Driving through upstate New York, you may notice new ‘native plant’ nurseries springing up. The business is booming.
It seems plants who are native to an area, plants that have an evolutionary history to the region, are much better for the environment as they are built to live in a certain habitat and don’t require irrigation systems and chemicals to keep them alive.
The negative impact on pollinators across the North America, insects that help pollinate other plants, from fertilizers and pesticides, has been substantial. This is a national security issue, a food security issue, and it is global.
Hence the national movement to remove invasive, unnatural plants from habitats, promote the use of native plant species, and restore natural plant habitat.
“People are starting to realize that native plants are the foundation of our ecosystem and they require less resource inputs than ornamental plants,” said one source from a university in upstate New York.
“It’s projected to be the next big green industry. Federal programs made it through the DOGE effort and New York state is leading the way in this effort with some of these funds. There is a bottleneck where consumers and restoration practitioners, landscapers are having a hard time sourcing native plants. The demand for the product is there.”
“This is what’s driving the native plant nursery industry.”
Hellbound and Down 