Native plants are having their moment. You may have come across an article, a book or a website recently on native plants highlighting their benefits and why you should plant them in your garden. In fact, you may have come across something about native plants and their benefits on this blog. We’re glad everyone else is talking about them now too, including our CBC: The case for growing native plants in your pots and gardens.
Just so we’re all on the same page, an native plant is a species that has occurred in an area naturally since the beginning of time. Native plants naturally become part of the local ecosystem without human intervention.
The benefits are extensive, including water retention, food and water for native species, and more. But importantly, native plants support biodiversity.
One of the greatest benefits of native plants is that they attract native insects. Biodiversity in our world is declining and native plants attract native insects. Native insects are an important part of biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. Without native insects, invasive species can overtake our ecosystems, possibly doing irreparable damage. Native insects are also native plant pollinators and play a significant role in pollination and food production.
When the number of species above ground increases the number of species below ground also increases. Below ground biodiversity is just as important as above ground biodiversity. The below ground species help to absorb heavy rains, keep the soil maintained and aerated for plants, make nutrients available for plants, and keep the basis of an ecosystem in good health. Like plants, below ground species also attract more above ground insects, fueling a positive biodiversity feedback loop.
There are many native plant species that deter pesky mosquitoes, including purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) (pictured left) which is native to much of North America. Increasing plant diversity increases insect diversity, including pest eating insects. Attracting a myriad of insects to your garden may result in your own pest control methods.
Pollinator gardens have replaced butterfly gardens in popular media. Regardless of what you want to call it, any garden can be a pollinator garden. Many vegetable plants attract pollinators just like flowering plants do, and interspersing them throughout the garden can offer greater benefits. Ornamental flowers may offer a scent or colour that attracts pollinators to the area, but with a buffet of food from different types of plants, who wants to leave? Instead of gearing up to install a “native plant garden”, try incorporating native species into any garden and observe the change over the summer. Containers can also be used for native plants, on a balcony, a patio, or doorstep.
There is a wealth of information available on native plants and it can get quite overwhelming. When doing your research, choose reputable sources or those knowledgeable of your specific ecoregion. The North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) has a wealth of information on their website - nanps.org that is relevant to all ecoregions of North America. Provincial or regional groups can also help. Many books on native plants have been published in recent years, and most local libraries will only have books relevant to the ecoregion. Gaia College’s course Ecological Plant Knowledge 1 - Natives will teach you how to identify native plants in your ecoregion, and how these plants thrive in communities. Learn more: Ecological Plant Knowledge 1 - Native
Gardeners are ever keen to discuss the “how” of our curious obsession. Tell me you have a new strategy for slugs or any story with compost in the lead and I’m all in. One bonus in joining a community garden with people from everywhere is seeing generosity become the language of communication, not just through extra armloads of zucchini but also in shared tips and tricks, tries and fails. I like to think I add to my personal knowledge bank every growing season with what I do and see but also what I learn from my garden neighbours.
For some reason we spend much less time discussing what may be an even more intriguing feature of the gardening experience: not how to garden but why we do it.
Why spend so much time, energy, money and thought on this quest to convince plants to behave?
You might think the question would come up at the most obvious times. When weevils have turned your veggie plot into a smorgasbord or the weeds you only noticed a few days ago are now waist high. But even then, gardeners aren’t the kind to give up. We know we’ve signed on to a lifetime of challenges, one disappointment after another, perfection eternally out of reach. We don’t despair because we also know the rewards are just as reliable and may be earned as soon as we step outside and pick up a shovel. A bad mood indoors can fester for days but take it outside for garden chores and see how quickly it vanishes.
We garden for countless reasons, perhaps as many as there are gardeners, but some seem general. They come from and continue to inform our history.
Humans have forever lived in deep relations with plants. Our survival as a species has been guided by our ability to immerse into the living world. We grow or gather plants as food, medicine, shelter, tools and more. Our bodies themselves, built by everything we eat, are plant-based, even if that means we eat the animals, birds or fish that eat plants first.
