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| Photo Credit: Dave Cronin |
Smarter Living
Your lawn has an environmental impact (NYTimes article - "One Thing You Can Do: Reduce Your Lawn"). To reduce it, try low-maintenance ground cover, like clover, creeping thyme or native plants (link to NWF's Native Plant Finder)— but take care to avoid invasive ones. Whatever you plant, avoid pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Fertilize and aerate the soil with mulched leaves instead.
What is a Pollinator Pathway?
A pollinator pathway is an ecological and social project with the goal to connect existing isolated green spaces and create a more hospitable environment for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Pollinator pathways are pesticide-free corridors of public and private properties that provide native plant habitat and nutrition for pollinators. The first pollinator pathway was created in Seattle, founded by the artist and designer Sarah Bergmann. Today, the Pollinator Pathways, Pollinator Parkways, Bee Cities and other similar pollinator programs, have become a successful way of introducing homeowners to the conservation potential of their backyards, utilizing native plants and a "3-tiered" approach to landscape design.
Read more about the Pollinator Pathways project.
See a list of Westchester Towns and Villages who sponsor a Pollinator Pathway program.
Native Plant Lists
Try an online search of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Native Plant Database.
Download the New England Wildflower Society’s (recently renamed the Native Plant Trust) Plant Finder List for EPA Level III Ecoregion 59, Northeastern Coastal Zone. (.pdf)
Download the Pollinator Partnership’s Ecoregion Guide for Bailey Ecoregion 221, Eastern Broadleaf Forest (Oceanic). (.pdf)
Or go to this page by Pollinator Partnership (Pollinator.org) which has a wide selection of Ecoregional plantings guides searchable by your zipcode. (.pdf files)
