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Go green with native grasses

RANDEE DADDONA PHOTO

Polly Weigand, a coordinator of the Long Island Native Grass Initiative, weeds a crop of Indiangrass, little bluestem, big bluestem and switchgrass – all native species – at a plot in Jamesport this week. Native grasses and shrubs will be for sale at Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead during the next two weekends.

You might like how that freshly mowed Kentucky bluegrass looks in your front yard this summer, but according to local environmentalists, there are several different grasses native to Long Island that are much healthier for the habitat and good for a nontraditional lawn or landscaping borders.

Volunteers from the Long Island Native Grass Initiative (LINGI) will be selling Indiangrass, little bluestem, big bluestem, and switchgrass — all native species —