Category: Yards
Skip the Spray: Two DIY Traps That Protect Your Yard (and Long Island’s Wildlife)
Summer on Long Island means more time outdoors, and more mosquitoes and ticks. The instinct for many homeowners is to reach for a chemical spray, but that’s not always the best first move. Pesticides don’t just target pests; they can also harm the pollinators, birds, and small mammals that make our backyards and natural spaces…
If You Want to Combat Lyme Disease, Bring On the Foxes!
Long Island has one of the heaviest tick-borne disease burdens in the country. Suffolk County alone reports hundreds of confirmed Lyme cases each year, alongside steady caseloads of babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis, and — more recently — a growing tail of alpha-gal syndrome and surveillance signals for emerging Heartland and Bourbon viruses. Our public health…
In Support of Native Planters On Long Island
As more and more become native planters, we see people being cited for local code violations. The lawn is not going without a fight!
Local Stewardship: Going Native in Herricks
Local Stewardship blooms in Herricks! In Herricks Long Island, a community group has emerged that is advocating planting native in yards and in public spaces.
Invasive Species and Our Natives: Essential Knowledge
It is imperative that we learn the difference between invasive species and native ones if we are to restore habitat on Long Island
Learn Native Gardening at Plantstock!
Plantstock is a gathering at Hamlet Organic Garden in Brookhaven Hamlet centered around native gardening. It’s aim is to bring together native plant lovers and environmental advocates from all over Long Island so that we together can continue to build a movement centered around habitat restoration and local stewardship in every community.
Can We Stop Importing Invasive Plants and Insects?
Importing Invasive Plants and Species With Our Nursery Stock Can we please stop importing invasive plants and insects in our nursery stock? As we make our way through Invasive Species Awareness Week here in New York, we need to reckon with the fact that it’s been human beings who have been introducing them all along…
Leave The Leaves — Especially The Native Ones!
It’s that time of year when we are told to “leave the leaves.” It seems too that more people are becoming aware of the importance of building local habitat for our insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles, and the role fallen leaves play in this. We shot a couple of PSAs to bring home that message:…
The Native Yard After 3 1/2 Years
The Native Yard: Leaving The Native Leaves I have come to a decision regarding our native yard: This year we are ‘leaving the leaves.’ More than that, we will be leaving native leaves in our native yard, and right where they fell, beneath the plants they are from. That way the plants benefit from the…
Stormwater Management Using Native Plantings
Stormwater Management goes hand in hand with planting natives. Natives are drought resistant, so when there is water, they absorb a lot!
