I'm making a native landscape to rebuild and preserve the native Appalachian mountain habitat, and attract native wild birds and wildlife. There's value in preserving our unique ecosystems in our own towns, especially with our rate of population growth. Backyards may be the only place you can find native sanctuaries at our rate of growth in cities. Can we even point to a good example of native landscaping in New York, which was once considered one of the most beautiful, lush areas in the world before it became so popular a destination. I guess I'm bolting the idea of every yard looking like it was bought out of a catalogue or big box retail store, is another reason I'm doing this, besides being worried about the global experiment of native plant replacement. But of course, I'm also fighting kudzu with a city policy that finds kudzu more acceptable than natives, which it considers weeds.

Yes, it's a huge amount of labor, especially on my acre!