{"id":2996,"date":"2010-09-01T13:29:25","date_gmt":"2010-09-01T17:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/?page_id=2996"},"modified":"2025-08-11T09:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:15:25","slug":"2500e","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2500e\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulletin #2500, Gardening to Conserve Maine’s Native Landscape: Plants to Use and Plants to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally developed by Extension Ornamental Horticulture Specialist, Lois Stack, University of Maine Cooperative Extension with Judy Hazen Connery, Natural Resource Program Manager, Acadia National Park.
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Reviewed and updated by University of Maine Cooperative Extension staff, 2023<\/em> and 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information about UMaine Extension programs and resources, visit extension.umaine.edu<\/a>.<\/strong>
Find more of our publications and books at extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIDEO: Native Plants in Maine (YouTube) <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maine’s Native Landscape<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Maine\u2019s landscape offers spectacular variety, with ocean beaches, lakes, rivers, mountains, fields, and forests. Maine is locally influenced by both coastal and inland weather patterns. This creates relatively mild areas, and areas that are almost arctic, all within the state\u2019s 300-mile length and 200-mile width. Maine rises from sea level to over 5,000 feet in elevation at the top of Mount Katahdin. This wide range of elevation results in a diversity of habitats including flat sandy plains, rolling hills, rounded summits, and craggy mountains with sheer cliffs. Maine\u2019s forests vary from spruce and fir near the coast to hardwoods in the western hills, and mixed hardwood\/softwood forests in the North. More than 100 types of habitats have been identified with about 1,500 native plant species spread across the state\u2019s varied landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Are Native Versus Non-native Plant Species, and Why Should I Care?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Native plants<\/strong> are species that either originated or arrived in a specific region without human intervention, perhaps thousands of years ago. Non-native species<\/strong> were brought intentionally for horticultural or other uses, or came accidentally in ships\u2019 ballast, crop seed or in soil. Some non-native plants continue to escape from cultivation and become naturalized in wetlands, lakes, woods, fields, or roadsides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Native plants are essential to local ecosystems because they have co-evolved with native insects and wildlife, often serving as their primary or exclusive food source. As habitat and food resources for native insects, birds, and mammals continue to shrink, incorporating native plants into your landscape helps support biodiversity by creating vital food corridors and habitat. Biodiversity is crucial for maintaining resilient ecosystems and sustaining life on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to their ecological benefits, native plants enhance Maine\u2019s natural landscape, one of our most important resources, with their subtle beauty and are often well-adapted to challenging site conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are Invasive Plants and Why Should I Care?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to the Maine Natural Areas Program, \u201c[a]n invasive plant<\/strong> is defined as a plant that is not native to a particular ecosystem, whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. There are currently approximately 2,100 plant species recorded from Maine. Approximately one-third of those are not native. Of those plants that are not native, only a small fraction is considered invasive, but these have the potential to cause great harm to our landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invasive plants are a threat because they typically have one or more of the following survival strategies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n