Spring Plant Sale to benefit Sycamore Land Trust’s Native Plant Nursery

Saturday, May 20th 9am – 2pm (while supplies last) at Bloomingfoods East in Bloomington

Sycamore Land Trust is delighted to announce our Spring Native Plant Sale. Proceeds from the sale will be used to support our Native Plant Nursery where we grow native plants for our many land restoration projects in South Central Indiana. We will offer native plants that thrive in a garden setting and that provide vital habitat and food for our pollinators, birds and small mammals. Please stop by and chat with us about adding more native plants to your backyard in support of wildlife. The sale will be held at Bloomingfoods East Parking Lot, Saturday, May 20th, 9a – 2p or until we are sold out. A pot return area will be available through June at Bloomingfoods East so that the pots can be reused. Illustrations by Ellen Bergan

Click here to download this as a handout (PDF).

Gardening with Native Plants

“Butterflies used to reproduce on the native plants that grew in our yards before the plants were bulldozed and replaced with lawn. To have butterflies in our future, we need to replace those lost host plants, no if’s, and’s or but’s. If we do not, butterfly populations will continue to decline with every new house that is built.”

― Douglas Tallamy

The following guidelines will help you turn your backyards into havens for birds, butterflies, insects and other backyard wildlife.

Plant with Wildlife in Mind

• Choose native plants in your ecoregion instead of non natives.  Native plants are more recognizable as food sources to wildlife and are best suited to thrive in your garden.
• Plant in layers, recognizing the importance of trees and shrubs as a food source and home for insects, birds, and small mammals. Grow large areas of one kind of native plant so it is easily recognizable to the wildlife seeking it out. Include bloom times in spring, summer and fall extending the availability of food and habitat. 
• If possible provide a water source, preferably on the ground so that toads, turtles, squirrels and other small mammals have access.  

Avoid Pesticides

• When nature is left undisturbed by human intervention it will normally find balance, for example, most insects provide vital food for birds to feed their young. Pesticides, even organics, kill good bugs and bad bugs alike. This includes routine commercial spraying for pests on trees and turf, and spraying for mosquitos in yards. 
• Native plants do not need fertilization once established as they are adapted to the soils in the planting region. Young first year plants will benefit from supplemental watering especially during dry spells until their extensive root systems are fully developed. 

Provide Shelter for Wildlife

• Delay garden cleanup until late spring, providing ample time for insects, their eggs, and larvae to come out of hibernation in dead stalks and fallen leaves. 
• By not deadheading spent flowers the seeds become necessary food for birds and small mammals, and provide next year’s seedlings increasing the density of the planting area.  
• Consider adding a rock pile, bare dirt pile or log pile to your garden to further provide necessary shelter and habitat to raise the next generation of wildlife in your yard.    

References:

Indianawildlife.org
Indiana Native Plants.org
Bringing Nature Home; Doug Tallamy, Timber Press, 2009

Click here to download this a handout (PDF).