Wes Sexton, Our Land Organics’ Client Relationship Manager, just reached his five-year anniversary with OLO. To celebrate Wes’ contributions to our work, we sat down to ask him about native plants, ecological gardening, working with OLO, and even poetry. We hope you enjoy his thoughtful reflections on the importance of native plant landscaping.
OLO’s Client Relationship Manager and poet-at-large, Wes Sexton
What drew you to native landscaping?
Since middle school, I’ve taken every opportunity I had to work outside. One of the earlier jobs I completed one summer was removing a bunch of English Ivy and Winter Creeper that had swallowed up a hillside. The ivy had grown up all the trees in the area, killing a couple trees along the way. The area was a mosquito haven. Just a huge mess.
Over the course of the job, I learned that the ground cover had been intentionally planted by a landscaper. A lightbulb went off in my head as I realized how much more intentionality and care the landscaping industry required.
The more I learned about invasive plants such as English Ivy, Kudzu, Shrub Honeysuckle, Bradford Pear, and so on, I learned that a good number of them were purposefully introduced by well-meaning but short-sighted gardeners and landscapers.
At the same time, many native plants — with which our indigenous insects and birds have coevolved over millennia — are struggling to survive.
Plants are incredibly powerful. I’m glad there are people like those on the Our Land Organics (OLO) team who take seriously the decision of what plants to put in the ground, and I’m glad to have found them.
“It always makes me smile to think of all the bees and insects staying a little bit warmer, staying that much more out of the wind. ”
What’s something you’ve learned about native landscaping that delights you?
It’s always the little things that stick out the most to me.
As an ecologically minded company, OLO is mindful about how we maintain our landscapes so they can provide the largest possible benefit to pollinators, insects, and birds.
One of the things we do in the spirit of helping pollinators is leaving spent perennial stalks in place through the winter and early spring. It was conventional wisdom in the landscaping world to cut back all spent perennials in the Fall to keep things “tidy,” but the fact is, bees and other insects will crawl inside hollow stems, make a warm little spot, and hunker down through the winter months in those stems. I’ve seen them do it.
Whenever I visit one of our clients’ landscapes in the winter, I look at all the spent stalks standing up tall, and it always makes me smile to think of all the bees and insects staying a little bit warmer, staying that much more out of the wind.
“Much of our food is pollinated by bees, butterflies, and flies, so without them there is no us. ”
Why do you choose to work for Our Land Organics?
Plants, especially native plants, need our help.
We have eliminated so much wildlife habitat and plant ecosystems to create the world we live in today. We have inadvertently introduced a number of invasive species that smother and outcompete natives that coevolved with pollinators and wildlife over centuries.
To me, it’s a pretty simple equation. If we don’t offer food sources and habitat for native pollinators, they’ll struggle to exist, and without them we will struggle to exist. Much of our food is pollinated by bees, butterflies, and flies, so without them there is no us.
Since joining the OLO team, what is something that has surprised you?
Our clients’ appetite for this approach to landscaping. I was prepared to have to advocate for the importance of organic and ecological approaches. I was prepared to convince people why the old way of doing things — relying heavily on chemical interventions, prioritizing aesthetic tidiness over ecological value — was not the best way.
But my experience has been that people were craving this approach to landscaping. People have been in general much more open to change than I expected them to be. Our clients are aware of the value pollinators add to the overall environment, and they are eager to do whatever it takes to help them out.
“These little moments tether us to a specific place and a specific time and make us feel part and parcel of the environment around us.”
What do you value most about working with OLO’s clients?
I love helping people see the life that is happening in their yard. If you don’t look at plants every day, it can be easy to tune them out. The industry has a term, “plant blindness,” to describe this phenomenon. But the more people learn about plants, the more plants they notice in the world.
My favorite days are when I can bring some small thing to a homeowner’s attention — maybe their ferns are unfurling, or I saw a hummingbird eating from their Lobelia, or a Robin is using their ornamental grasses to build a nest. These little moments tether us to a specific place and a specific time and make us feel part and parcel of the environment around us.
“Millions of soil bacteria and miles of mycorrhizal fungi can be found in a single gram of soil.”
You’re an Accredited Organic Land Care Professional. What’s an interesting fact that you learned while obtaining this certification?
The richness of soil life really blew me away when I took that course. We talked a lot about soil bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, and microorganisms that work together to create good soil.
Basically, there are all these organisms feeding off chemicals excreted by healthy plants from their roots. Those organisms protect the plant from disease, create organic matter to feed the plant, and even form a stable soil structure that is resistant to erosion.
I was aware of some of this, but did not understand the scale. Millions of soil bacteria and miles of mycorrhizal fungi can be found in a single gram of soil. All of that life is completely shredded the moment you till the soil. Certain types of spray regimens, especially when folks spray for mosquitoes and ticks, can also disturb this soil life.
What’s your go-to tip for maintaining a beautiful native landscape?
Two words: ground cover!
Empty mulched beds are very time-consuming to maintain, and they add next to no ecological or aesthetic value. I’m always working with clients to find ways to divide/transplant the plants they have or bring new plants on site to get beds planted out as fully as possible.
Plants do well when they are close to other plants. I don’t entirely understand all the reasons why this is true, but it is. I know mycorrhizae and other soil-building microorganisms are more likely to visit ground with many roots growing in it. I know plants shelter each other from the sun and wind to a certain extent. I like to think they also just enjoy each other’s company.
Whatever the exact science behind it, densely planted beds are way more enjoyable and way easier to maintain. There is less space for weeds to grow. I also find that clients have to water densely planted beds less frequently. It does require an upfront cost, but think of those problem areas in your own yard, and I guarantee they will be weedy areas with a lot of empty bed space.
“I love noticing things come alive and fade away.”