A sustainable landscape for your little piece of paradise
There is a renaissance in gardening going on, and for those of us who have been digging, spraying and pruning for years, it’s an exhilarating time.
The new way of gardening prioritizes natural beauty over perfection. Words like weed and herbicide take on new meanings. The pesticides that we aimed at ticks and yellow jackets are mostly killing the bees, butterflies and lightning bugs we love, and it turns out they are unnecessary if you know what to do.
Knowing what to do is the hard part, and for that, there’s help from gardeners and gardening experts who have already made the shift to new ways of working in better balance with nature.
On June 21, ReWild Long Island’s North Fork Sustainable Garden and Meadow Tour took almost 100 participants through seven public and five private gardens in Greenport, Southold, Peconic, New Suffolk, Riverhead, Aquebogue and Wading River to view native gardens, backyard farms and pond gardens on plots of land ranging from 126 square feet to 10 acres.
In gardens full of butterflies, birds and shaded places to linger, the gardeners spread word about handling invasive plants, raising fruits and vegetables without spraying, and sharing the yard with rabbits, moles, raccoons and deer.
If you missed the ReWild tour, you can check out the public gardens on the tour, such as the “Berries for Birds” garden at the North Fork Audubon Society, 65275 County Road 48, Greenport; the “wet meadow” at Pipes Cove Preserve, South of SR 25 between Pipes Creek and Silvermere Road, Greenport; the native plant garden at Custer Preserve, 1115 Main Bayview Road, Southold; the native garden at Long Island Antique Power Association, 5950 Sound Ave., Riverhead; and a native garden with wheelchair-accessible garden paths at Johanna’s Hope, 467 Sound Shore Road, Aquebogue.
On Thursday, July 17, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., the founder of the Perfect Earth Project, Edwina von Gal, will conduct a workshop called Living Lands at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. She will be supported by a panel of experts — Abby Lawless (Farm Landscape Design), Tim Purtell (Shelter Island green options committee) and Cody-Marie Miller (Mashomack Preserve).
Among the four of them, and representatives of local conservation groups who will also be on hand, it’s an opportunity to make a sustainable plan for your little slice of paradise. The event is free, and refreshments will be served. Please register at perfectearthproject.org.
