Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) Poison Ivy: A Misunderstood Native Plant with Hidden Benefits Toxicodendron radicans is often much hated by humans, known for causing rashes and swelling. However, it offers surprising ecological benefits. This native species plays a vital role in New York’s ecosystems, benefiting both wildlife and the soil. For many songbirds, Poison Ivy’s […]
Please stop with Lyme tick nurseries. Aka, How to prevent ticks in your yard. Certainly, many people are considering while they plan their outdoor spaces: “How to prevent ticks in my yard?” In the region of upstate New York where we live, Lyme disease- an infection of the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria that’s spread primarily by
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Ease up on the yard work. It’s just kinder. “Yard Work.” This time of year, people wear themselves and each other out with yardwork. There’s raking and activity with leaf blowers. And then folks cut every green, soft tissue stem possible down to the ground. It really needs to stop. The incessant fixation on neatness
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A Niche Plant: Meet the Giant Yellow Hyssop In the world of native plants, some species play unique roles crucial for specific ecosystems. These are known as niche plants. One example is the Giant Yellow Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides). This native New York herb thrives in rich, moist woodlands and along stream banks. Additionally, Yellow Hyssop
How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes in the Backyard Naturally. Mosquitoes turn a peaceful evening in your backyard into a source of irritation. However, getting rid of these pests doesn’t have to involve harsh chemicals. There are several natural methods you can use to reduce or eliminate mosquitoes, allowing you to enjoy your outdoor space
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A Beautiful Local Rain Garden Story. In the spring of 2012, we designed and installed rain gardens at an inn on Lake George. This spring, we added more plants to enhance the design. Native plants typically focus on developing their root systems during their first year. Certainly, the gardens would be more spectacular and fuller
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The Plight of the Blue Lupine in the Northeast Blue Lupine. In the realm of native plant conservation, good intentions can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. The Blue Lupine (Lupinus perennis), a beautiful and vital native species in the northeastern United States, has faced significant challenges in recent years. A mix of enthusiasm for
Butterfly Gardens in Glenville, NY A year in recent history, our company was invited to design and install new butterfly gardens in Glenville, NY. The new gardens were comprised exclusively of NY native plants. The Swallowtail butterfly photo was taken by the homeowner, Mark. The following photo is from summer 2014. It was taken in
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This summer we had the privilege of doing ecological garden renovations at a farm in Saratoga. The farm is located in quintessential farm country, heading east on the way to Schuylerville, surrounded by miles on all sides of wild beauty. It’s a dream location for this exact kind of project: planting dozens of native plants
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Poison Parsnip Season. Being mid-June, it’s now the time of year that the invasive plant Poison Parsnip (aka Wild Parsnip or Pastinaca sativa) is blooming on the roadsides, ditches, marshes and forest edges of Saratoga + Albany County and much of the northeast. Many people confuse Poison Parsnip with the early blooming shade tolerant native
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Hummingbird Garden DIY: How To Creating hummingbird habitat in our gardens is easy and necessary for the species’ survival. Hummingbird Garden DIY is possible with a few learned principles. Properties that have rich biodiversity have many different native plant species. This includes native trees, shrubs, perennials and native grasses and sedges. Hummingbirds need nectar and
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Edible Gardens in Saratoga Springs, NY. Altogether, many people want to grow their own organic food and have edible gardens at home these days. The photo here shows some Saratoga Springs, NY edible gardens projects in raised beds. It is always a good idea to plant native plants near vegetable gardens to attract pollinators. Correspondingly,
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Organic Garden Lifestyle The Beauty and Benefits of an Organic Garden In the hustle + bustle of modern life, there’s an ever-growing yearning to reconnect with nature. Finding solace in the simplicity of greenery and soil at home is the new frontier. Enter the organic garden – a sanctuary where sustainability meets beauty. The act
Native Landscaping in NY Recently we completed new lakeshore edge native landscaping in NY. The new garden build consisted of a home’s foundation landscape design near the shore of the lake. The house is located very close to the lake. Therefore, it was built with a high foundation to prevent flooding issues. We used New
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Municipal Gardens Project. In July 2013 a local paper, The Post Star wrote an article about our municipal gardens native landscaping project. Doing an eco-landscape renovation at such a busy site was quite an experience. Such an open, public space was a refreshing change. Cars honked their horns all day long, people came out of
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Recently we published an article about the link between using Japanese Barberry shrubs in landscaping and an increase in human Lyme disease infection rates in the surrounding neighborhoods. People in Saratoga Springs, Albany and Schenectady, NY are learning about this. We humans are collaborating against ourselves in a public health crisis through lazy and shortsighted
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Easy potato garden DIY: About 2 months ago we bought some attractive Fingerling Potatoes from the Saratoga Farmer’s Market. We forgot we had them. Subsequently they grew long, spindly eye buds and the potato bodies turned soft and flaccid. Finally, today we got around to picking the eyes off the potatoes to plant them.
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Naturalized Plants. If you ever more than dabble in the gardening world, you’ll definitely hear the term “naturalized plant” mentioned. It’s an abused grey area at best within the industry that leads to environmental problems from new invasive plants ultimately. Naturalized plants are a sanctioned ecology category defined by a clear set of metrics. Unfortunately, most
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Compost Project for Earth Day. We celebrated Earth Day on trend this year. (And really, every day is Earth Day here.) We decided to add some Red Wiggler Worms, Eisenia hortensia, aka European Red Wigglers to our compost pile. The benefits of composting our food scraps and using them as soil for the edible garden
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Eco-friendly Gardens and Edible landscaping in Clifton Park, NY Edible plants can nicely augment eco-friendly gardens. In Clifton Park, NY (which is located in southern Saratoga County), there’s an eco-friendly landscaped property that we’ve used edible gardens and edible plants and herbs generously in the design. The above photo contains a June-bearing Strawberry as groundcover
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