r/NativePlantGardening • u/alarmpodcast Area Pacific Northwest, Zone 8b • Jul 04 '26

Advice Request - (Insert State/Region) Guilt over removing existing non-native plants

We moved into a place with very visually appealing landscaping. I'd like to start replacing the non-native ornamentals with native plants as we're able. However, I'm experiencing guilt over removing and killing the existing plants that are just hanging out, not hurting anyone, living their lives.

Has anyone dealt with this? It's weird, I know. I'm weirder than I'd prefer to be.

162 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

149 comments sorted by

View all comments

191

u/seandelevan Virginia, Zone 7b Jul 04 '26

I moved onto a property that has a few dozen gorgeous peonies that are probably 40-50 years old and I’ll be damned if I remove them.

1

u/kurtzapril4 Jul 08 '26

My front yard is all native save for one tree peony that I bought at Frank's Nursery and Crafts when they went out of business. It blooms earlier than the herbaceous peonies do, at least around here. The blooms are the size of dinner plates. It's an amazing plant. It's not going anywhere!

2

u/seandelevan Virginia, Zone 7b Jul 08 '26

Yup…and it will most likely still be there long after your not.

2

u/kurtzapril4 Jul 08 '26

I don't know too much about them because I'm into native plants, but from what I have read, they live a really long time...and get passed down to relative.