Thanks for your article highlighting the commitment of the Friends of the Woods and Wetlands at Landis Homes (Back to nature, May 17). They are the retirees who are enhancing their campus by reintroducing native plants and removing invasive ones. They understand that insects, most notably our native bees whom we rely on to pollinate our food plants, need native flora to survive. These folks also know that non-native plants, such as teasel and garlic mustard, privets and burning bushes, crowd out plants that have lived here for millennia.

And these plants are the ones our hardworking insects and birds rely on for food and habitat.

Many of us love butterflies but need a reminder that these pretty summer creatures also rely on certain native flowers to keep them around. With the use of pesticides and herbicides and the loss of habitat, our useful insects and birds face an uphill battle to survive. Not only does this put our own food production at risk, it also diminishes our wondrous quality of life.

We need to learn from the example set by the Friends of the Woods and Wetlands. Homeowners with a patch of space can turn their properties into mini nature preserves simply by planting native trees, shrubs and flowers that support our friends in the animal kingdom. Simply Google native plants for Pennsylvania gardens to learn which species to grow. They are just as beautiful as the exotics from Asia that dominate our present landscape.

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Native plants help ecosystem - LancasterOnline