When Nature Calls...

picture by William Warby on flickr

Gardening can be your hobby, livelihood, passion, or all of the above. As gardeners, we should remember that we share this grand planet with other entities. We all have our favorite plants and goals for our unique landscapes. The most pristine landscape should have some plants that benefit wildlife. We don’t have to go all natural but a plant or two tucked into your landscape that benefits our pollinators or other wildlife could make a huge difference. This UT publication gives some great suggestions for plants that benefit wildlife, read. 

I am using wildlife in a broad sense – think of the ladybugs, earthworms, butterflies, bees, birds and other friends of nature. I know we all have “pests” that wreak havoc on our gardens. At my house there is a serious labor of moles that have taken up residence in our yard. 

I have found it amazing that even in Memphis deer eating your landscape can be a problem. I did not realize they had taken up residence in such urban areas. It is a fact I have shared with my Wyoming friends who didn’t realize it either.

Some of Nature's Wyoming Landscaping

Before moving to Memphis, 4 years ago, I worked on a ranch in Wyoming that was returning to natural methods of raising cattle and striving to become a better steward of the environment. Living in a city that has a higher population than the entire state where I used to live has driven home the importance of knowing how my interaction with nature affects the ecosystem. I want my little speck in the universe to be slightly better than it was before I trampled through it. 

picture by Dawn Beattie on flickr

I have been blessed to have the opportunity to hear speakers, such as Doug Tallamy, Carol Reese and others, who remind us we have a responsibility to nature. I feel I have come full circle. I can integrate knowledge learned in Wyoming with my life now in Memphis. Who knew?! 


I would like to challenge everyone to incorporate a plant or two in your landscape that is helpful to our pollinators and other wildlife. Take it one step further and share some of those same plants with your neighbors, friends and family. If we are lucky they will also share and soon Memphis, then Tennessee, then the Mid-South and with any luck the entire US could increase its habitat for the pollinators and other wildlife. Would that be enough positive impact to tip the scales on some of the harm we have caused?


                             So when nature calls, let’s answer with a resounding 
                                                 “I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

Dawn B
TEMG'13