Can You Dig It?
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| Photo Credit: Felder Rushing |
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Gardeners may be tempted to pluck beautiful plants such as this trillium from nature, but the blooms are protected. Taking them from the wild could lead to fines.
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Interested in adding native plants to you landscape? A good, easy way to obtain native plants would be to get plants from the “wild” areas near your home, right? Wrong! I can name three important reasons not to remove plants from their natural environment.
1) Plants play an important role in natural ecosystems, providing food and shelter for many animals. If just one person took just one plant, it wouldn’t seem that bad, right? But when many people start shopping from Mother Nature, it can make a big difference. Animals in particular suffer greatly when plants are removed. Already, many natural areas have been fragmented into small, unconnected “islands.” When wild animals’ food and shelter are removed, they’ve got nowhere else to go. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Stephanie Avett | | Park rules are often posted at the entry gates and in brochures. Be sure to read these before attempting to remove any plants or seeds from an area. |
2) It can damage your pocketbook. Some states have hefty fines for taking plants from the wild, and the fine can depend on who owns the forest you’re pillaging or what the plant is you’re “collecting.” For example, in North Carolina, it’s unlawful to take or otherwise disturb any plant on a protected plant list from someone else’s land without a written permit. (Being on a protected plant lists mean the selections are protected, of special concern, threatened, endangered, etc.) A first offense can earn you a fine up to $500 – and that’s per plant. It’s also unlawful to remove any plant or plant part from a national park or any protected plants from a national forest. If you get caught removing plants from a North Carolina state park, you may find yourself with a $35 ticket plus $110 in court costs.
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| Warnings |
- It’s not okay to take dead plants, leaves or pine straw from natural areas, either. These materials act as mulch for the trees and other plants in the area. As they decay, the nutrients they contain return to the soil for the plants to use again.
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| Tips |
- For more inspiration, go for walks at different times of the year to see what sorts of native plants are growing and flowering. Don’t know the names of these cool plants? Try a local botanical garden, environmental education center garden and other native-specialty gardens where there might be labels or knowledgeable staff to help you identify the plants.
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| Resources |
- The New England Wild Flower Society has a list of native plant societies in the United States and Canada.
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