Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis 🌻
Is this something to worry about in your garden?
Hi friend,Galls! What are they? Should you be concerned if you see something like this on your plants? A gall is an abnormal growth on exterior plant tissue (leaves, branches, flowers, etc.). They may look like tumors, warts, balls, or lumps, and vary widely in shape, size, color, etc. They’re complex and highly organized structures, and science still has a lot to learn about them. Most galls are caused by insects and other invertebrates like wasps, midges, aphids, mites, etc. either feeding on the plant or laying eggs in the plant. Many have larvae inside of them that are getting their nutrition from the plant before emerging as adults. Some are caused by fungi, bacteria, or nematodes. It can be difficult to tell exactly what caused a gall without seeing the insects firsthand, and insect galls vs. microbe galls are hard to differentiate. The good news? Galls are generally benign, and your plant will be okay!They’re feeding the insects that the plant hosts and helping them reproduce. That’s exactly what we want to happen in an eco-garden. It’s a natural process that mainly affects aesthetics, and it’s not something to worry about. Remember, if nothing is eating your plants, then your garden isn’t a part of an ecosystem!Many species of plants are susceptible to galls, like the wild grape shown in the images above. They can affect herbaceous plants and woody plants like trees. Oaks are especially susceptible because of how many different insect species they host. Galls might look scary or concerning, but they’re not! So don’t panic if you see this in your garden. It’s just nature doing her thing.P.S. Need seeds to add to your native garden this year? Check out my native seed shop here.
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Native Yardening
Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis 🌻
Hi friend, Something I hear a lot from people when I’m discussing invasive plants is, “But my parent/grandparent/sibling/friend, etc. gave me this plant as a gift, and that person has since passed away. It has sentimental value to me, and I don’t want to get rid of it.” Interestingly, this seems to happen a lot with butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), a very harmful but popular invasive species across North America. Perhaps it’s bad luck to gift someone this invasive shrub 😉 (just...
Hi friend, When I started my eco-garden, my yard was absolutely overtaken by invasive plants. English ivy, burdock, wintercreeper, Amur honeysuckle, rose of Sharon, ground ivy, and garlic mustard just to name a few. And the first step toward getting rid of the invasive species and letting in volunteer native plants is knowing what’s growing. It’s common for gardeners to just broadly pull “weeds” without really knowing what they’re pulling. Then you end up accidentally killing free native...
Hi friend, We've all heard that monarch butterfly populations are declining. But what should we do (and not do) to help them? The way we protect monarch butterflies is by restoring their wild habitat, avoiding insecticides, and planting native. When humans try to further interfere with nature by captive rearing monarchs or keeping caterpillars away from predators, it does more harm than good to the overall population. It’s easy to think, “Well, monarch populations are decreasing, so the...