JAMES CITY — To Doug Tallamy, the sight of a pristine green lawn is downright ugly.
An “ecological wasteland,” to be precise — offering no value to wildlife and guzzling up water and pesticides.
Tallamy, a nationally prominent conservationist set to speak at Jamestown High School on Thursday, would much rather see less-tamed yards with native trees and plants that support pollinators and insects such as caterpillars, an ideal food for growing baby birds.
Instead of property owners viewing their land as an individual possession, Tallamy has encouraged a different concept: the “Homegrown National Park.” His grassroots plan would shrink lawn sizes, weed out invasive species and restore natural ecosystems to create small conservation spaces across the country.
“This is for everyone, not just the gardeners and ‘tree-huggers,’ ” he said in a recent phone interview. “It’s honestly not that hard to do something, especially if it’s something small. If you own a piece of the Earth, you have an ethical responsibility to take care of it.”
Doug Tallamy
An entomologist, bestselling author, nature photographer and professor at the University of Delaware, Tallamy will share his message, plus practical tips for homeowners, at a free presentation sponsored by the Williamsburg Garden Club. The event will also feature informational booths from local environmental groups.
Tallamy co-founded the Homegrown National Park initiative in 2020 with Michelle Alfandari, a business and marketing specialist who got involved after hearing him speak. The movement’s website includes an interactive map where people can register their native plantings.
Habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change have wreaked havoc on many species in recent years, particularly insects. More than 40% of all insect types are declining and a third are endangered, studies have shown. Bird populations also have plummeted.
Insects are vital links in a food chain that extends up to mammals and ultimately humans, Tallamy said. They are the sole food source for many birds, fish, amphibians and animals, and because they have co-evolved with native plants, insects often will starve without them.
Caterpillars are a major focus for Tallamy, who notes that one nest of baby chickadees typically consumes 350 to 570 of them a day — or up to 9,000 before the young birds are ready to fly away at 16 to 18 days. The soft insects are simple to swallow and digest and (who knew?) rich in healthy proteins, fats and vitamins.
Tallamy’s Sept. 11 appearance is part of the Meri Major Lecture Series, a biennial Williamsburg Garden Club event supported by a bequest from a former honorary club member. The money pays for national speakers on topics such as horticulture, conservation or floral design.
“Dr. Tallamy’s message is so critically important for all of us right now,” said Tracy Shackelford, chair of this year’s lecture. “I’ve heard him speak twice before, and it really changed how I think about a lot of things in my own yard.”
Conservationist and nature photographer Doug Tallamy caught this white-eyed vireo feeding its young. Tallamy promotes less-tamed yards with native trees and plants that support insects such as caterpillars, an ideal food for growing baby birds. Courtesy of Doug Tallamy
Some of Tallamy’s main pieces of advice:
Incorporate ‘keystone’ species
These are native trees and plants that can support a particularly diverse range of pollinators, including bees and butterflies.
Oak trees top that list, as they serve as a host to thousands of insect species — including hundreds of types of caterpillars alone — shelter nests and provide nutrient-dense acorns for mammals such as rodents, deer and bears as winter is approaching.
“By planting a single oak tree, you’re adding a feeder that likely will be there for 200 years,” Tallamy said. Other keystone species for southeastern Virginia include willow and black cherry trees and native goldenrod, aster, evening-primrose and perennial sunflowers.
Reduce lawn size
In the United States, about 44 million acres of land are eaten up by turfgrass, an area bigger than all of New England.
Compared to those lawns, native plant gardens are far superior for supporting biodiversity, reducing stormwater runoff and erosion, filtering out soil pollutants and pulling carbon from the atmosphere for storage.
Swap outdoor lightbulbs
Change out all outdoor lightbulbs from white to yellow or orange. These colors are less attractive to nocturnal insects such as moths, which are drawn to the blue and ultraviolet wavelengths in white lights to navigate (the moon is a natural source).
The insects tend to fly in circles around artificial lights until they are injured, exhausted or captured by predators. The ecosystem then loses important pollinators and, in caterpillar form, food for bats and birds, such as robins and bluebirds.
“You can literally save thousands of lives with a trip to the hardware store,” Tallamy said.
Create no-mow zones, especially under trees
Allow leaf litter and native groundcover vegetation to collect and provide shelter or nutrition for insects, birds and small mammals. Many caterpillars, for example, drop out of trees to pupate, or transform into butterflies or moths inside a protective casing. Mowing disrupts or destroys that life cycle.
Williamsburg Garden Club members hope Tallamy’s appearance is both educational and motivational.
“He inspired me to put in a little pollinator garden at my office,” Shackelford said, “and I won’t even tell you what I’ve done to my yard thanks to that man. The idea that all of our yards can come together is really neat.”
To learn about Tallamy’s nationwide conservation initiative, visit homegrownnationalpark.org.
Alison Johnson, ajohnsondp@yahoo.com
If you go
What: “Invite Nature Back into Your Yard” with Doug Tallamy
When: 7 p.m. on Thursday
Where: Jamestown High School, 3751 John Tyler Highway
Info: Free, but seating is limited and an RSVP is required. Search on www.eventbrite.com. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
