The movement toward native plants is taking root in northwest Ohio.

The varieties of grasses, sedges and wildflowers that once dominated the region are cropping up again — and at an increasing pace — in medians, roundabouts, gardens, school grounds, corporate landscaping and more.

Count First Unitarian Church of Toledo and community gardeners at Jackson and 14th streets among the latest to sign on. Each is testing out native seeds this year.

VIDEO: Gardening with native plants

The Toledo Zoo is behind 12 more native prairies in the area, each installed this year. It’s expanded its prairie installations “fairly rapidly” in the six or so years since it started planting on its own grounds and the median of the Anthony Wayne Trail, said conversation coordinator Ryan Walsh. The zoo is responsible for just more than 40 acres of prairie in the community today. This year’s installations include three sites in Perrysburg and three in Ottawa Hills.

“I think it’s starting to catch on,” said Mr. Walsh, describing an interest in the community that outpaces the zoo’s ability to install new prairies. “We’re having to turn down requests.”

Hal Mann, president of the Oak Openings Region Chapter of Wild Ones, a national nonprofit that promotes the benefits of native species, spoke similarly.

“The movement to grow native plans in your yard is growing,” he said. “I always question whether I’m just hanging out with people who are thinking the same way, so I just feel like it’s growing. But all the indication is there’s more and more interest in this, because it’s so important.”

Introducing native plants to a landscape holds a slew of benefits, as experts like Mr. Walsh and Mr. Mann explain to the increasing number of community members who inquire about them. They’re relatively low maintenance: No substantial need for mowing, a benefit when compared to turf grass, and deep root systems mean the plants have little need for watering.

Those factors play toward more than just convenience. They can translate to major financial savings, as First Unitarian has considered in its ongoing experiment with native plants.

The church is tending six test plots this summer — two seeded with low-mow turf grass and four with different combinations of native plants — to determine the best option for two acres toward the back of the church property. Summertime mowing is expensive for the church, said Nicole Jonsson, who submitted the grant application to the Toledo-Lucas County Sustainability Commission that is funding the project.

Another benefit: Native plants are environmentally and ecologically friendly.

Their deep root system absorbs carbon, which can lessen the effects of climate change. They soak up water that would otherwise pick up chemicals and sediment before running back into the lake or sewer system. And they’re critical to the well-being of native insects and animals, particularly pollinators like bees, butterflies, or birds.

Take the Monarch butterfly, for example.

Steve Woods, who works out of the Kitty Todd Nature Preserve as Oak Openings program manager for the Nature Conservancy, points to the orange-and-black butterfly as a high-profile example of the dependent relationship between native pollinators and native plants.

The Monarch needs milkweed, one of numerous native plant species found in the Kitty Todd Preserve, to survive. Its numbers have dropped dramatically in recent years, prompting national media attention.

“That’s a species that people recognize and know by sight,” Mr. Woods said. “There are many, many species that the same exact thing has been happening. They’re just less recognized.”

Kitty Todd provides a large-scale and perhaps obvious habitat for native insects and wildlife; Mr. Woods said the Nature Preserve is in the process of acquiring 400 acres of former agricultural fields, adjacent to the preserve, which it will convert back to a native prairie.

But backyard prairies can fulfill a similar role. Mr. Walsh, of the Toledo Zoo, said bees and butterflies are easy to find at prairies on grounds of local Head Start schools. Those are maybe one-tenth of an acre.

“We’ve been really surprised at how small we can go and still get a pretty big difference,” Mr. Walsh said.

In his residence on Sherwood Avenue, Todd Crail, a lecturer in the environmental sciences department at the University of Toledo, sees this first-hand. His yard blooms pink, purple, and yellow with the native plants that he’s incorporated into his landscaping.

Insects and birds are drawn to it “like a hotspot,” he said.

His recommendation for anyone looking to dive into native plants: Start small.

Different plants are appropriate for different situations. While some native grasses can get quite tall, Mr. Crail suggested a shorter variety might better fit a residential yard.

(The zoning code for the city of Toledo doesn’t specifically regulate native grasses, city spokesman Janet Schroeder said. When used in lieu of shrubs, grasses would be subject to the same height restrictions as fences or shrubs.)

The Toledo Zoo can be a self-education resource. So can Wild Ones (oakopenings.wildones.org), where monthly meetings are open to the public.

Don’t expect a lush and lavishly blooming prairie your first year, said Mr. Crail and Mr. Mann, who similarly tends native plants in his Perrysburg yard. But patience will be rewarded.

“We cannot overlook the opportunity to use our own yards, big or small, for ecological benefits,” Mr. Mann said.

Contact Nicki Gorny at ngorny@theblade.com or 419-724-6133.

First Published July 19, 2017, 4:00 a.m.