What To Plant

Many unbuilt spaces in our community are planted with lawn grass, which has thick, shallow roots that limit stormwater percolation and increase runoff.  Lawn grass is great for handling foot traffic, but should only be planted in play areas and gathering spaces. Replacing unnecessary lawn grass with new gardens and planting more trees helps capture stormwater and reduce flooding.

The Conservancy encourages the use of vegetation indigenous to our region, known as native plants. New gardens can be expansions of existing gardens, new plots within lawns, or complete lawn replacements. Diverse ecosystems with roots growing to a range of different depths are best for stormwater absorption. Planting native plants is an easy way to achieve this mix, as they have evolved to grow in local soils.

Native plants also attract and host pollinators. Some plants are particularly attractive to pollinators, making them great additions to any garden. For more information about specific pollinator/plant connections, here is a helpful guide from Jesse Connor, a native plant expert based in New Jersey (many plants and pollinators in South Jersey are also native to Southeastern Pennsylvania). University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy’s website and books detail additional connections if you are curious about plants not on the list.

Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans) and Carex plantaginea emerging in late winter
Penstemon digitalis in the spring

An eastern tiger swallowtail on coastal Joe Pye (Eutrochium dubium)

A skipper on New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) in the fall

Aggressive plants from other continents – commonly called invasive plants – can outcompete native plants and create monocultures. Invasive plants and non-native ornamentals often have shallow roots that do not retain soil well, decreasing water absorption and increasing erosion. Many noxious weeds – including Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), English ivy (Hedera helix), and Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) – are available at regular stores, so be careful when making new selections. 

We are fortunate to have native plant retailers such as Good Host Plants and Redbud Native Nursery nearby to make purchasing native plants easy. Pollen Nation is a useful online nursery for those looking to plant larger areas. Here is a longer list of native plant retailers. If you are at a nursery and want to find out whether or not a plant is native to Pennsylvania, do a quick web search using the plant’s scientific name. While we cannot eliminate all invasive plants, we can increase native plant populations.