

A diverse garden filled with flowers, food, native plants, and cultivars creates beauty and joy.
Creating a garden filled with diverse, interesting, beneficial plants provides a healthy, balanced habitat—and a joyful space that gives you pleasure.

Why Create a Diverse Garden?
And, of course, growing your own fresh food and cut flowers not only adds to a joyful garden, it actually reduces your carbon footprint. There are plenty of reasons to grow a diverse garden.
1. Increase Biodiversity
‘Hummingbird Falls’ Salvia cultivar is just as effective at feeding wildlife as any native plant, as you can see when you observe hummingbirds sipping from its flowers.

A “cultivar” is a “cultivated variety”. A plant bred by humans to meet certain desirable characteristics, like color, growth habit, bloom size, fragrance, or hardiness.
A “native” is a plant that evolves in a certain region. Adapting to its region in terms of climate, soil, water needs, and interactions with other plant and animal species.
A “nativar” is a cultivar of a native plant species. A result of selections made by humans from the natural variations found in species.
2. Reduce Carbon Footprint
3. Support Wildlife
A garden with a rich diversity of plants can provide benefits to both the wildlife and the gardeners.

Do you know that National Garden Bureau members create some of the most homeowner-friendly cultivars and nativars that benefit wildlife? Whether you’re looking for a compact shrub, a disease-resistant tree, or pollinator-friendly perennials and annuals that bloom beautifully, you’ll find great sources through our expert members.
“Nativars have become an increasingly important part of our plant selection process and, ultimately, our offering. Not only do they provide the important ecological and pollinator benefits of native species but can add value to a modern landscape like better shape, longer bloom time, or better disease resistance,” says Ryan McEnaney, Marketing & Communications Manager, Bailey’s Nursery.
Standing Ovation™ Serviceberry is a great hedging shrub. It gives multiple seasons of interest with early summer blooms, summer berries for the birds, and beautiful fall colors.
In this particular image, Standing Ovation™ is planted in front of another nativar, Amber Jubilee™ Ninebark. This plant’s bright orange late spring color really accentuates the white blooms of the serviceberry.
Cobalt-n-Gold™ Hypericum maintains a perfectly mounded shape, excellent for a low border or to break up a wilder planting design.
The fine-textured leaves are blue-green in color and accented beautifully by bright yellow flowers all summer. This nativar is a pollinator magnet, low maintenance, and excellent as a specimen plant in groups.
Jade Parade® Sand Cherry is an excellent low-growing nativar shrub. It is covered in white flowers in spring, provides structure to the summer garden, and nice fall color.
An incredible pollinator plant, Jade Parade™ is wonderful as a foundation plant. It also is used to prevent soil erosion, on a hillside, or as a structural element throughout the landscape. It remains low-growing and provides an interesting texture to the garden.
By including a wide variety of plants in your garden, you’ll enjoy a long season of blooms—and provide sustenance for pollinators’ survival.
Even food crops benefit wildlife
By providing a diverse, interesting mix of plants, you’ll invite wildlife to join you in the garden.

When selecting plants for your garden, make sure to avoid any plants considered invasive in your region. Check with your local extension agent for a list of invasive plants.

4. Create Beauty
“Don’t feel bad if you like a variety of plants and have cultivars and introduced plants in your landscape…”
“My motto is, just plant something! So many suburban subdivisions have only one to three species of plants installed when they build new homes. If you don’t add pollinator-attractive plants to the landscape, your housing subdivision will be devoid of pollinators.”

When planning your garden, make a calendar of bloom times and foliage color to ensure you’ll enjoy continuous interest throughout all four seasons.
5. Reduce Pests and Diseases
Pests and diseases can easily decimate a monocultural planting, whether it’s an edible garden, roses, annual and perennial flowers, or trees and shrubs. Instead, creating a diverse garden helps ensure that if one variety of plants succumbs to a pest or disease, you’ll still enjoy the dozens of other varieties and species that remain.
An excellent solution involves mixing favorite heirloom plants with disease-resistant hybrids, like Pink Delicious, Chef’s Choice Orange, and other AAS Winning Tomatoes. Diversifying the varieties increases the likelihood of a good tomato harvest. The same is true with ornamental plants. Diverse varieties help minimize the loss of plants due to rapidly spreading diseases or pest infestations.
No matter your goal—creating beauty, caring for wildlife, reducing your carbon footprint, maintaining plant health, or enjoying delicious garden-to-table meals—you’ll love growing a diverse garden.
Founded more than 100 years ago, the National Garden Bureau educates, inspires, and motivates people to grow home gardens. National Garden Bureau members are horticultural experts, and the information shared with you comes directly from these experts to ensure your gardening success.
“This post is provided as an educational/inspirational service of the National Garden Bureau and our members. Please credit and link to National Garden Bureau and author member when using all or parts of this article.”