Albany Deer Gardens. Albany Deer Gardens. In the summer of 2017, we got a call to renovate the gardens surrounding a townhouse in Albany, NY. The townhouse was located within the Albany Pinebush ecosystem, right near the park. The gentleman of the house was known to his friends as, “Miami Joe.” He was the first […]
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Butterfly Garden DIY: How To Jesse taught a workshop at a regional garden expo. “Butterfly Garden DIY: How To” was the topic. Subsequently we’ve heard from folks who wanted to attend and couldn’t. This post will summarize the butterfly habitat gardening presentation. A wildlife biologist friend writes frequently about butterfly gardening and the lifecycles of
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Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa, aka Actaea racemosa) is one of the finest native woodland plants. It’s also beloved as a woman’s herb. It graces the shade garden and part sun gardens and woodlands around the US. Black Cohosh has many nicknames, i.e., Bugbane or Black Snakeroot. There is also a
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Monarch Butterfly Garden. Monarch Butterfly Garden development is easy, fun and visually beautiful. It’s good for the local ecosystem and the larger environment. And it’s good for us as people. Recently the Monarch butterfly was officially registered as an endangered species. In the ecology world though, we’ve been watching the species carefully for a very
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A nature preserve in Schenectady needed a butterfly garden designed and supplied with native plants. The volunteers from Woodlawn contacted our company to design a butterfly garden for the preserve. The Woodlawn Nature Preserve is a part of the connected Pine Grove ecosystem, aka the Albany Pine Bush. The Friends of the Woodlawn Preserve group
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Shade Gardens in NY Recently we designed and built new shade gardens in Saratoga Springs, NY. There was a small, disorganized collection of existing shrubs and perennials in one established bed by the patio. This garden was adjacent to a woodland area that we rewilded into relaxed shade gardens. For that reason, many shade tolerant
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Woodland Gardens in Saratoga Springs, NY Before this summer we designed and installed new woodland gardens in Saratoga Springs, NY, in the neighborhood near Saratoga Lake. Shade gardens are one of the easiest places in the property to landscape sustainably, because of the rich and diverse body of available native plants that thrive in shade
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Woodland Garden Design Recently we were invited to design and build a new woodland garden in upstate NY. The picture above shows Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum) and Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata.) One reason landscape design for shade gardens is enjoyable is the malleability of structure compared to full sunspaces. And the plants! Certainly, native woodland
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Urban Gardens A recent year we were contracted to do the design and install for the landscape renovation of an urban garden. The client’s urban location crystalized a wildlife corridor in Saratoga Springs, NY through the positioning of several dozen individual local properties with eco-savvy landscape design. This habitat renewal space is located in front
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New Construction Landscaping New construction landscaping is the best opportunity for habitat restoration. People need homes. The land is disturbed during construction. As soon as the construction phase is over, adding native species trees, shrubs, perennials and native grasses is the way to bring balance to the equation. A good ecological future is possible when
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Shade Garden in Clifton Park, NY In Clifton Park, NY a legacy shade garden shines. Homeowners and property managers are often puzzled by the shady parts of their property. They may want a garden but think non-native Hosta and Astilbe are the only options for a shaded space. Undeniably, the world’s forests, loaded with beautiful
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Container Vegetable Garden DIY: How To. Container vegetable garden DIY is easy and fun. Our team created an edible garden in containers. It is teeming with life force, vitality and fecundity. We planted everything in mid to late May. We’ve been disciplined about watering when there’s no rain. The highest quality organic soil available was
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Schenectady, NY Butterfly Garden in a nature preserve. A dream came true spring 2017 when we designed and managed the installation of a butterfly garden in a Schenectady, NY nature preserve. This week saw the much anticipated butterfly garden installation at the Woodlawn Nature Preserve in Schenectady, NY. The Friends of the Woodlawn Preserve contacted
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Homeschool Butterfly Garden Project This week, to coincide with the first snowfall we had the delightful privilege of planting a butterfly garden with a homeschool group. The homeschool butterfly garden project was an education for us in the open-source learning theory. The children in this homeschool group happen to be close family friends, and permaculture
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Ballston Spa Nature Preserve Over the past month, we’ve had the honor of being a part of a lovely project. A couple in Ballston Spa, NY (just outside of Saratoga Springs) contacted us around Mother’s Day with an opportunity to build a nature preserve, with native plant gardens on a half an acre of their
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Scenes from the librarian’s wildlife garden There is a handful of people who were influential back when I was still in school and trying to configure my passion for habitat gardening into a career. One of them was the lovely head research librarian at the community college I then attended; her resourcefulness coupled with a
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Privacy Landscaping in Saratoga Basically, if you’re lucky, you’ll have awesome neighbors. People who live right near you that you can share space and joy with are a blessing from God. Neighborhood barbecues and tea shared on the porch with people you actually like are amazing gifts. It’s not always that way. Additionally, even
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Monarch Butterfly Garden This spring we designed and constructed a new Monarch Butterfly Garden in Saratoga Springs, NY. A pollinator garden was also created elsewhere at the same site to encourage and support the vegetable gardens. After planting the pollinator gardens, we realized that the site could now easily qualify for Monarch butterfly waystation status
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