By: Phyllis Giffard
Jason Raymond celebrates his gold-level
certification in Lake Charles.
Jason began planting natives at the house in 2013, and has amassed a nice collection of native trees and forbs, since. Jason is a hunter and fisherman, and understands the importance of habitat. That, coupled with a love of plants and gardening passed down from his grandmother, have led him on the path of home habitat enhancement. Beyond the environmental, a positive benefit of gardening that is mentioned by many recipients of Certified Habitat designations, including Jason, is decompression and stress relief.
Jason has amassed an impressive variety of oaks and other native trees and shrubs, starting many as free seedlings and transplants. Thankfully, many were small enough weather Laura and Delta, and are doing great today. He has taken a wet area in the yard, and instead of filling it in, has utilized it as a wetland/marsh garden with a cypress tree in the middle.
He’s managed to pack a surprising amount of diversity into his property, and we managed to find a dozen more species he hadn’t listed in his original application to bump him up to gold-level certification. Similar to the trees, Jason has sourced his forbs from a variety of locations. He has purchased plenty of plants, but also wild collects, mostly from ditches and rights-of-way that are regularly sprayed and/or mowed. He has some very local genetics in his plantings that will live to bloom another day, thanks to his efforts. These plants will surely draw in pollinators and beneficial insects for his vegetables, too.
From the June 2022 ANPP Newsletter
Comments