Gardening with Nature: 
A Guide To Native Plant Landscaping in the New Jersey Pinelands

Why Go Native in the Pinelands?

Your yard is a part of the wider landscape in which you live.  It can be a haven for native plants and animals.  But it could become an island of alien species if you create artificial conditions that let non-natives displace native flora.  Your lawn can be at one with the natural Pinelands ecosystem, or it can be a beachhead for invasive species and an opening through which human pollutants flow into the soil, the aquifer, steams, and wetlands. 

Most of our yards will fit both pictures to some degree.  Gardening with Nature: A Guide to Native Plant Landscaping in the Pinelands aims to help you make your property an asset to the natural community of the Pinelands, while avoiding harm as much as possible.

There are lots of reasons to plant native plants anywhere you live – but these reasons are even stronger if you live in and around the Pinelands.  In this region, our acidic, low-nutrient soils make it all the more important to go native.  Native species do better because they are adapted to our unusual soil conditions.  Taking care of these plants does not cause the environmental harm that fertilizing and watering non-natives generally brings to our aquifers and the vulnerable Pine Barrens ecosystem.

Here’s a quick run-down of the reasons to go native in and around the Pinelands:

• Enjoy the unique beauty of our ecosystem's native plants.
• Help save the unique botanical heritage of this extraordinary region.
• Reduce your watering costs.
• Reduce the time and money you spend on maintenance and replacing unsuccessful plants.
• Reduce or eliminate the need to spray pesticides.
• Reduce or eliminate the need to add fertilizers or lime to the soil.
• Attract native species of birds and butterflies.
• Cultivate a garden at one with the land on which you live.

Resources

Gardening with Nature: A Guide to Native Plant Landscaping in the Pinelands

Call (609-859-8860), email or come by PPA for a copy.

Native Plant Species List

Click here for a short list of native species that are most readily available from area nurseries and/or mail order houses.

[Available soon] Click here for an extensive list of native species you may consider for your garden.

Sources for Native Pinelands Plants

Click here for a list of nurseries and mail order sources for native plants, including Pinelands natives.