By Julia Beatty
Contributor
It is May in the Shuswap and gardening across the region is reaching a fever pitch.
However, with the climate being markedly warmer, drier and more variable the last few years, gardening is becoming more challenging. Climate change has made managing your yard even more complex, in large part due to new water restrictions from municipalities who are concerned about conserving water as well as the costs of delivering this service in the face of increasing demand.
We now know that global warming is not only here but also accelerating. Data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that April 2024, was the 11th consecutive month that the global average surface air temperature was warmer than in any previous April going back to 1940. Notably, this April was 1.58 C warmer than the monthly April average for the pre-industrial reference period (1850-1900).
Nevertheless, there is something positive we can all do to address this challenge. We can get on board with the growing movement away from traditional lawns and toward a more diverse yard by incorporating more native and hardier drought-tolerant plants, shrubs and deciduous trees.
Some have called this trend “rewilding.”
Native plants have adapted to tolerate a wide range of conditions specific to their region and therefore tend to thrive in poorer soils and harsher conditions much better than ornamental plants. They also evolved alongside our native animals so can greatly assist them by providing appropriate habitat and food.
Another advantage is that eco-friendly plants will save money, maintenance time and reduce the need for fertilizers, herbicides and watering. Rewilding not only saves time and money but supports climate action, making our communities more resilient. It also provides strong benefits to another crisis we face: diminishing biodiversity. In urban settings in particular, this alternative approach to gardening supports our native pollinators, birds and other animals. As well, shade provided by deciduous trees can lower the ambient temperature by 10 to 15 C and break up the urban heat island effect.
With generous financial support from the City of Salmon Arm, the Shuswap Climate Action Society started a “Lose the Lawn: Rewilding Your Yard” campaign in the fall of 2023. So far, we have offered four online seminars with local experts to help homeowners learn more about rewilding. Those presenters included a permaculture professional, a Master Gardener and xeriscape specialist, a pollinator ecologist and an expert in native plant food foraging.
Recordings of all these webinars and a dedicated page detailing other educational resources are available on our website at shuswapclimate.org/lose-the-lawn-rewilding-your-yard. We hope this may have peaked your interested in making your yard beautiful, ecologically sustainable and climate resilient. Happy gardening!
Julia Beatty is with the Shuswap Climate Action Society.
Read more: Letter: Era of denial over, swift action imperative says Shuswap Climate Action
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