Native Plants

Special thanks to an April 2023 student team in the GEOL 1333 Sustainability course taught by Ward Allebach for creating this content.

Do not remove native plants from the wild. Moving them is not best for their survival. Native species struggle with transplanting. Purchase nursery grown plants instead.
The Pennsylvania DCNR has resources outlining what natives are best for different exposures.
Native Species require less maintenance. After they are established in an environment that suits them, native plants can live naturally. Routine watering of landscaping is not sustainable in the long term.

Pitt is dedicated to increasing the tree canopy on campus by 50% and replacing 15% of lawn areas with native species by 2030.
Pitt constructed a native rain garden in 2016 to help manage drainage from the Cathedral of Learning Lawn. Water seeps down into the lawn and drains into the rain garden. The water is then taken up by native plants in the garden instead of flowing into the stormwater system.

Planting native groundcover plants can help to combat erosion issues. Erosion is harmful for an area. Stable ground cover plants foster a healthier topsoil environment.
Groundcover plants include grasses and wildflowers. An area with sufficient ground cover is more resilient to stresses and less likely to be overrun with invasive species.
Native Groundcover is a better way to facilitate stormwater management than standard grass. Since 2017, Pitt has converted 0.5 acres of lawn with native plantings and groundcover.

Native Wildflowers benefit and attract pollinating bees, butterflies and beetles. These insects work to foster the reproduction of plants through their travels.
Pitt is considered a part of Bee Campus USA. An honor which recognizes the university’s effort creating environments attractive to native pollinators.
Pollinators help foster biodiversity in an ecosystem by attracting herbivores which feed on the plants they pollinate.

Common Milkweed Asclepias syriaca

Wild Bergamot Mondarda fistulosa

Black Eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta

Warm Season Grasses and Cool Season Grasses. Cool season grasses begin their growth in late spring while cool season grasses begin their growth in early spring.

Big Bluestem Andropogon gerardii

Indian Grass Sorgastrum nutans

Deer Tongue Grass Dicanthelium clandestinum

Virginia Wildrye Elymus virginicus

Povertygrass Danthonia compressa

Autumn Bentgrass Agrostis perennans

Natives are a great way to reclaim a piece of land where all plant life has been destroyed. Grasses should be planted to begin the process of rewilding. In disturbed sites where there is no plant growth.
Need careful herbicide management every few years to combat invasive species. Reclaiming an area in an extensive process that starts with establishing healthy native grasses.

Before Pennsylvania was colonized, the entire state was blanketed with native trees. Planting native trees can bring that feeling back to the area you’re trying to foster.

Sugar Maple Acer saccharum

Black Gum Nyssa sylvatica

Eastern White Pine Pinus strobus

This webpage was created in April 2023 by a student team in the GEOL 1333 Sustainability course taught by Ward Allebach.