Green Living Tips
Take things that you are not going to wear or use and give it to a charity or someone who will use it.
Living in Harmony with Nature
-
How to Add Value
Ready to make your garden look great with free help from professionals! Workshop dates, times, and locations: Countryside Community Center – Saturday, May 19th 2-4pm Broadlands Community Center – Sunday, May 20th 2-4pm Sugarland Run Homeowners Association Community Center – Sunday, June 10th, 2-4pm Details • An expert landscaping presentation for practical but smart design to save money and improving property value. • An outdoor tour and discussion about the additional community benefits. Refreshments & Door Prizes! Did you know that in the United States mowed grass lawns cover more than 31 million acres of land, making grass lawns larger than any other single agricultural crop? That means that individual homeowners can have a significant…
-
Native Plant of the Week
Ninebark - Physocarpus opulifolius (L.) Maxim. A 3-10 ft., mound-shaped, deciduous shrub, ninebark offers spiraea-like flowers, attractive and persistent fruit pods, arching branches, yellow fall color, and exfoliating bark. Ninebark is fast-growing, insect and disease resistant, and drought-tolerant. PLANT CHARACTERISTICS Duration: Perennial Habit: Shrub Leaf: Green Autumn Foliage: yes Fruit: Red, Brown BLOOM INFORMATION Bloom Color: White, Pink Bloom Time: May, Jun Native Habitat: Stream banks; rocky hillsides; woodland edges GROWING CONDITIONS Water Use: Low Light Requirement: Sun, Part Shade, Shade Soil Moisture: Dry, Moist , Wet Soil Description: Clay, Loam Conditions Comments: Common ninebark is fast-growing, insect & disease resistant, and drought-tolerant. Dear Resistant: Yes BENEFIT Conspicuous Flowers: yes Attracts: Birds PROPAGATION Description: Propagate by fall-sown seed or semi-hardwood cuttings with or without hormone treatment. Seed Collection: Ripe fruits can be picked…
-
Easier, Cheaper, Smarter Gardening with Native Plants
We hear a lot these days about the benefits of using “natives” in our gardens, but what exactly does this mean and why should we bother? Native plants are species that existed in our area before human activities dominated the natural landscape. Over the past several hundred years, people have imported or bred plants to suit their cultural, aesthetic, and environmental needs. A few of these plant species have escaped from cultivated gardens or were introduced intentionally into natural areas. The problem lies in the fact that these exotic invasives can take over, out-competing native plants. As the native species dwindle, animals and insects dependent upon them for food and shelter are threatened. One step…
-
Warm Weather = More Ticks!
Warm weather could spell trouble with ticks By Joan Lownds Thursday, 23 February 2012 After a spectacular opening act with the “Halloween snowstorm,” this season’s winter has mostly been a no-show . The warm snap has been a boon to the public works department — and for energy savings — but the trade-off could be a bumper crop of ticks later this year. “The mild winter is causing ticks to stay active, and they are not usually active in the winter,” said Dr. Kirby Stafford, state entomologist. “We may see an increase in tick activity in the spring, but next summer we will see the highest peak of risk — with possibly the most ticks…
-
Lush and Rich Gardens
Replace it with perennial beds, decks, trails, sidewalks or mulch. “Grass is one of the highest input plants that we grow,” Welsh said. “Turf means watering, mowing, fertilising and pest control. Do you really need 5,000 square feet of grass?”
4Kids
Earthy Science with Kids – Meet Mr. Wiggly
The experience of composting shows us that nature is a cycle. Things grow, die, decay, and return to the earth to help other things grow. Worms, along with other tiny organisms help this process along by digging and eating some of the things in the dirt. “Yuck!” you say? Well, hopefully you will see that organic wastes can become beautiful and healthy soil in which you can grow flowers, crops, and other plants.
Visiting Bullfrog Pond
Bull Frog Pond located in Broadlands is a hidden quite spot for residents in the area. It is also a home for many wildlife in the area.
Feeding Birds During Fall and Winter
You can attract different species of birds to your garden by providing the food they like in a suitable feeder.
In the News
Native Plants Sanctuary and Wildlife Habitats Display Garden
A new aesthetic: Landscape design which includes healthy outdoors with native plants, no harmful chemicals and habitat restoration and a beautiful natural look The main goal of this garden is to enlighten the homeowners to the beauty of Virginia native plants and to inspire them to incorporate native plants into their own home gardens. Other goals of the garden are to show how mature native plants can attract wildlife to include variety of birds and butterflies and beneficial insects. In addition, gardens with native plants will require less time to maintain, less watering, less chemical use and will cost less in the long run. The community will be able to see firsthand the types of…
Virginia Farms and Honey Bees
One of Virginia’s most valuable agricultural assets, the honeybee, continues to struggle. Disease problems, a syndrome called colony collapse disorder, and cold weather hit the state’s bee population hard again last winter. “This past year we’re probably seeing higher losses than the year before,” said Keith Tignor, state apiarist with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “We’re still surveying, and it will be a few months before we know exact results. But informally we’re hearing of lots of bee losses.” Winter honeybee losses have averaged 31 percent over the past decade. Honeybees are extremely valuable, because they are all-purpose pollinators, helping boost production of numerous agricultural crops. Tignor estimated honeybees…
Housing Market and Green Communities Future
…But many home builders, developers, etc… are quickly realizing that green communities are not just a trend, they are the future. The same survey by McGraw-Hill says the green building market is expected to double from 12% market share to 20% market share by the year 2012….
