A lack of spiders is an indicator of a lack of diversity. In OG's yard, there are 50% natives and 45% worthy exotics. At the moment I am trying to beat back the Japanese Honeysuckle which is an invasive pest. Lots of Coonties and Simpson Stopper and Ardisia and Wild Coffee Wild Coffee – Florida's Wildflowers & Butterflies throughout the acre and a half.
I always have to have an arm up to keep spider webs out of my face. Or a rake handle. But I'm glad to see it because of the collapse of the insect population in Indian River County in the last 35 years.
Could make this a 20 minute presentation to cover different topics related to increasing pollinators. a) the benefits of leaf mulcu b) thoughts and prayers and care and gratitude do not plant a fruiting shrub for birds c) Interdenpendence day (first full moon in November) Take UU's outside to talk about nature. d) weeds and wildflowers.
Many plants are considered weeds but Fleabane and Frogfruit are natives and useful for the environment. I'd been pulling them as weeds because they look like weeds. But they only look like weeds to the nurseries who want to sell you weed killers. Instead of accepting those two plants, nurseries seel us Mondo Grass from Japan because it's an adorable little plant. Nut our pollinators don't recognize it. Snails and slugs seem to like it and now that I think about it, I don't even see slugs and snails anymore.
Maybe what I want to do is make a strong point to the dinner party liberals I have to deal with. They come from their 100 days of frost free free weather up north in Jersey or Indiana or and try to tell me about how and what to plant here with our 365 day growing seasons. Seems like it's been five years since we've had a frost. Apples and Apricots aren't getting the chill hours they need.
You need slack to keep things going all year round and people don't realize how dry Florida soil (sand) gets after three weeks without rain. Areas that get all day sun are not good for most trees. You build diverse communities of plants.
The DEI I'm going to point out is how the fake green industry is about being trendy, sellling shit you don't need. The plant world is there so you can look good and has never beeen about enhancing wildlife. It's about Orthene and Sevin. Cramming non-native plants in these ritzy communities is all for looks. The trend is to promote irrigation and laying a million miles of PVC hidden in American soils.
They get what they think is the best look and don't change it all, EVER. They brag that it is a winning formula, but a closer look shows these garden designs are just conglomerations of biotically useless exotics.
But pleasing to the eye. Sometimes.
gated community entrances are about selling real estate, and never about recreating the local ecosphere.
