Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Upcoming Native Plant Conferences

Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter Toward Harmony with Nature Conference attendees milling around Oshkosh Convention Center lobby and book sale table during a break. Plan to attend a native plant conference this year. It’s a great way to learn more about native landscaping and biodiversity.

As you know, my Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter holds their annual conference next weekend. Here is a list of some other native plant conferences coming up in 2019:

    • Saturday, January 19, 2019 23rd Annual Toward Harmony with Nature Conference “The Value of Ecological Restoration.” Oshkosh Convention Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin LAST DAY TO REGISTER January 13th. For additional information, visit Toward Harmony with Nature.
    • Saturday, February 16, 2019 18th Annual Wild Ones Minnesota Design with Nature Conference “Healing & Restoring Our Relationship with Nature” University of St Thomas, St Paul, Minnesota. For additional information visit Design with Nature.
    • Saturday, February 16, 2019  The Naturally Beautiful Garden Conference 2019   Triton College Sustainability Center, River Grove, Illinois. For additional information visit Naturally Beautiful Garden Conference.
    • Wednesday thru Thursday, March 6 -7, 2019  ELA Conference & Eco-Marketplace!  “Sustaining the Living Landscape” University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Murray D Lincoln Campus Center, Amherst, Massachusetts. For more information, visit ELA 2019 Conference. (ELA is short for Ecological Landscape Alliance)
    • Tuesday, March 12, 2019  Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium 2019  Cinemapolis Theater, Ithaca, New York.  For additional information, visit Ithaca Native Landscape Symposium.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea). Note Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) toward bottom of photo.
Two of the best native plants to use in natural landscaping are the Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and Yellow Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata). They along with all native plants attract many pollinators such as this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Native plant conferences are a great way to learn more about native landscaping.
    • Thursday thru Sunday, May 16-19, 2019  Florida Native Plant Society 39th Annual Conference “Transitions” Plantation on Crystal River, Crystal River, Florida. For more information, visit Florida 39th Natives Conference.
    • Wednesday thru Saturday, June 5-8, 2019  Native Plants in the Landscape Conference  Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit Native Plants Conference.
    • Wednesday thru Saturday, July 17-20, 2019  The Cullowhee Native Plant Conference  Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina. For more information, visit Cullowhee Native Plants.
    • Friday thru Sunday, July 26-28, 2019  11th Annual Midwest Native Plant Conference Bergamo Center, Dayton, Ohio. For additional information, visit Midwest Native Plants.
    • Thursday and Friday, December 5-6, 2019  Turning a New Leaf Conference 2019  Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit Turning A New Leaf.

If you have a conference you’d like to add to this list, e-mail the details.

www.pdf24.org    Send article as PDF   

Reminder – Wisconsin Landscape Pesticide Registry

You can now sign up for the 2019 Wisconsin Landscape Pesticide Registry. You must enroll by February 1, 2019 to be included in 2019’s registry.

If you've ever been outside when someone is spraying lawn chemicals, you'll want to be sure you get on this registry. It's typically a smelly affair. Photo by Jason Lugo/E+/Getty Images.
If you’ve ever been outside when someone is spraying lawn chemicals, you’ll want to be sure you get on this registry. It’s typically a smelly affair and dangerous for your lungs and nasal passages. Photo by Jason Lugo/E+/Getty Images

What is the Wisconsin Landscape Registry?

If you are a Wisconsin resident and you register your property, you will be notified 12 hours before commercial pesticide applicators apply pesticides to neighboring property. Using the Registry, requires you list the properties you want to be notified about. Then companies check that list against their lists of customers. [Read more…]

Non-Native Plants reduce Food availability for Birds

Doug Tallamy, Desiree Narango and Peter Marra* have provided more definitive data about the importance of native trees and shrubs for the livelihood of insect-eating birds. In this case, their research focused primarily on the Caroline Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis). In their report Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird printed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) Doug and his team concluded:

Doug Tallamy says a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) pair brings 390-570 caterpillars to their young per day for 16 days. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

“We monitored reproduction and survival of Carolina chickadees within residential yards and found that when nonnative plants increased, both insect availability and chickadee population growth declined. We also found that populations could only be sustained if nonnative plants constituted <30% of plant biomass. Our results demonstrate that nonnative plants reduce habitat quality for insectivorous birds and restoration of human-dominated areas should prioritize native plants to support local food webs.” (PNAS) [Read more…]

Planning a Natural Habitat

If you are thinking of adding more native plants to your landscaping, early fall is a good time of the year to do so. But first, survey your property.

Making a Plan

Evergreens provide a perfect screen for unwanted light and for privacy.

Although it is best to  have photos of your house and landscape throughout the seasons, start now by photographing your house and yard from several angles. Then print the photos in as large a scale as you can.

The next step is the fun part. Start looking through native plant catalogs for the plants you want to incorporate. Consider the colors you want to add — when and where. Consider the lines and shapes –height and fullness. Consider the wildlife you want to attract — birds, bees, butterflies. Consider obstructions and distractions — neighboring trees, street lights, sump pump hoses. And finally, consider the harmony between all these elements in the habitat as you lay your choices on your photos. See the various chapters in Wild Ones booklet Landscaping with Native Plants which is stored on the EPA website. [Read more…]