Sustainable Sandhills encourages residents and businesses to incorporate
native plants and trees into their gardens and green spaces. Native plants are significantly more beneficial to the environment than lawns and exotic plants because they do not require fertilizers and pesticides, they require less water, and they provide food and shelter for native wildlife, including birds, butterflies, and bees. Supporting these pollinating insects is critical, because many of our food crops depend on pollinators. Additionally, introduced exotic plants may become invasive, outcompeting the native plants and not providing the same food sources our wildlife depend on.
Are you interested in incorporating native plants into your garden? Here are some resources to get you started.
A comprehensive list of native plants in NC
Native groundcovers that can be used to replace lawns
A list of nurseries in NC that sell native plants*
* If you live in Fayetteville, you likely won’t find a nearby nursery on the list above, but Green Side Up Gardens & Gifts offers butterfly milkweed and some native shrubs like serviceberry and beautyberry. Bell’s Seed Store also offers some of the plants on this list of native plants in NC.