Ed. — From the Sunday, April 10, print edition.
CHESAPEAKE — Back when I farmed in Pungo, I knew poplar and maple trees produced nectar well, drawing the wonderful honeybees which are good about making nature’s sweet gold: honey.
I developed a wide range of native plants, ringing my property with them as a kind of buffer. Selfishly, all I wanted was honey. That was my motivation at first.
But then I started finding out how lots of native plants and trees are good for everything. As long as they were natives, the pollinators that visited my farm liked it. The pollinators, in fact, benefitted my crops because I had diversity. Meaning, a lot more than just honeybees were part of the ecosystem that kept my farm healthy.
This was part of my path toward learning about the benefits of using local trees, shrubs and plants to support a strong, sustainable farmscape.
Along the way, I met a local nurseryman who has made it his life’s work to propagate and deliver only native plants to our local landcapes. We recently spoke about his work – and about ways we can all make our corner of the natural world stronger for the many lifeforms that depend upon it.
That includes us.
Eric Gunderson owns Southern Branch Nursery in Chesapeake. He got his start studying horticulture at Virginia Tech, learning landscape and nursery management before returning to Hampton Roads and working at a local nursery.
Early in his career, many of the trees and plants in the business came from overseas.
“Nobody knew anything about native plants,” he said when we spoke recently.
“I’m a 100 percent native plant nurseryman now,” Gunderson told me.
His nursery in Chesapeake is filled with more than 350 varieties of native plants he has grown from native seeds, roots and acorns, many of them gathered with the permission of property owners in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Some are even foraged along the road.
He develops plants that are carefully grown in houses named for the local birds that visited the property over the years. He preaches the gospel of local plants – as well as diversity because a mix of plants brings different wildlife to any landscape.
He also said there are downsides to so-called nativars, plants cultivated from versions found in the wild. These plants do not have the same genetic diversity as those that develop in the wild. As he put it, they are not helping because they don’t function within the local ecosystem as beneficially.
“You might as well be an out-of-town plant,” Gunderson said. “Native plants are the way to go, not cultivars.”
When you have native trees and plants, the bugs and birds can eat the stuff. The pollinators don’t like non-native species. Plants and bugs evolve together. They are neighbors, in a way, who have learned to live together while helping each other out.
Gunderson is especially proud of developing and providing local trees such as live oaks. And there are plants such as wild strawberries that he recommends. They flower and fruit seasonally but remain green at other times, making for great ground cover.
People can develop a stronger base of native plants in their yards and gardens, and they don’t have to do it in one fell swoop.
Gunderson said plants can be introduced over time, a transition that will strengthen the local ecosystem. He said consumers can start slow with trees, shrubs or perennials that attract certain wildlife or insects.
Consumers can educate themselves, and then they can expand.
“There’s a growing momentum to do the right thing for the local landscape,” Gunderson said. “When the lightbulb goes off, you’ll never go back.”
Learn more about Southern Branch Nursery online at its webpage at southernbranchnursery.com or on Facebook via @southernbranchnursery.
The author is a farmer and consultant who writes about sustainable farming and gardening for The Independent News. Reach him via farmerjohnnewearth@yahoo.com.
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