Audubon at Home

– By Paul Hicks –

Whether you are a landscaping novice or seasoned horticulturist, you can obtain some valuable advice from the National Audubon Society about how to create an environmentally healthy yard. The aim of the NAS free program, called Audubon at Home, is to promote conservation actions by individuals that will help to sustain birds and other wildlife in healthy home and neighborhood habitats.

An easy way to access the information is by logging on the Audubon Greenwich website, www.greenwich.audubon.org. You will find a link there to Audubon at Home, which includes a number of topics, including bird-feeding basics, plants to attract birds and wildlife and a kid's guide to habitat at home.

Under the heading: “Explore Your Backyard” there is a useful worksheet for gathering information about your “ecological address.” It could be an interesting project for adults as well as younger family members to discover such facts as the watershed, soil characteristics, plant hardiness zone and other relevant aspects of your property. Completing the worksheet will help you see your location in the larger context of water sources, geological formations, climate zones and ecosystems.

Creating outdoor space that is a healthy habitat for wildlife, as well as for people, can be successfully accomplished with enough planning, time and effort. The guiding principles for success that are promoted in the Audubon at Home program are: reduce pesticide use; conserve water; protect water quality; remove invasive plants; plant native species and support birds and other wildlife.

In addition to the information about Audubon at Home that is available online, you can obtain printed materials at the Audubon Center in Greenwich. Plan to visit there May 12 to see the first phase of a landscaping project that will demonstrate the Audubon at Home techniques. Visitors will see how the property around the Intern House at the center is being transformed in stages into a yard and garden filled with native and non-invasive plants and grasses. Staff members and volunteers will be on hand to discuss such subjects as how to identify invasive species and how to create a pesticide-free, low maintenance, bird-friendly landscape. Also, gardeners will learn how to create a healthier habitat without having to give up their green lawns and non-native ornamental plants.

The unveiling of the Audubon at Home landscaping project is part of a larger celebration that day honoring Ted Gilman's 30 years as an Audubon naturalist and educator. Among the various activities on the program is a tour of the grounds (ages 8 and older) led by Ted Gilman to identify bird species attracted by a variety of plants and habitats. For more information, call Audubon Greenwich at 203-869-5272 or visit the website mentioned above.