But plants throughout our modern evolution have been about more than just sustenance or utility. This is most evident when it comes to gardening, the practice of tending plants in a defined space.
Ancient Persians developed gardens as walled enclosures, bringing water and plants into spaces they called “paridaeza,” the root of our word “paradise.” Is there any better way to describe that charmed patch of earth you have the good fortune to tend?
Gardens in ancient China were made as sanctuaries. They were opportunities to withdraw from the stresses of urban life into serene moments of contemplation. Later this idea flourished in Japan where Zen monks treated garden design as a way to express the inexpressible. They understood that a garden exists in two places, the site itself and the mind of the visitor. These original Japanese garden designers, called “ishitate-so” or “stone-placing monks,” used materials from nature to create spaces that can evoke profound notions such as interdependence based on emptiness. This key to Buddhist thought holds that all things are empty of solid, separate, permanent existence. Everything, including ourselves, is made “real” only by relationship.
This is one thing to get as a concept but difficult to achieve as a realization, a life journey typically requiring much mental effort through meditation. Zen gardens were created as spaces where the environment itself, the stones, water, trees and plants, as well as the harmony between them, all contribute to the pursuit. One measure of the success of these master works is their longevity. Most artists we admire today will be forgotten along with their art in a matter of years. A few, like Shakespeare or Beethoven, produced art so compelling it can last centuries. In Japan there are gardens more than 700 years old where visitors can experience the same effect the original designers intended.
Zen in the West now gets marketed into everything from soap to resort hotels. Today even in Japan historic Zen temples are more like museums than refuges for enlightenment. But there is one Zen monk keeping the stone-laying tradition alive. Shunmyo Masuno is head of the 450-year-old Kenkoji Temple in Yokohama. He’s also a landscape designer sought by clients worldwide who want his contemporary Zen take on creating garden spaces with meaning.
Masuno’s method calls back to an earlier age when artists and craftsmen poured themselves into their work. He says he begins each new garden project by first meditating on the site. This calms his mind and enables him to “become totally absorbed in the dialogue taking place between the elements.”
The idea, he explains, is to discover the essence of every material in the garden, then place it to its advantage. “Just as every person has his own face and his own character, every tree and every stone is also unique. The question is how to extract the essence of a thing to make it fit properly.” He advises gardeners to “talk” to the stones and plants to hear what they have to say about the right way to be placed. A garden creator must understand the heart or essence of any site they hope to reshape, not simply through data collection but by experiencing it as a whole.
Tying one’s work to the spirit of a place calls for something we’ve largely lost since the Industrial Era, a kinship with all living things. This thinking erases the border between nature and us. With this we can see the parallels between ancient wisdom traditions of the East and Indigenous ways of knowing from Turtle Island. Both can be seen as rooted in ecology, the study of the relationships between living things and their environment. Powatani botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in “Braiding Sweetgrass” of the “honorable harvest,” a set of guidelines based on the notion of plants as kin. Before gathering in the wild, we are to introduce ourselves and ask permission. We never take the first plant we see, that way ensuring we won’t take the last. We offer thanks and a resolve to share. This counter to the capitalist notion of land as resource and plants as products also suggests a deeper relationship with the earth is possible, if one opens to the possibilities of connection. “One thing I’ve learned in the woods is that there is no such thing as random,” writes Kimmerer. “Everything is steeped in meaning, colored by relationships, one thing with another.”
We may not think of it often or try to capture it with words but I believe we garden to feel alive. We know in our hearts we are a part of all things. Sometimes it takes being in the garden to prove it.
If all that isn’t enough, science has recently uncovered another explanation for why many of us find respite in our green growing spaces. Put your bare hands into the soil or breathe deeply while working the ground and you will absorb Mycobacterium vaccae, a soil-derived bacterium. First isolated in Uganda where locals reported the mud seemed to help them recover from sickness, M. vaccae has been clinically tested for properties that appear to boost immunity, reduce stress and increase our production of serotonin, a chemical that helps fight off depression.
