The use of plants that are native to our geographical region is important for several reasons.  These plants typically conserve water and in turn require less irrigation.  They are hardier and less susceptible to unwanted garden pests.  Native plants typically require less care and are easily adapted to the local environment.  Many times they offer food and shelter for wildlife.  Consideration for incorporating native plants into your garden is very important. Most every state has a native plant society.  The organization for New Jersey, as an example, is the Native Plant Society of NJ.  Their web site is http://www.njnps.org and the site is full of great information.  There is a speaker series on a variety of topics and interests; list of plants; sources, references and other valuable information.  You can sign up for their newsletter.  And there are valuable tools that can help you create native plant areas in your yard, such as rain gardens, that capture the stormwater and utilize it within your own property.  As we know, rain water can do more to provide the nutrients that plants need far better than we could ever do using the tap water from our home.

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The web site One Square Inch talks about finding a quiet place in nature, in this case it is within Olympic National Park.  The purpose is to protect the soundscape of the natural wilderness.  The web site is: http://onesquareinch.org and I encourage you to visit. I was fascinated to read about the work of Gordon Hempton who ia an acoustic ecologist.  His book, ‘One Square Inch of Silence‘ (Free Press) will be published in March 2009.  It is great to be able to lose yourself in nature and not be distracted by man-made noises.  It is not all that easy to find a quiet sanctuary where the sounds of planes flying overhead, people talking or cars rattling by can interrupt our train of thoughts.  One of the many therapeutic aspects of gardening is the peace and solitude that spending time in nature brings. Thinking about this, I am reminded that I get ‘lost’ in my garden and can tune out the worlds distractions.  One of my favorite times to ‘work’ in the garden is early moring , before everyone wakes up.  I can focus on deadheading, pulling weeds, composting, seperating perennials or many of the other endless tasks that gardeners pursue.  I start thinking about what I need to do and before I know it an hour or more has passed. This is the quiet fascination that the garden offers.  Nature is, as Roger Ulrich, Ph.D. describes, a ‘positive dostratction.’  Nature has the ability to take our mind of of the many things that happen throughout the day.  Nature does not question, comment or judge us.  Nature simply accepts us for who we are.

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