the the ecosystems of the mid-atlantic United States), click here.
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