Roots to Change: Importance of Native Plants
"To love a place is not enough. We must find ways to heals it."
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.
I started off with a quote from a book that profoundly shaped my thinking. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was one of the first books I encountered during my undergraduate studies, and it sparked my deep appreciation for native plants and the vital role pollinators play in our ecosystems. Through my research the passed little bit it is not enough to say we care about nature, we have to show it through meaningful, restorative actions. In the context of my genius hour question, planting native plants in school yards becomes an act of healing. It's a way of giving back to the land that sustains us, or repairing and inviting biodiversity back into a place that is urbanized and had habitat loss.
By transforming school yards into native plant habitats, students and educators are not just learning about biodiversity, they're participating in it. They are creating sanctuaries for pollinators, rebuilding food webs, and fostering a culture of reciprocity with the natural world.
With this quote it started my understanding and research for this week the importance of native plants. If we are looking at planting native plants in our school yards to increase biodiversity and pollinators we need to know why they are important and how they help heal the environment.
The video below from Nature Conservancy of Canada gives a quick explanation of the importance of native plants and how it can be used in gardening.
Why Native Plants in Schoolyards Matter
- Support Local Wildlife: Native plants provide food and shelter for bees, butterflies, birds and other species that have evolved alongside them (Oldfield et al., 2019).
- Restore Ecosystems: Schoolyards often have turf grasses and hardscapes. Replacing some of that turf grass or creating planters that have native plants can help rebuild biodiversity and increase habitat (Oldfield et al., 2019).
- Hands on Learning: Students will be able to observe pollinators, and identify native plants and pollinators in their own community and will be able to learn to take care of plants through garden maintenance.
- Climate Resilience: Native plants are adapted to local conditions, making them drought tolerant and low maintenance.
Reflection
This week’s research deepened my understanding of the vital role native plants play not only in supporting pollinators but in restoring ecosystems that have been neglected or altered by human activity. Focusing specifically on schoolyards opened my eyes to how much potential these everyday spaces hold. What might seem like a patch of grass or a simple greenspace can actually become a thriving habitat, a teaching tool, and a space for healing.
As I explored the importance of native plants, my thoughts kept returning to the quote by Robin Wall Kimmerer that I chose to begin my blog post with. This quote resonates deeply because it encapsulates the heart of this project. It’s easy to admire nature to enjoy its beauty from a distance but we need to restore and engage in creating a better, more biodiverse place for the community.
Teaching about native plantings in Green Industries programs is essential not just because of the many ecological benefits they bring to school grounds, but because they offer students a real chance to improve their community. These projects create welcoming spaces for both peers and pollinators, and serve as meaningful, hands-on acts of ecological restoration. I’ve found that students are most engaged when they can see their efforts come to life in a visible, impactful way. Planting native species offers that immediate reward, as it begins to attract pollinators into the gardens almost instantly.
This got me thinking of my next steps:
- Explore studies and programs showing educational benefits of native plants being planted in schoolyards
- Explore how native plants can mitigate climate related challenges and how to relate it back for students to understand and share an interest in native plants and biodiversity
- Research the importance of biodiversity
- Research and explore what kind of native plants we should be planting in our schoolyards (shade tolerant, heat tolerant etc).
References
Nature Conservancy of Canada]. (2021, May 4). Native Plant Gardening in Ontario [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GajxXz8jaY&t=58s
Oldfield, S. F., Olwell, P., Shaw, N., Havens, K., Oldfield, S. F., Olwell, P., ... & Havens, K. (2019). The importance of native plants and the pressures they face. Seeds of Restoration Success: Wild Lands and Plant Diversity in the US, 7-24.
Stevenson, K. T., Moore, R., Cosco, N., Floyd, M. F., Sullivan, W., Brink, L., Gerstein, D., Jordan, C., & Zaplatosch, J. (2020). A national research agenda supporting green schoolyard development and equitable access to nature. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.406
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