species from keystone genera will have failed food webs, even
if the diversity of other plants is very high. On Kiawah Island,
native oaks, cherries, willows, hickories, pecans, maples, and
blueberries are the top woody producers, while goldenrods,
asters, sunflowers lead the herbaceous pack, but you can find
a list of both woody and herbaceous plant genera that are best
at supporting local food webs in your county on the National
Wildlife Federation website called “Native Plant Finder”
(www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/).
Be generous with your plantings
To realize the ecological potential of our landscapes, most
of us have to increase the abundance and diversity of our
plantings. If you have one tree in your yard, consider adding
two more. Remember, you are planting groves of trees at
the same density at which they occur naturally in a forest.
They may seem crowded at first, but they will interlock their
roots and support each other in high winds. They will also
supply the cover many animals need to feel comfortable near
humans. Be sure to also add vertical heterogeneity to your
plantings by adding understory trees and shrubs to your yard.
Don’t fret too much about your plant choice decisions. Your
plant choices are not finalities; they are part of a process.
Plant for specialist pollinators
Because so many of our native bee species specialize on
particular plant groups when gathering pollen for their
larvae, it is essential that we meet their needs in our pollinator
gardens. The common generalist honey bees and bumblebee
species will use plants needed by specialists as well, so by
66
planting for the specialists, we have planted for all bee
species. We still have much to learn about which plant genera
support the most specialists, but we already know some of
the best plants for specialists in most parts of the country.
These include perennial sunflowers (Helianthus species),
various goldenrods (Solidago species), native willows (Salix
species), asters (Symphyiotrichum species), and blueberries
(Vaccinium species), all of which do well on Kiawah Island.
Including these plants in your garden, along with the greatest
diversity of native flowering plants you can muster, is our best
defense against losing local native bee species.
Network with neighbors
In most cases, the chances that a particular conservation
effort will succeed increase as the area being conserved
increases. The best way to have a bigger impact in suburban
and urban landscapes is to team up with like-minded
neighbors to focus on one or more conservation goals. Let’s
say you want to help the monarch butterfly. You may only
own a ¼ acre lot with space for just one small milkweed
patch, but if you join forces with seven other small property
owners in your neighborhood, combined you will have two
acres in which to plant many milkweed patches as well as
pocket prairies with fall asters and goldenrods that will supply
the nectar for migrating monarchs. The same approach can
help our migrating birds, each of which must add 35-50
percent of their body weight by eating insects each time
they stop to rest during their migration. Kiawah is a prime
stopover site because of its location along the Atlantic flyway
and so amount of productive plants on the island is critically
Naturally Kiawah