Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis đť
The biggest thing that helped my yard đ
Hi friend,When I started my eco-garden, my yard was absolutely overtaken by invasive plants. English ivy, burdock, wintercreeper, Amur honeysuckle, rose of Sharon, ground ivy, and garlic mustard just to name a few. And the first step toward getting rid of the invasive species and letting in volunteer native plants is knowing whatâs growing. Itâs common for gardeners to just broadly pull âweedsâ without really knowing what theyâre pulling. Then you end up accidentally killing free native plants that will grow well in your yard. And you might even leave something thatâs invasive because you like how it looks and donât know better. Once I was confident in identifying the plants in my yard, it got a lot easier to target what needed to go and what was welcome to stay.Now my backyard is almost entirely volunteer native plants - meaning I didnât buy them or plant them! They showed up on their own and they support so many different species of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Volunteer black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) in my yard - native to eastern & central North America Need help learning how to ID plants and whether theyâre native, foreign, or invasive?Check out this free workshop I made!
P.S. If youâre struggling with how to get rid of invasive plants without herbicides, check out my online course Natural Solutions to Invasive Plants here!
|
Native Yardening
Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis đť
Hi friend, Letâs be real, at some point or another in your eco-garden journey youâre going to get stuck. Invasive plants you thought were gone sneak back in Your starter plants die before they get established Soil regeneration takes longer than you expected Iâm here to tell you, thatâs totally normal. In fact, these are badges of honor! It means you care, youâre trying, and you wonât give up. A lot of us seem to think success is a straight line with no mess ups, downswings, or...
Hi friend, Did you know that one of the most invasive trees in the eastern half of the United States was introduced on purpose by the US government? Thatâs right, the smelly Callery pear and its man-made cultivar the âBradfordâ pear were both cultivated intentionally by the US Department of Agriculture. Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is a tree thatâs native to China and Vietnam and was first introduced to the US by the US Dept of Agriculture in 1916 to breed with the common European pear...
Hi friend, Itâs finally officially spring after a long winter. Itâs time to get back in the garden, but what should you be doing this time of year? Hold off on âgarden cleanupâ It can be tempting to want to make your garden look nice and tidy once the weather starts to warm up, but most regions should wait a bit to do this. Insects are still relying on dormant plant stems and leaf litter for shelter until low temperatures are consistently above 50°F If you have tall plant stems from last...