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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

It's Time to Stop Saying "Native Plant Nazi"

6/23/2021

4 Comments

 
Over the last 7-9 years I've heard this term tossed around a lot. While thankfully not as as prevalent a term today, it is still used. Just this week someone employed it on a social media thread and, to be honest, I partially lost it because by this point we should be more cognizant of the repercussions (especially after this year). Here's what I said:

"Anyone using this term is practicing and defending human supremacy by invoking another term that brings up horrid images of supremacy and genocide. It's ignorant, disgusting, and uncalled for. In many ways, horticulture is an act of supremacy, and to call that out will always upset, alienate, and confront those we wish would look more reflectively at their practice as gardeners and professed lovers of nature."

For too long there's been this ideological impasse between native plant gardeners and those that use a large proportion of exotic plants. The latter group accuses the former of being racist, xenophobic, and exacting unreal purity standards, while the former accuses the latter of not really caring about nature and continuing a tradition of ecological destruction that's part of larger cultural systems of power. I've fallen on "both sides" many times, but to be honest, I live in the grey with the majority -- which is probably where we'll make the most strides since, ultimately, we all agree on the importance of nature in any form, the need to garden ecologically and naturally, and that human-caused climate disruption is real. How we turn the tide is as much about what we do as it is what we say as we get there.

As I explore in my book A New Garden Ethic, when anyone from any perspective starts name calling and labeling, the jig is up. Those who are slinging labels are: 1) tacitly aware of their precarious situation and 2) feeling afraid, angry, cornered, and called out, so need a way to easily dismiss challenging ideas. When the latter happens it's simple human psychology 101 and totally natural. For example, it's my book's job to call out people and make them uncomfortable, to elicit self reflection, and to force a reconsideration of our perspectives. Insist that someone who finds immense beauty and purpose in gardening with a majority of exotic plants that they should be employing more natives, and of course they're going to feel that their identity / profession / passion are being undermined -- and thus their world, which is seemingly becoming more destabilized by radical thinking, will need to be defended in order to right the ship and have, once again, a clear sense of self and order. This is all covered in chapter 3 of A New Garden Ethic -- and is labeled as one step of five in processing grief.

But using the term "native plant nazi" says something much more insidious about the person using it. That term simply has no place in any discussion no matter how heated it is or how aggressive / radical / ideological / passionate any perspective may be.

Ultimately, any conversation about native and exotic plants is not about the plants themselves. Instead, the conversation is really about human privilege and supremacy, about confronting ecological injustice, systemic genocide across species, and a society dominated by an economic system which not only marginalizes groups of humans but entire landscapes and geographies for the temporary gain of a very few. Until we start having these larger, deeper, and more uncomfortable conversations, there will be no progress made on the complex cultural reflection that a garden is, and the meaning a garden will have in a time of mass extinction caused by one species (and keep in mind the entire planet is now a garden, for better or worse). Unfortunately, it's hard for any of us to step back from our first, passionate responses -- responses that are necessary and part of any worthwhile conversation -- and to listen objectively, search deeply and feelingly, and begin to reassess our belief systems in light of challenging ideas.

For a more comprehensive conversation on the phrase that instigated this post, I can't think of a better source than Nancy Lawson's erudite piece with extensive links entitled "Depoliticizing the Wildlife Garden."
4 Comments
James McGee
6/23/2021 09:58:53 pm

Benjamin, You have a kid. Soon that kid is going to do the same thing to you that the person on the internet has done. Your kid is going to call you a name. Most likely, he will call you lots of names. The reason he will do this is because he is mad a you about something. This is how your kid will punish you. I am going to tell you that you should treat this random stranger on the internet the same way as your kid. After they call you the name, be nice to them. Try to figure out why the person is angry. If the person has a good reason, avoid doing that behavior again. If not, then politely explain to the person/your kid why you have acted that way.

I have my own ethics problem to worry about in restoration. People are going around spraying invasive species with herbicide killing big patches of native plants. The result is more invasive species fill into the area. They spray even more to kill the increasing invasive species, killing more and more native plants, until nothing but invasive species remain. Sometimes they use herbicides specific to certain groups of plants, which results in only a few native species, like grasses and spiderwort, remaining.

If you want to worry about ethics issues, then tell me how much damage to the ecosystem is justified to get rid of invasive species. Often the spraying does not even get rid of the invasive species. The invasive species have such a competitive advantage that they survive the herbicide when native species are killed the colonize open ground left after spraying much faster.

Reply
James McGee
6/23/2021 10:01:21 pm

... and they colonize open ground left after spraying much faster.

Reply
Benjamin Vogt
6/23/2021 10:04:41 pm

I was not called this name. It was used in a general way, which makes it even more egregious. I ignore most personal attacks any more -- it's not my problem to solve yours kind of thing.

Reply
Susan
6/27/2021 06:53:42 pm

Thank you so much for this thoughtful article. I am a native plant nerd but as a gardener, I have a traditional perennial bed along with a good many mostly native plant gardens as well as 10 acres which I am trying to rid of invasives. So I am in your gray middle as well.

Reply



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    Benjamin Vogt's thoughts on prairie gardening in Nebraska. With a healthy dose of landscape ethics, ecophilosophy, climate change,  and social justice.

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Lincoln & Omaha, Nebraska

Monarch Gardens is a prairie-inspired design firm. We specialize in lawn to meadow conversions as well as urban shade gardens.

Employing 95% native plants, our designs are climate resilient, adaptable, and provide numerous ecological benefits while artistically reflecting wilder landscapes.
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