More trials are being conducted to look for connections between working with the living soil and reducing asthma, countering inflammation, combatting cancer and improving cognitive function. Results so far seem impressive. They would mean the practice of gardening not only makes us physically better, it makes us feel better at the same time.
Yes, something you knew already and didn’t need lab results to confirm. But it can be comforting to see the list of reasons why we garden get longer. There must be others. Feel free to share yours in the comments below.
Garden tips to be drawn from all this are many. Offhand I can think of three.
Submitted by David Tracey. David is writer, designer and community ecologist who works to connect people with nature. You can learn more about his work on his website.
Share your comments in the form below.
Mini-Forest Revolution-Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World
By Hannah Lewis
I am always looking for achievable climate change solutions that anyone can do.
In this award winning book, Mini-Forest Revolution, author Hannah Lewis describes practical, restorative pathways for an ailing planet using the Miyawaki Mini-Forest Method. Lewis repeatedly emphasizes through the book that these micro-forests in contrast to large-scale tree plantations, are not simply carbon offsetting landscaping but “accelerated ecosystem restorations”. The method was developed by the late Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki (1928-2021) as a way to create a biodiverse, working, indigenous forest ecosystem in decades instead of over hundreds of years.
This popular, globally inspired initiative to transform empty lots and degraded land in our cities and towns into rapidly growing, tiny, biodiverse forests as small as six parking spaces is celebrated in the book’s forward by the environmentalist, entrepreneur, author and activist Paul Hawken. Mini-forests in our urban spaces offer accessible solutions to both biodiversity loss and climate change. They also provide opportunities for humans to reconnect with nature. Hawkens feels that mini-forests offer the most impactful benefit of all climate change solutions since it involves planting biodiverse forests that anyone, anywhere can participate in.
In the first three chapters Lewis introduces the fundamentals of the Miyawaki Method. She emphasizes using indigenous, longer living climax species to accelerate the process of natural ecological succession. She elaborates on Miyawaki’s life, philosophy and scientific foundation and provides examples of his early successful mini-forests established in Japan and India.
Lewis highlights the ecological relationship between forests and soil and water cycles using case studies from places like India, Cameroon and Iran.
The next three chapters shift to cities around the world in places like Paris that are implementing mini-forests for education, ecology and cooling hot urban streets. Lewis shares personal stories from community organizers, volunteers and local governments about overcoming challenges both bureaucratically and ecologically when planting mini-forests. She provides examples of case studies using mini-forest projects along highways in Europe, neighborhoods in the United States and land spaces in India.
In chapter seven which is beautifully titled “Earth’s Living Tissue”, Lewis explores the structure and function of ecosystems. She discusses important topics of biodiversity, soil ecology and the resilience created in ecosystems through species interaction. She highlights the important role humans play through honouring these ecosystems and by viewing Earth’s biosphere as a whole.
This delightful book is both fascinating in its storytelling as well as its practicality as a “how to” and reference source. Lewis ends the book with a step by step Mini-Forest field guide including beautiful coloured pictures of various projects. The detailed index at the end makes this book perfect as a resource for planting your own Miyawaki Method mini-forest.
May the forest be with you.
I am a chemist at heart. I was turned off biology back in my first year of university, but since my first time gardening almost 15 years ago, I have made an effort to learn more about what I’m growing. After recalling and refreshing on high school teachings about photosynthesis and plant vacuoles, I developed an understanding of how soil conditions support or inhibit plant growth and development. Plant biology suddenly became much more intriguing and I turned to books to further my understanding of plants including Braiding Sweetgrass and Finding the Mother Tree. In fact, both made me wish I had spent more time in a biology lab instead of an inorganic chemistry lab in university. As someone who has never formally studied biology or trees, I feel like my understanding is slowly coming together through self-teaching. Until I read Our Green Heart: The Soul and Science of Forests. Now I realize there is no way any formal education could possibly deliver what the author, Diana Beresford-Kroeger, has come to understand about nature.
