Frequently Asked Questions

Put simply, it is legislation the City of Mount Rainier passed to encourage residents to landscape with native plants, helping to support the native wildlife that once thrived here. In doing so, we hope to build a "network" of native habitats across our city. The legislation was introduced by Councilmember Luke Chesek in 2020.

If you've committed at least 10 percent of your landscape to native plants or planted 25 native plants (wildflowers, bushes, or trees) in your yard, you are eligible to get certified by the Green Team as an official member of the Network.

You can sign up to have a native plant specialist tour your yard for about 30 minutes to determine whether you meet one of the two thresholds. We are offering several times on several different dates in October. If you're not quite ready to certify but want to stay informed of future Native Plant Network activities, please sign up here as well!

On the form, there is also a space for you to tell us which native plants you have planted on your property. (iNaturalist is a great application that can help you identify which native plants you have in your yard if you're not sure). This will help speed up the certification process.

Residents who are certified will receive a small sign, designed by Mount Rainier's very own Torie Partridge, to demonstrate their commitment to planting native.

Residents will also have the option of designating their home as a part of the Mount Rainier Native Plant Network on a Google map to create a virtual representation of how this network connects native habitats across our city. This Google map allows residents to comment on which native species grow well or which species have found a habitat in their yard and be accessible to the public.

That conversation starts with a word – biodiversity. Biodiversity is crucial to our planet. It is the plants, bugs, bees, birds, bears, humans, and everything in between that makes our planet so wonderfully alive and habitable to us. Unfortunately, whether it’s climate change or habitat destruction, our planet’s biodiversity is declining at alarming rates. By planting native, you help join a growing movement of people all over the world who are now landscaping with native plants. You can learn more by watching Mount Rainier’s Native Plant Network Kickoff.

Yes! The best news is that Mount Rainier is starting to become a catalyst for similar efforts across our state. The Sierra Club's Maryland Chapter is working to push this idea to our neighboring jurisdictions in an effort to create a Native Plant and Wildlife Corridor across the entire state of Maryland. Our neighbors in Brentwood have started their own Native Plant Network as well!