Filmmaker Joanne Herschfield’s documentary focuses on progressive gardeners, landscapers, and soft-impact environmentalism in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina area. This short feature encourages everyday green-thumbed enthusiasts and homeowners to make environmentally positive choices. In other words, change really does begin in one’s own backyard—literally.
Viewers are, of course, presented with alarming facts about global warming and climate change up front: rising temperatures, species extinctions (especially among pollinators), and increased carbon emissions. At the same time, the film offers common-sense gardening advice that can make a significant difference. Psychologically, it also helps to ease the sense of helplessness that often accompanies climate-related anxieties.
By avoiding chemical pesticides and focusing instead on heirloom and native plants—rather than imported or exotic species—savvy gardeners help maintain ecosystems that have evolved in balance over millennia.
Non-native plants—essentially invasive species—often fail to attract regional pollinators, which in turn leaves local birds without their usual insect prey. These plants may also resist decomposition by established indigenous fungi and microbes, triggering a harmful cascade of blight, sterility, and habitat loss.
Another culprit? Lawns. Echoing the widely circulated short documentary The Great American Lawn: How the Dream Was Manufactured (2022), this film highlights how conventional lawns fail to support pollinators, contribute nothing to the food web, and disrupt biodiversity. With a bit of research and the help of quality suppliers—ideally of Chapel Hill’s caliber—homeowners can replace traditional turf with native grasses and sustainable lawn alternatives.
This film serves as an instructive eco-tutorial, one that will hopefully resonate with Mother Earth News readers and reach audiences even beyond. Highly recommended.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Nature, ecology-environmentalism and gardening shelves are fertile soil. Regional collections in the North Carolina area should have particular investment.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
Sustainability, Botany/Horticulture and the climate-change fringe of Earth Sciences are naturals.
What type of classroom would this documentary resource be suitable for?
Viewership from junior-high level on up is appropriate, and the one-hour run time fits tomato-cage snugly into classroom slots.
What is the cost for educational institutional streaming access to Gardening for the Planet?
The streaming license for Gardening for the Planet is priced at $400 for colleges and universities, and $250 for nonprofits and two-year colleges. This license grants life-of-file access, allowing institutions to stream the film indefinitely. The film is available in English with closed-captioning and can be streamed online.