wo black-capped chickadees chase each other from branch to branch on a cold morning in Bird Park as Parkway Drive resident Sarada Sangameswaran, president of the Mt. Lebanon Nature Conservancy, walks down a path revealing a host of native trees, shrubs and perennials planted by the volunteer organization. The birds throughout the park are celebrating the end of winter, filling the air with their unique songs.

“We have been removing invasive species for years,” she said looking over the planting areas, “so we have days where we pull garlic mustard in the spring before it flowers.” As the invasives are removed and pests take other plants like the ash trees ravaged by the emerald ash borer, plants are added to fill the landscape. “What we’re really trying to do is fill those gaps with natives, said Sangameswaran.

Most of the trees are supplied by Tree Pittsburgh with some others coming from 10 Million Trees, a Pennsylvania effort to get native trees planted.

This park, along with Twin Hills and Robb Hollow, is planted with a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. “We love planting things like oak because they’re fantastic for the insects and for the environment, for wildlife in general,” Sangameswaran added. Increasing the diversity in the parks are cherry trees, pines, tulip poplars, high bush blueberries, gray stem and red osier dogwoods along with sedges, ferns and many more.

The trees and shrubs are protected with deer fencing, until they outgrow the threat.

Native plants are used in the restoration of the parks for many reasons. “Our wildlife, our animals, have evolved with the natives,” said Sangameswaran. “Many of our butterflies, for instance, will lay their eggs on a native plant, and they need to eat those leaves to survive.”

These plants also are a big part of supporting the bird population of the park and surrounding areas. “Birds need those insects,” she said. “Baby birds can’t eat seeds. The parents have to bring them juicy caterpillars and soft things that they can actually eat.”

Native plants are tough. In the parks they are planted, then watered and for the most part, they are on their own and thrive. “I would love to encourage people to try these in their own yards because it is really the lazy gardener’s way of gardening,” she said with a laugh. “Get the plant in the ground and then you really can walk away. Maybe not the first season if you’re a gardener, but you can walk away from them and they’ll just sort of do fine.”

Sedges are one of Sangameswaran’s favorite plants — the  grass-like varieties don’t need deer protection. “They’re compact, and they provide some interest all season long,” she said.

In Hazelwood, Crystal Armagost Volchko is lifting a white tarp, which protects flats of planted native seeds and seedlings happy during the winter.

Volchko is a self-described country girl who moved to the city in 1999 and is the founder of Rust Belt Natives, a passion project where she grows  a wide range of native trees, shrubs and perennials for sale.

Her business evolved when she would give her extra plants to her friends at the Audubon Center for Native Plants at Beechwood Farms in Fox Chapel where she still volunteers. They told her to sell her quality native plants to make them available to more gardeners.

Her love of native plants began on her grandparent’s farm where milkweed attracted a plethora of beautiful butterflies. She describes herself as being a science nerd as a child. “Especially as a teenager, going out in the woods with my field guide and identifying plants and tasting the edible wild plants,” she said smiling. Volchko wanted to bring a piece of that love of nature to the city and to teach her young daughter about the connection to the outdoors.

After moving to the city, Volchko was shocked at the lack of butterflies, birds and other pollinators. She planted lots of native species in her yard and the change was almost immediate. The bird feeder was filled with new species, her daughter recording each one. “There were butterfly species that I never saw before that we were able to write down and every year that I have a wider variety of plants here, just growing from the nursery, I see species that are completely different,” she said with a smile.

“Milkweed went in pretty fast,” she said about her city garden.

The deer enjoyed her tulips and hostas, along with many other varieties, so she began to add deer-resistant natives and uses a spray called Bobbex to keep them at bay.

“You can add in just a couple of plants to your yard and then see this amazing transformation of the space,” she said about natives. “It just becomes so much more useful for wildlife.”

One of the tricks to growing natives from seed is called stratification — many varieties need a cold treatment to germinate. That’s what was under the white tarp Volchko was lifting earlier.

Depending on the variety, the sown seeds might be covered with clear plastic to keep them moist. She uses stainless steel screens, wired to the top of the flats to keep the critters out, and snow and rain can get through.

Out of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of plants she grows, some of her favorites include blue vervain, wood poppies, swamp milkweed, anise hyssop, lance-leaved coreopsis, nodding onion, blazing star, Christmas and ostrich fern, coral bells, showy goldenrod and asters. The last two provide food for pollinators towards the end of the season.

It’s the ease of growing these plants that also attracts many gardeners. “You’re not pulling weeds, you’re not applying fertilizer, you’re not watering, you get this gorgeous garden for very little effort,” Volchko remarked.

“I feel like day-to-day in my everyday life, I’m doing something important,” she said proudly. “I love teaching people how to do this and how to grow their own plants. I just feel like it’s just this tiny effort that can hopefully make a blip for nature that’ll make a difference. It feels good.”