NATIVE AND NATURAL: “I design and regenerate garden habitats for native pollinators and wildlife that are an essential part of the natural foundation that stabilizes the structure of the earth’s environmental system. Nature thrives in interactive systems, and that is how I create gardens,” explains Judith K. Robinson. The owner of Our World Our Choices, she is shown laying out a garden design with native plantings

By Jean Stratton

A garden is a gift from nature.

We can embrace and enhance it by our own effort and enthusiasm. Even more important, we can make essential choices that will ultimately benefit our environment and the pollinators necessary to keep it healthy.

This is Judith K. Robinson’s mission. Owner of Our World Our Choices, headquartered in Hopewell, she has set out on a journey to educate homeowners about the importance of native plantings — including trees, bushes, and flowering plants — in their gardens.

Some have called this development in gardens “re-wilding” and “untamed lawns”.

Natural Systems

Robinson’s interest in gardens began at an early age, as she became aware of the healthy, fresh ingredients her mother included in the family’s meals. Moving to New Jersey from New York City gave her even more opportunities to understand what a thriving vegetable garden could mean as it produced fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and other natural ingredients for lunch and dinner.

Robinson’s appreciation continued when she later lived in Princeton with her own children. As she says, “As my organic garden grew from an initial small patch to the size that fed my family year-round from the freezing and canning of the summer’s excess. I became more deeply involved in understanding the role that the natural systems play in a healthy environment.

“All of this laid the foundation for my studying the composition and biology of soils, the techniques for growing food without synthetic fertilizers and harmful pesticides, researching and choosing the best available foods and how to prepare them, the essential role that pollinators fill in the environment, and my fascination for how all life depends on an interacting and interdependent system of diverse layers. The use of pesticides and herbicides have decimated the overall population of these pollinators. The loss of habitat for breeding and lack of food supply has further contributed to the decline. As they provide the basic undergirding of our ecological system, it is crucial to repair these problems.”

“I became more deeply involved in studying and understanding what is necessary in a broad sense for the sustainability and regeneration of our natural ecosystems,” she continues. “Biodiversity of species — flora and fauna — is the foundation and a vital key to the sustainability of those systems and to the ability to constantly regenerate support of native species habitats.

“My passion is now focused on the vital creation of native plant systems that will support and eventually stop the drastic decline of our native pollinators around the world.”

Environmentally-Friendly

In fact, before opening Our World Our Choices in 2020, Robinson had been active in other environmentally-friendly projects. She co-founded the Princeton Farmers’ Market in 2009, and remained involved with it for five years.

“The emphasis of the market was having produce and meat from local sustainable farms and healthy food products that contained some ingredients from New Jersey farms,” she says. “And to provide a space in Princeton for people to gather and enjoy each other surrounded by great food and music.”

Her priorities with her current venture continue to focus on sustainability with the additional emphasis on native plantings. These are important for many reasons, she explains.

“They attract pollinators, and the production of 85 percent of all flowering plants and 75 percent of the major worldwide food crops are due to pollinators.”

In other words, native bees, butterflies, green flies, many other insects, and birds are crucial to life.

“When I design a garden, my criteria is that it must include native plants,” she continues. “The problem with the invasive, non-native plants is that they can crush out the native ones.”

Texture and Color

When contacted by prospective clients, Robinson visits the property for a consultation, which includes a general assessment of the garden site, the soil type, sun/shade exposure, dry/moist conditions, existing growth/structures, deer access, color preferences, etc.

If the client agrees to go ahead, she will then create a design based on her analysis. If it is approved by the client, she provides an estimate. This includes cost and delivery of plants, soil amendments, natural mulch material, additional supplies, project management, and oversight of the installation crew.

“I’ll go to the nursery to select the new plantings, and there are hundreds of choices,” she reports. “I’ll consider texture, color, different times of blooming, etc. Depending on the size of the garden, it can include 10 to 80 to more than 100 plants.”

She adds that new native planting garden designs will require maintenance, but less as the years pass. “You have to dig up the earth, and this produces weeds that have been dormant. So the first season involves weeding and watering. There will be less weeding in the second season, as the plants spread. And natural mulch helps to keep weeds at bay.”

Also, she adds, “native plants have developed over millions of years in concert with the surrounding environment. Therefore, a balance is achieved, if not disturbed. They do not need fertilization, as they are adapted to the native soil composition.”

Deer and rabbit control is also possible, as some native plants are resistant to these intruders, and there are also natural products to deter them.

Any Size

Robinson emphasizes that any size garden is a way to begin to focus on native plants, and she is encouraged that increasing numbers of people are becoming aware of its importance. She is delighted that her business continues to grow.

“The reaction has been really positive, as awareness of what this means becomes more apparent. My wish is that people realize they can take any action no matter how small their property is.

“Teaching about and designing any size beautiful native garden as a way to provide native pollinator habitats that can immediately help to reduce the 60 to 65 million acres of lawn grass in the U.S., which use approximately 900 liters of water a day, is the expertise that I share in many types of venues.

“I’m an activist. We need to act to save our environment. All of my experience in the areas of environmental impact, community engagement, and political involvement is brought to bear on these issues. Not acting is also a choice.”

Accordingly, she lectures, teaches classes, and gives presentations to local libraries, schools, colleges, corporations, and public and private organizations.

Robinson enjoys giving these presentations and classes because, as she points out, connecting with audiences is a natural progression of her earlier, very successful acting and directing career.

Acting Career

She began acting as a child, attended the Professional Children’s School in New York City, then studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre with some of the most respected teachers and mentors in the profession.

After performances in numerous professional summer theater productions, she appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, television, and in independent films.

Although she loved her acting career, she began to become increasingly concerned about the dangers to the environment, and particularly to the pollinators. She felt the need to take action, so she made a change.

“I love learning,” she explains, “and as an activist, I love communicating the joy of learning about the incredible complexity of the world around us and to teach the tools of stewardship. I believe in the practicality and effectiveness of actions. This is what I need to be doing now.”

Robinson is proud that her work is reaching more people. Her client base now includes the Princeton area, as well as Lambertville and Bucks County, Pa.

“By creating native plant gardens, I enable people to connect with and understand how plants, living creatures, and our continued existence are interdependent.

“I am so happy to be doing this. I love it when people realize that they can have a beautiful garden that can support pollinators and that they can watch the evolution of the plants. It provides so much enjoyment and pleasure. And you know you are making a difference.”

For more information, call (551) 655-8095, and visit the website at ourworldourchoices.com.