How to Use the Science of Plant Survival Strategies for a Healthier Garden

The biggest epiphany of my horticultural career was learning about plant survival strategies. Like most gardeners, I was accustomed to classifying plants as annuals, biennials, or perennials. But dividing them into groups based on their survival strategies instead got me thinking about how they evolved to grow, which in turn helped me to cultivate them more successfully in my garden in Texas.

According to ecologist J. Philip Grime, who researched these strategies, plants have evolved certain approaches to deal with two lethal conditions in their environment: stress and disturbance.

Stress is any environmental factor that reduces plant vigor or growth. Drought, waterlogged soil, heat, cold, nutrient toxicities or deficiencies, and low or high light levels are all stressful growing conditions for plants. To continue living ­under these conditions, a plant would have to endure them, and if the situation persisted for too long, the plant could die.

Disturbance is any factor that damages or destroys plant tissues above or below ground. A plant can lose shoots and roots due to fire, wind, floods, herbivory, or trampling feet, like those of the wild boar that occasionally come through my backyard. Human effects from soil cultivation and mowing also count as disturbance. Losing foliage or roots in such an event would be a major setback for any plant.

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Many gardeners would like to welcome more plants into their gardens, but not everything thrives on rich soil and ample moisture. Though it may seem counterintuitive, stress and disturbance can actually be helpful tools for diversifying our gardens.

Research shows that as conditions shift from favoring competitors to being more stressful for stress-tolerators or