Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

300 Trees killed by Herbicide Application

The thing you always worry about when you spray a herbicide around trees is "will this affect the tree?" "How long will it stay in the ground?" Well, the staff at the Milwaukee County Parks got the answer to those questions for one herbicide the hard way when they realized 300 Black Walnut, maple … [Read more...]

Japanese Barberry & Lyme Disease

There was an article in EntomologyToday recently about new data which shows Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) harbors the Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) which carries Lyme Disease. I have a good friend who suffers from the ravages of Lyme Disease, and I've other friends who also have … [Read more...]

Tree Planting Tips

I found this article about how to plant a tree under Project Learning Tree. I was happy to see they recommended planting native species. 'Thought I'd share. The song is darling. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/Nu1JWoOGbcU?t=128 See also Trees and Shrubs for Early Pollinators. … [Read more...]

WOFVA Native Plant Sale Pick-Up May 19th

Just a reminder! If you live in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin, next Saturday May 19th is the day to pick up your order from the Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter's Spring Native Plant Sale. All the pre-orders will have been sorted, and will be ready for pick-up. But there will be plenty of … [Read more...]

Pollination continued

In my earlier post about Gardening for Pollinators, I talked primarily about pollinators and flowering plants, also known as angiosperms. But there's a whole other group of plants out there which require pollen as well -- specifically grasses and trees.  Grasses are angiosperms, however, trees are … [Read more...]

Native Alternatives to Non-Native Plants

How to tell Native Plants from Non-Natives As you wander from one plant location to another, you may wonder which plants are native and which are not native and how to tell which is which. The simplest way is by comparing the plant stakes labels which contain the botanical name and habitat … [Read more...]