Part of me wants to go back to the beginning and start again. But I don’t think that would get me much closer. What is most fascinating about the book is that the author’s formative years were among elders, learning the Brehon laws of the Celts. The ancient Druidic knowledge of the Celtic culture, encompassing thousands of years of wisdom, was instilled in the author’s young mind. The simplicity of passing stories and knowledge down through generations while observing the outside world, taking time to explore and understand nature, has allowed the author to develop an incredible understanding of the natural world.
Historical evidence shows that early European settlers tried to eliminate traditional knowledge. While we are working to reconcile this, we need to understand that the English monarchy wasn’t just responsible for limiting traditional knowledge in Canada, but in other parts of the world as well, including Ireland. Traditional knowledge may be our best guide for education. Whether it be Indigenous knowledge, or Celtic knowledge, there must be credence to knowledge that survived and practices that worked for thousands of years.
When one’s learning starts with traditional knowledge that has been tested and supplemented for generations, the fundamentals make sense. Take that same knowledge and apply it to a different region, with different landscapes, plants, animals, etc. and it no longer aligns. Beresford-Kroeger’s foundational knowledge was beyond what most of us can possibly obtain. Building on that strong foundation for years contributed to her developing a better understanding of the natural world; while her passion for this natural world - one of her first classrooms - enabled her to share her knowledge and observations clearly to people without a background in biology.
Throughout Our Green Heart: The Soul and Science of Forests, Beresford-Kroeger introduces new observations and new topics in each chapter. Never once repeating the same message but sharing new insights each time. The book is incredibly well written. A word of caution though - don’t plan to breeze through it. While it is under 200 pages, give yourself time to fully absorb and reflect on what you have read. This is not a book that should be rushed. It is a book that can be enjoyed all summer in your garden, opening your eyes to new ideas each time you read it.
submitted by Julia Dupuis
Tallamy, Dr. Douglas W. “How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard”. Timber Press, Portland, OR, 2025
Dr. Tallamy’s latest book, “How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard” is no less powerful and compelling than his previous tomes which include “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope”. This multi-chapter book is formatted as 499 questions commonly asked at his lectures with his detailed answers. He covers inquiries on topics such as biodiversity, native/non-native/invasive plants, pest control, home landscapes, keystone species, supporting wildlife, conservation and restoration. His photographs of plants, caterpillars and insects are impressive and accompany the broad range of topics.
The well-organized format of the book allows the reader to flip through the questions and then to peruse the ones of personal relevance or interest. For my part, reading about restoration and wildlife support options in urban centres was of particular interest as an actionable item, given that I am a high-rise dweller in an area dotted with boulevard plantings and patio container gardens.
Dr. Tallamy’s message is loud and clear: we have to live with Nature instead of pushing it to “somewhere else”: only 5% of land in the USA remains as wilderness*, and in Canada this amount accounts for 23% of land area. (* undeveloped and largely free from human interference). Our terrestrial food webs depend on thriving populations of insects, and when these populations are imperilled or extirpated, we lose biodiversity, ecological stability, food security and many other benefits provided by their ecosystem services.
Tallamy’s movement “Homegrown National Park” invites every citizen to participate in large or small ways to coexist with the myriad other creatures who call this planet home. I strongly encourage you to explore this movement and add your yard or patio to the growing list of property areas which support the wellbeing of all Earth dwellers!
Additional references:
https://research.fs.usda.gov/managingland/wilderness
https://www.thelandbetween.ca/2024/06/unveiling-the-silent-crisis-the-decline-of-earths-vital-insects/
https://homegrownnationalpark.org
On Friday, September 26 I had the pleasure of attending the Ontario Parks Association Educational Forum as a tradeshow vendor. It was truly a pleasure to talk to municipal employees about how Gaia College can educate their young employees on sustainable land care practices to enable cities to be more resilient to climate events and to our changing climate and forward thinking when planning parks and recreation.
