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Saturday, September 21, 2013

Front lawn transformed into habitat

September 2013

A habitat garden shows its true worth at this glorious time of the year. Bumblebees, many kinds of solitary bee, predatory wasps, locust borers, tiny flower flies and countless insects (I am only just beginning to know how to identify) are in a feeding frenzy on goldenrods and asters. Flowering grasses are pollinated for copious seed. Butterflies sip the last supplies of nectar. I feel the sun’s warmth and the sheer energy of color and movement as I stand nearby and just watch.

Compare the scene above with the ivy-covered “desert” of three years ago. The front lawn was already over-run and suppressed with English ivy, where the swathe of invading green seemed all the more somber from a lack of biodiversity. I have pulled and rolled up many bags-worth of tenacious tendril to restore this area. I think you will agree that my efforts have paid off.

September 2010