Ecological Gardening Tips for Spring

As spring begins in earnest, pause for a moment before rushing off to the nursery or garden center to shop for plants. First, consider how the steps you take and the choices you make can increase the health of your landscape and the environment around you. Here are some tips to get you started: 1) Do a soil test before you…

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Fall Tip: Boosting the Health of Trees and Shrubs

Some of our most important native plants are “woodies” (trees and shrubs). Woodies provide critical structure and ecological function to most landscapes – some are early pollen sources for hungry bees, some are nesting sites for songbirds, and some, primarily evergreens, provide cover to many creatures during harsh winters. Your trees and shrubs are valuable to you and your ecosystem…

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Where Are the Bees, Butterflies and Other Insects? Facts & Tips

From individual observations to published research, the situation seems clear – insect populations are declining across the globe. It’s a crisis that gets little play in the media, surpassed daily by “news” of unhinged political tweets or the latest Kardashian romance. Anecdotal evidence is abundant – recent posts on NABA Chat (North American Butterfly Association) from across the country report a…

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The Pollinator Victory Garden: Winning the War on Pollinator Decline

You don’t have to be a gardener or a landscape professional to know that many pollinators are in trouble.  The White House has taken notice and on May 19, 2015, released the “Pollinator Research Action Plan.”  In the summary of the plan, three “overarching goals” are cited; unfortunately, our 4,000 species of native bees were not highlighted in these goals,…

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Going Pesticide-Free for Pollinators at The Farm Between

This past August, I took a road trip to one of my favorite states, Vermont, where lots of good things are happening with organic and pesticide-free landscapes and nursery production.  One of my stops was “The Farm Between” in pastoral Jeffersonville, Vermont.  This is one of the oldest farms in the area, dating back to the early 1800s;  it used…

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20 Resolutions for the EcoBeneficial Landscape

It’s that time of year to make your resolutions for 2015.  Don’t forget to include your landscape!  Here are 20 resolutions to get you started toward a healthier ecosystem: 1) Reduce or eliminate the “Green Desert” (turf/lawn). Exotic turf grass is an ecological wasteland.  When replacing lawn, don’t replace one monoculture with another.  Plant diversely using regionally appropriate native plants.…

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Pollinators of Native Plants With Heather Holm

EcoBeneficial! is delighted to be back online after a medical emergency and a long recovery period.   I return with an interview with Heather Holm, author of Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects With Native Plants. Click to watch the slideshow Click to listen to the podcast Holm is a landscape designer and consultant specializing…

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Eco-Lessons from the Farm: GMO Corn & Pollinators

EcoBeneficial! went on a working vacation to Vermont this summer and visited some organic farms, including River Berry Farm in Fairfax, Vermont.  After you finish this post watch my short video interview with organic farmer and pollinator advocate, Jane Sorensen, co-owner of River Berry Farm, to pick up some tips. My encounters with forward thinking organic farmers who embrace nature…

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The Value of Signs in an Ecological Landscape

How do you communicate to your neighbors why you have little or no lawn, why you have a diversity of native plants, why your trees are not topped, why your shrubs are not pruned into meatballs, why you leave your perennials and grasses standing through winter? Many of our neighbors are baffled by our ecological landscapes – filled with diverse…

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