One presentation was delivered by two people from two different conservation authorities in the province. Words like conservation, biodiversity, and climate change were dispersed throughout their presentation. It was incredibly uplifting to learn that conservation authorities are incorporating these ideas into their plans. But further conversations suggested that this may not be the norm among municipalities.
One conversation led to the question - what is missing from municipal parks? They have playgrounds, sports fields, paved pathways, green spaces - clearly something for everyone. But not something for every thing. When I look at the parks in my area, some were designed with play or activities in mind (sports fields, playgrounds, sliding hills, etc.) while others were designed with nature in mind - stormwater management ponds, plants that attract waterfowl, native plants alongside, and paved pathways for ease of access. What if we combined them? What if we installed a native plant garden off to the side of the sports field with a bench to sit on when the park is quiet; or placed a playground next to the stormwater pond. What other benefits could we garner from these greenspaces?
Ontario municipalities are on their way to better parks. Long gone are the days of just a playground or a soccer field. There are many new ideas showing up in recent years and incorporating all these ideas into one single space is a challenge. Additionally, updating parks takes time and resources. I only hope that the long term vision is expansive and inclusive - how many living things can benefit from this greenspace?
For a gardener, yields are a common measure of garden success. Plant 6 cucumber plants, 5 plants grow and produce expected yields - success! But there are so many things in a garden that are out of our control and impact yields - the weather, squirrels and other wildlife that eat seeds before they germinate, the same wildlife stealing a fresh snack. One success that I’ve seen in my garden this year is the number of insects. Butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, flies, wasps, bees, fireflies to name a few. I’ve also seen a few Japanese Beetles, but there are definitely more beneficial insects than harmful ones. Even if some plants aren't producing like I would have hoped, I still see a successful garden because of the greater insect biodiversity.
I have been feeding the soil and monitoring the microbial life for 5 years. Different things like adding compost, mulch, and cover crops; plant rotations and trying different types of plants; disturbing the soil as little as possible have all resulted in an improved backyard ecosystem. Even if the I didn't get as many beans as I would have liked, I am enjoying the habitat I've created for other species...especially the flash of fireflies just after dark.
Read more about why biodiversity is so important: https://www.conservation.org/blog/why-is-biodiversity-important.
Written by Julia Dupuis, Gaia College Staff
A variation of this post was originally posted to soilsalivecomposting.ca in August 2025. This post was edited and re-posted here by the author.
Book Review
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
After reading the author’s flagship title, Braiding Sweetgrass, this slim volume was a natural segue. This small hardcover book has only 112 pages and is a narrative guide to how gift economies successfully operate, in contrast to modern day economics which extol fierce capitalism, hoarding, the creation of scarcity and unlimited economic growth.
The eponymous shrub, the serviceberry, aka shadbush or saskatoon, provides gifts of soil stabilization, shelter for birds and small animals, food for caterpillars, browsers and other plant herbivores; flowers with nectar for birds and insects, and tasty, nutritious reddish-purple berries to fill the bellies of birds, bears, badgers, rodents, deer and humans. The seeds of the berries are excreted by those who eat them, and the species can thus spread its range and flourish anew. Everybody participates and everybody benefits.
Indigenous cultures have long used the Honourable Harvest as a way for accepting and using gifts from the land – be it water, grain, wood, fish, berries, seeds or edible plants. As a result of taking only what one needs and sharing with others, and ensuring the bounty remains for future generations, the people protect the wellbeing of themselves and the land that sustains them. In a world obsessed with consumption, acquisition and where many are heedless to the consequences, Kimmerer offers hope and practical suggestions for those ecologically-sensitive individuals who could otherwise be left despairing for the future of our Earth.
I recommend this easy read: it will leave you with a sense of joy and purpose, and a new appreciation for the hardworking and humble serviceberry.
