2018-0821 Native Planting Ordinance Somerville 2.0 (1) — File 206495

Somerville Native Plant Ordinance WHEREAS native pollinator populations since the 1970s have declined 70% from widespread use of pesticides in agribusiness, loss of habitat from development, and from our insistence on non-native plants in landscaping; WHEREAS the food web, and life as we know it, will collapse without pollinators, and the USDA says “Pollination is not just fascinating natural history. It is an essential ecological survival function. Without pollinators, the human race and all of earth's terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Almost 80% of the 1,400 crop plants grown around the world that produce all of our food and plant-based industrial products require pollination by animals.”; WHEREAS 90% of native butterflies and moths, and their larva, can only reproduce on the native plants they evolved with. Whereas ~20% of native bees are specialists, meaning they can only rear their young on a narrow selection (indeed, sometimes just one species) of pollen. These native bees need native plants to complete their life cycle. As a bonus, generalist bees (the other 80%) will benefit from any plantings for specialist bees. Solidago (goldenrod), Symphyotrichum (asters), Helianthus (sunflower) are a few genera that support many specialist bees. Native Ericaceous plants (esp. Vaccinium) are also favored. WHEREAS Somerville declared 2018 the year of the bird and that native birds cannot rear their young without caterpillars, grubs, and soft insects; WHEREAS birds also require the fruit, seeds, and berries that evolved alongside them to be ready when the bird needs them to provide the proper nutrition; WHEREAS the beauty of our native creatures has been forgotten for 2 generations; WHEREAS the Massachusetts office of coastal zone management (CZM) recommends planting natives wherever possible; WHEREAS there is precedence for a native plant ordinance as the State of New Jersey passed a bill in 2017 stating that only native plants can be planted on State highways, because “they require no fertilizer, they are not sources of the polluting excess nutrients that stormwater and groundwater carry to nearby rivers, lakes and bays. Nutrient pollution from excess nitrogen and phosphorus—two principal ingredients in plant fertilizer—are by far the largest ecological problem for the preponderance of water bodies nationally” (savebarnegatbay.org); WHEREAS the New England Native Plant Society recognizes the importance of native plants: “Plants are the basis of all life on the planet. Each native plant species supports insects, birds, animals, and other plants and microorganisms, and relies on them, in turn, for survival. The loss of a single plant species can lead to the collapse of related plant and animal species. In New England, where 593 species are now listed as rare or possibly extinct, it is vitally important to understand and protect our native plants.”; WHEREAS the EPA recognizes the importance of native plants: to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, reduce air and noise pollution, for carbon storage properties, and beauty. It

recommends that native landscaping is appropriate for homes, civic buildings, schools, libraries, office campuses, institutional sites, parks, roadways, and stormwater conveyance and detention areas; WHEREAS the City of Somerville planted 135 trees in the spring of 2018 and only 29 trees (21%) were native species; THEREFORE, Somerville will establish a Native Plant Ordinance. All property that is required to have landscaping, including city-owned or maintained, commercial properties, and residences with 6 or more units, will plant the landscape site area using 100% natives trees, 100% native shrubs, 100% native grasses and ferns, and minimum 70% native flowers. 50% minimum of all aforementioned plants will be wild (not cultivars). The plants must be chosen from an established Massachusetts native plant list (e.g., Grow Native Mass: http://www.grownativemass.org/whatarenativeplants, New England Wildflower Society: http://www.newfs.org/conserve/state-of-the-plants) and planted according to established guidelines. Any existing trees and plants in good condition can remain until they need to be replaced, at which time, this ordinance comes into effect. Suggested Plant list for Urban Design Long lived, large street trees— Black cherry Prunus serotina Oak sp. Quercus alba Quercus palustris Q. coccinea Maples Acer rubrum A. saccharum Hickory Carya ovata Sweet-gum Liquidambar styraciflua Black-gum Nyssa sylvatica Birches Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch) B. nigra (river birch) B. lenta (black birch) Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum Sassafras Sassafras albidum Tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera Short lived, smaller and companion trees— Grey birch Beltula populifolia Pin cherry Prunus pensylvanica Choke cherry Prunus virginiana Redbud Cercis canadensis Dogwood Benthamidia florida Silverbell Halesia carolina Serviceberry Amelanchier canadensis Understory, companion, living mulch— Grasses and sedges—

Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis Autumn bent grass Agrostis perennans Wavy hair grass Deschampsia flexuosa Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica Narrow-leaved sedge Carex amphibola Plantain-leaved sedgeCarex plantaginea Ground covers— Canada anemone Anemone canadensis Wild strawberry Fragaria virginiana Woodland phlox Phlox stolonifera Bleeding heart Dicentra eximia Hay-scented fern Dennstaedtia punctilobula Sweet-fern Comptonia peregrina (nitrogen fixer) Wild flowers— Milkweeds Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) A. tuberosa (butterfly weed) A. verticilata (whorled milkweed) Asters Symphyotrichum cordifolium S. laeve S. ericoides S. patens Eurybia divaricata Goldenrods Solidago caesia S. nemoralis S. puberula S. bicolor S. sempervirens S. odora Wild indigo Baptisia tinctoria (nitrogen fixer) Wild lupine Lupinus perennis (nitrogen fixer) Columbine Aquilegia canadensis New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus (nitrogen fixer) Boneset Eupatorium hyssopifolium Mountain mint Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Rose Rosa virginiana Alexanders Zizia aptera Beard tongue Penstemon hirsutus Wild onion Allium canadense A. cernuum Bell flower Campanula rotundifolia Bush clover Lespedeza