Gardening Techniques
Butterfly, Butterfly: Wherefore Art Thou Butterfly?
I recently heard the celebrity Bill Maher doing a radio interview during which he confessed to having been an avid butterfly collector when he was a child. He seems quite regretful now, having killed so many butterflies and displaying them on the walls of his childhood home, with his father’s help and encouragement! Maher is now a committed environmentalist. I…
Read MoreProtecting Bees: Skip the “Secret Sauce”
You may have heard about the recent bumble bee massacre in Oregon, which killed an estimated 25,000 – 50,000 bees. Shoppers at a Target store in Willsonville, Oregon found thousands of dead bumble bees in the parking lot. The likely culprit? A landscaping company which had sprayed the neonicotinoid pesticide “Safari “ on dozens of Linden trees in an attempt…
Read MoreHelping Bees in Crisis: 7 Steps to Creating a Bee-Friendly Landscape
A version of this post was just published in the magazine, Westchester Home. Read below, or follow this link to the published version: http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/Westchester-Home/Summer-2013/How-to-Grow-a-Garden-that-Fosters-Bee-Activity-and-Pollination/ Please share this post with family and friends. Knowledge is power! If we all garden this way, we can help bees in crisis. The European honey bee and many of our 4,000 species of native bees…
Read MoreAn Environmental Aspect to This Memorial Day
As we remember our fallen troops this Memorial Day, let’s also pay tribute to Rachel Carson, born on May 27, 1907, a famous conservationist credited with starting the modern day environmental movement. After studying at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and receiving a Masters in zoology from Johns Hopkins University, Carson started her career as a marine biologist. She…
Read MoreHelping Bees in Crisis: 7 Steps to Creating a Bee-Friendly Landscape
The European Honey Bee and our 4,000 species of native bees in the U.S. have suffered dramatic losses to their populations due to a combination of many factors. Since bees pollinate a significant portion of our food crops, this is a problem that affects all of us. Without bee pollination services, many of our common fruits, nuts and vegetables would…
Read MoreEarth Day Resolutions: Top 10 Tips for an EcoBeneficial Garden
Here are some easy ways to increase the health of the ecosystem in your landscape. If you have more tips, please let us know. 1) Reduce or eliminate your lawn – it’s an ecological desert. 2) Focus on increasing the health of your soil – it’s filled with life! Compost is king for many soils, not fertilizer. 3) Eliminate synthetic…
Read MorePlant It and They Will Come: The EcoBeneficial Bird Garden
Approximately two-thirds of the bird species found in the U.S. are migrating birds. Some migrants travel great distances while others don’t go far at all. The farthest travelers are the neo-tropical migrants which breed in the U.S. in the warmer seasons and then travel to Mexico, Canada , South America, or the Caribbean to overwinter. When they return in the…
Read MoreAttracting Butterflies: Growing Nectar Plants Isn’t Enough!
There are many, many reasons to use native plants in your landscape. One great reason is to support the caterpillars of butterflies. If you don’t feed those caterpillars, you won’t support the transformation of caterpillars into adult butterflies in your landscape. Adult butterflies eat mostly nectar found in flowering plants, and most adult butterflies use a variety of plant species…
Read MoreIt All Starts With the Soil: Preparing the EcoBeneficial Garden
A flourishing garden begins with healthy soil – it’s your ecological starting point. A simple soil test will help you determine key things like: what plants will thrive in your garden (and what won’t), whether you have heavy metals or toxins in you soil (important to know if you are growing edibles), and how much organic matter your soil has (vital…
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