Written by Laurie Smith, Gaia College Instructor
Kimmerer, R.W., (2024). The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World,
Scribner, New York, NY
By Laurie Smith
If your home library does not yet contain Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer, then make it your next addition. Anyone who is interested in engaging respectfully with the flora and fauna of our planet should read this book! Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist, professor, author and respected member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation in the United States.
This incredible masterpiece of non-fiction follows the story of the author’s life, with references to historical events interwoven with stories rooted in generations of experience-based knowledge. The easily flowing, eminently readable style shines a light on traditions, customs, social philosophy, ecology and interactions with Nature. In doing so, the narrative highlights the difference between the capitalistic economy (based on commodity exchange and dollar values) and the gift economy, where the currency is sharing, gratitude, reciprocity and abundance for all.
This is the best book I have read in years, and throughout the perusal of the interconnected chapters, organized chronologically into the lifecycle and ritualistic significance of sweetgrass, I had frequent “Yes!” and “Aha!” moments. Through the author’s beautiful perspective, I learned so much more about the relationships between plants and people, seasonal cycles and wisdom passed through generations. Even descriptions of the destruction of natural areas and wildlife habitat, and the grim stories of residential schools, were depicted with an attitude of patience, and faith in humanity’s ability to learn new ways – really, to relearn old ways - and do the right thing.
I have the author’s most recent book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World (2024) on hold at my local library. My place in the hold queue is fifth, which means that at three weeks apiece for loans, I could be waiting another three months before it is available. As the saying goes, “good things are worth waiting for”. In the meantime, my next reading adventure beckons, to be shared in a subsequent blog posting.
It's Indigenous history month and we're using it as an opportunity to celebrate Indigenous authors while embracing traditional teachings. Here are five books we've enjoyed or are looking forward to.
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Published in 2017, this book may be one you've already read, but it's worth mentioning. A winner of the Governor General's Literary Award in 2017, Cherie Dimaline creates a dystopia that leaves Indigenous People running from "recruiters" who are trying to steal their precious marrow.
The Knowing: An Indigenous Lens on Canadian History by Tanya Talaga
Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga digs deep into her family tree, going back decades to find her great-great grandmother, Annie Carpenter. Navigating the historical records of the residential schools and the poor records maintained by the province, the author unravels centuries of oppression of Indigenous People.
Tawâw by Shane Chartrand
Part cookbook, part exploration of ingredients and techniques, part personal journey, this book has it all. Author Shane Chartrand was born to Cree parents and raised by a Métis father and Mi’kmaq/British mother. Following his journey from a childhood in Central Alberta to executive chef at SC Restaurant in the River Cree Resort & Casino, this book details the author’s journey visiting different First Nations to listen, share and gather knowledge & stories.
A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle by David Young, Robert Rogers & Russell Willier
With help from an anthropologist and a botanist, Cree Medicine Man Russell Willier’s life, belief and healing practices are documented. Both a study and a guide, this book shows how indigenous healing practices can complement mainstream medicine. The authors also look at how mining, agriculture, and forestry threaten the existence of these valuable medicinal plants and the role of traditional healers in today’s health care system.
Halfbreed by Maria Campbell
A Canadian Classic originally published in 1973, Maria Campbell details her life as a Métis woman and the realities she faced growing up in Northern Saskatchewan. Having endured poverty, oppression, alcoholism, addiction and tragedy, Maria’s life was underscored by living in the margins of a country full of hatred, discrimination and mistrust. If you find yourself with the newer edition (2019 edition) you’ll find an introduction written by Metis scholar Dr. Kim Anderson as well an afterword by the author detailing what has and has not changed for Indigenous people in Canada over the previous 46 years.
References:
Ottawa Public Library. (n.d.). Tawâw. https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S26C1177837
Penguin Random House. (n.d.) A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/243737/a-cree-healer-and-his-medicine-bundle-by-david-young-robert-rogers-and-russell-willier/9781583949030
Penguin Random House. (n.d.) Halfbreed. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/610927/halfbreed-by-maria-campbell/9780771024092
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