I am a groundskeeper who is trying to manage my grounds in a more ecological manner. I currently mulch (chop into tiny bits with the lawnmower) my leaves and leave the mulch on the lawn. I’m wondering would it be better for me to leave the leaves whole and let them blow around where they may. Or perhaps collecting them and dumping them into nearby non-lawn naturalized areas? Any insight you can provide is very helpful.
I can’t figure out how to have a shade bed complement the sun bed directly across from it – it’s not that things have to be matchy-matchy, but the brickwork makes them a symmetrical pair of beds. I am having trouble finding shade plants that I can combine into an ecological design, except low groundcovers and short woodland plants, and I am having a hard time visualizing what would work right across the bed of climbing roses, lambs ears, baptisa, gaura, japanese anemones, euphorbia, and salvia. ANY suggestions would be so, so appreciated. I am completely stumped!
I am looking for a native groundcover recommendation for my yard. It is a slope between wetlands and uplands that gets full sun exposure. Ideal plant would be perennial evergreen that will help suppress weeds and is low maintenance and drought resistant. Thanks for any recommendations!
I would like to have an “eco-lawn” (some sort of fescue?) for my Martha’s Vineyard home. My goal is to have something that looks like a lawn, requires little mowing and water, ideally requires no fertilizer, can thrive in sandy soil, and handles salty air. Am I a crazy dreamer?
I am on the board at a 64 unit condo community in St. Paul, MN. We have a huge hillside with regular grass, which means weekly mowing. The hillside is eroding in some sections. The shaded areas have very little grass at all. How can this be converted to a low mow fescue? Or, what…
Do you have suggestions for late-season blooming native plants in the Northeast for humming birds? The hummingbirds in my gardens have been very active on the early and mid-season monarda and annual salvias, but they will be gone in the next couple of weeks and I want to ensure a sufficient nectar source. My mondarda…
How are you using chopped or composted leaves to mitigate the effects of drought? How effective have your strategies been?
Does anyone have a suggestion about controlling floating weeds in my pond (duckweed, etc.)? The problem seems to be excessive nitrates. I have tried mechanical harvesting (weeds return rapidly), and am unwilling to use herbicides as suggested by my local DEP. Is Barley straw only applicable for algae control?
I live in north central Arkansas and have an issue with an invasive plant. There is a large stand of running bamboo along my back fence line that is expanding at the rate of 5-10 feet per year. It was on my neighbor’s land and he refused to take it out. I recently bought a…
I work on a golf course in the middle of a city, (Newark, NJ). I am always looking to put in natural areas and promote pollinator plants. My question is more with regard to bees. Does it make sense to have an all-out pollinator area in the middle of the city where there are no…
The mason bees filled most of the tubes in the house this spring and the ends were sealed with the mud. Now in August, the mud seal is gone and the tubes are empty. I know it is too early for the young bees to emerge. Would a predator be responsible for raiding these tubes…
I am on a landscaping committee for a community that sits upon approximately 20 acres. We want to (probably gradually) turn our landscape into one with native plants that support our wildlife, but we are also interested in planting as many carbon capturing plants as possible. So the first question is: other than trees, do…
