Today I attended
the PPA (Perennial Plant Association) MidAtlantic Regional Symposium in
Baltimore, Maryland. This was a fine conference with interesting lectures given
by everyone who presented. However, the takeaway for me was a sense that the
discipline of horticulture is stuck in a ignorant vacuum of its glorious past
and has not completely committed itself to the global issues of today, such as
global warming, environmental destruction, endangered plant and animal species,
habitat loss, invasive plant species, human overpopulation, and so on. Some
might say, “What are you talking about? Horticulture does not have to be
concerned about these global issues.”, and, “Horticulture has nothing to do with
global warming and other big issues. That is for the government or nonprofits to
solve.” Well folks, I am here to tell you that EVERY profession MUST be
concerned with global issues, because each one of us must play a part in
solving these issues or they will never be solved. That is right. We cannot
continue to follow the normal course or the whole ship will lose its way.
Horticulture
is modeled today as it was 100, even 200 years ago, in that the plant industry
finds or breeds new plants and nurseries market these new plants to the public
for consumption. As I heard in the talks today, horticulture still seems too
preoccupied with fulfilling the fantasies of the wealthy few of our society. As
one of the speakers said in his talk, “The US has the lowest consumption of
plants of the worlds’ western countries.” Horticulture is too far removed from
most of the concerns of most people of the US. I think this is largely due to
horticulture’s primary focus on this old business model and its inability to
deal with the world’s more important issues that affect each of us every day.
Do you really think most people care how beautiful a flower is when they have
many life issues to deal with on a daily basis? Many would argue that horticulture
and gardening is a welcome distraction from life’s worries. That may be true,
but I think horticulture and gardening can play a large and significant role in
some of the issues I outlined at the beginning of this article.
For
instance, horticulture can play an important role in solving global warming.
First, all of the industry players can do a full audit of their emissions and
then strive to reduce these emissions. Second, nurseries need to be certified
as USDA Organic. Right now, most plant nurseries are conventional, meaning they
spray many chemicals on plants during production. It’s the industry’s dirty
little secret. Most of those chemicals are derived from petroleum and many of
them release chemicals into the air, water, and soil, most certainly increasing
emissions. Third, nurseries make many deliveries with diesel trucks and ship
their plants all over the US and the world. Here, biodiesel options, increased
shipping efficiencies, and carbon offsetting need to be the norm.
There are
other serious issues, such as environmental destruction, endangered plant and
animal species, habitat loss, invasive plant species, human overpopulation, and
so on. And here the profession of horticulture can play key roles too. The horticultural
industry and professionals can align and work with environmental and social change
groups to find solutions to many of these issues. (1)
Regarding
environmental destruction and habitat loss; is it okay for nurseries, garden
centers, and contractors to simply sell and install plants, and landscape
designers to design gardens for new homeowners of houses that were built where
a forest or other natural habitat used to be, knowing that they will usually
just plant a few token plants as foundation plantings around their house and their
properties will consist mostly of ecologically dead lawns? No, we can do better
to educate and inform the public and take a leadership role in ensuring that
natural habitats are protected, restored, and never destroyed.
Human
overpopulation is an important topic for all of us to discuss openly in order
to learn about it and eventually to take action in some way. If we don’t talk
about it, society’s problems will get worse and our resources will become more
finite. Do we want to leave that kind of a deprived world for our
grandchildren? Certainly this issue affects everyone and therefore everyone,
especially professionals, need to be talking about it.
I feel invasive
species in this country are often a direct result of the horticultural industry’s
ignorance or greed. Many of the plants currently considered invasive pests were
brought to this country by horticulturists or plant breeders purely for aesthetic
enjoyment without much or any prior testing to determine what the level of
invasiveness would be. This practice continues today with new plants being
brought into the US without any testing or requirements for likelihood to
invade. And, incredibly many plants defined as invasive pests by the federal
government are still being sold by nurseries and garden centers and are
commonly placed in planting designs by designers and installed by landscape contractors.
From what I have seen, hardly any one of these professionals are giving a
second thought about invasive plants. This needs to change if we want to leave
the world better for our children. In many wild landscapes around our country
you will find invasive plants to a massive degree, choking out our native
plants which have largely disappeared. And,
credit must go to our forebears who cut down most of our forests and tilled most
of the meadows, decimating many native plants. Today, when I hike in my local
park, I don’t see many herbaceous plants in the forests. I mostly see invasives
on the ground floor like Japanese honeysuckle, English ivy, barberry, garlic mustard,
porcelainberry, Oriental bittersweet, burning bush, privet, and multiflora rose
to name just a few. (2) The forest feels dead to me; there is virtually no
life, no flowers, no sound, and no animals. I sense its sense of loss and
sorrow.
Let’s hope a
fresh new breath of consciousness will awaken and enlighten the horticultural industry
to deal with society’s large issues. Simply talking about the merits of plants
based on flower color or the attractiveness of variegated leaves, akin to the
ostrich sticking his head in the ground, will not make our problems go away. I
dream of the day that I attend a horticultural conference and the speakers are passionately
talking about how they can help solve the big issues like global warming, environmental
destruction, endangered plant and animal species, habitat loss, invasive plant
species, human overpopulation, and so on. After all, we all have a stake in our
planet’s health and only by working together can we thrive.
Article Sources:
Non-governmental organization types (1):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-governmental_organization
Invasive plants list (2):
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/weed/index.html
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