PROJECT SYNOPSIS

“The earth's vegetation is part of a web of life in which there are intimate and essential relations between plants and the earth, between plants and other plants, between plants and animals. Sometimes we have no choice but to disturb these relationships, but we should do so thoughtfully, with full awareness that what we do may have consequences remote in time and place.” Rachel Carson

Climate change is real. We can actually measure that the Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, greenhouse gasses are rising, and even the oceans are getting warmer. And people all over the world are suffering from eco-anxiety, or a “chronic fear of environmental doom.

Gardening For The Planet recognizes the challenges of climate change but our film will show how individual gardeners and communities can make a meaningful difference by embracing native plant gardening. While we still need to instigate large-scale mitigations and adaptations, this film’s purpose is to offer concrete solutions and to share a sense of hope and optimism in the face of environmental doom.

Nowadays, most people feel paralyzed by the messages of catastrophe everywhere. The counter message in Gardening For The Planet, that we as individuals can make a difference, is powerful and compelling.

BACKGROUND

"In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water." Doug Tallamy

The effects of human-caused global warming are glaring: destructive wildfires, melting glaciers, deadly heat waves, and the explosion of greenhouse gases. Recently the World Wildlife Fund reported that the Earth has lost two-thirds of its wildlife since 1970. In the United States alone, rampant development continues to sprawl over 2 million additional acres per year. 40 million acres of lawn decorate these housing and commercial developments and these developments are connected by 4 million miles of paved roads. Forests are disappearing and we are left with second-growth forests that have been overtaken by invasive non-native or alien Asian plants like autumn olive, multiflora rose, Oriental bittersweet, porcelainberry, buckthorn, privet, bush honeysuckle, and Microstegium or Bamboo Grass that are overrunning our floodplains. We spend billions of dollars a year on lawn mowers, weed whackers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, and pesticides.

Millions of plant, insect, and animal species are expected to vanish in the United States by 2050. The introduction of ornamental plants from Asia, Europe, and South America over those that have evolved on the North American continent are invading many native ecosystems while not providing the important functions of providing food and cover for birds and other wildlife that were provided by the native plants. The result is the destabilizing the food web of natural systems and the intricate relationships between flora and fauna that have evolved, which is leading to the extinction of both plants and wildlife. 

“Insects are the little things that run the world.” E.O. Wilson

The vast majority of earth’s animal species are insects, and we can’t live without moths, caterpillars, bees, and butterflies. Without insect pollinators, 80% of all plants and 90% of all flowering plants would disappear, as would the food webs that support mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and freshwater fishes. Wilson’s message was clear: there will be no lions, tigers, or bears, birds, bats, or bunnies - or humans - in a world without insects. This decline of insects is resulting in the limiting of food supplies for larger animals and affecting ecosystem services like pollination. One result of this loss is that native bird populations have declined by almost a third in the past half-century.

The introduction of native plants into suburban gardens could dramatically increase biodiversity and, importantly, create wildlife corridors that allow native plants and wildlife the opportunity to thrive. Even introducing a few key native plants in our yards intermixed with our favorite non-native ornamentals can contribute significantly to increasing biodiversity. We are all overwhelmed with the problem of the dramatic loss of biodiversity but each of us has the capacity to incorporate native plants into our gardens. With enough of us planting natives, suburban wildlife corridors are possible, and we can begin to protect biodiversity for all of us.

Focusing on the various regions of North Carolina, our experts will explain how particular plants developed and adapted to local soil and climate conditions over thousands of years and the ways in which they are vital to our local ecosystems and help to ensure the survival of our insects, birds, mammals, and other wildlife. For example, if everyone started to reduce that biological wasteland known as the lawn in favor of native plants, including perennials, grasses, and trees, we could create one big, connected habitat for species we are driving to the brink.

Gardening for the Planet shows why biodiversity is central to the quality of our lives and to humans’ ultimate survival and demonstrates how the use of native plants in our home and community gardens can help to mitigate the effects of climate change. We will see how these plants have formed symbiotic relationships with native wildlife over millions of years, creating the most productive and sustainable wildlife habitat. The film will demonstrate the ways in which these relationships are mutually beneficial to each other, to their habitats, and to the humans that share these habitats. Some scenes, for example, will feature examples of the desecration of native insect and animal ecosystems by urban development and climate change, while other scenes will offer solutions to this desecration with the planting of non-turf ground covers. By the end of the film, viewers will understand how each of us can regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by tearing out our lawns and planting keystone, or native, indigenous plants in our yards.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Gardening for the Planet will conclude with the message that each of us can challenge climate change in our own balconies, yards, neighborhoods and cities. The film will show examples of big and small native plant home gardens, native plant container gardens, and the joys and companionship of native plant community gardens.

TIMELINE:

Development: July 2023

Pre-production: Aug. 2023

Production: Sept.-Oct. 2023

Post-production: Nov.-Jan. 2024

Distribution: Feb. 2024-Feb. 2025

STRETCH GOALS

Any funds raised beyond our goal will go to GFTP editing and color correction.

Please share this with your friends and family who are concerned about climate change.