Margaret and Charlie DeSiervo are long time gardeners and advocates of sustainable practices. They ReWilded their yards in the past fall and reflect on the experience of designing, researching plants, preparing the yard, planting and then waiting for results. What worked for them and what did not?
Read MoreThinking about how you are going to get a head start on that weed patch by the side of the house? Want to take out a piece of the lawn for a pollinator patch?
Well, an ounce of preparation is worth a ton of fixing.
One of the easiest ways to deal with a plot of land is to cardboard and mulch a few weeks before planting, so that you can maintain the new design without “old” plants or weeds popping their heads back up for the first year. By the second year, the cardboard and mulch are all gone, the new plants have reached maturity and are shading out any new competition easily!
Read MoreIn 2019 Spring, Joanne Strongin signed up as a ReWild Pioneer and went through the entire process of carefully designing her yard with the expert assistance of Rusty Schmidt, Landscape Architect hired by ReWild Long Island to assist families. She carefully cleared the existing lawn, cardboarded, mulched and planted natives per design. Successful ReWilding definitely draws on good planning, execution and a massive dose of luck! Joanne was featured in a recent Newsday Story as a successful ReWilder
Read MoreNot every ReWilding is a success story with instant butterflies and hummingbirds! There is a lot of learning, experimentation and persistence that characterizes ReWilding … just as in any gardening. Here is a cautionary tale from Robert Walzer, bon vivant, traveler, news editor on Wall Street Journal foreign desk, and sometimes writer on music and culture.
Read MoreTired of watering, fertilizing, weeding and mowing the grass in the curb strip in front of your house? Well here is an amazing alternative: Creeping Phlox (phlox subulata).
Veteran gardener AnneMarie Ansel talks about why Phlox is a much superior alternative to grass on the median strip.
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