- The Importance of Healthy SoilAuthor: Joe Sarnicola After working in your garden, have you soiled your hands, or have you only gotten them dirty? You may ask in reply, “Aren’t they both the same question?” Nope, and here’s why. Soil contains living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, all which support plant life. Dirt has none of these,… Read more: The Importance of Healthy Soil
- Bugs in the Garden? Oh, My!Author: Joe Sarnicola Judging by the array of pesticides in a typical big box store it would be easy to believe that every insect should be killed on site and every flower and shrub treated to prevent any new ones from coming around. Unfortunately, that is how many casual gardeners feel. Yet, one of the… Read more: Bugs in the Garden? Oh, My!
- Keystone PlantsAuthor: Joe Sarnicola When many of us hear the term “keystone” we may think of the wedge stone that locks the other stones of an arch in place, silent movie cops, Pennsylvania (Keystone State), or even a brand of beer. I doubt many people associate keystones with plants. But they should. Wild Ones promotes the… Read more: Keystone Plants
- On BiodiversityAuthor: Joe Sarnicola Biodiversity. That’s a big word we hear all the time, but what does it really mean?The word itself has its origins in both ancient Greek and Latin. “Bio” is from the Greek word for life, and “diversity” is from the Latin word for variety. Biodiversity is a contracted form of biological diversity.… Read more: On Biodiversity
- Starting SmallAuthor: Joe Sarnicola For people who are new to native plant gardening it can seem a bit overwhelming at first. Latin names (anyone remember taking Latin in high school? Lot of good it did me.), bushes and shrubs are not exactly the same thing, not to mention ecozones and ecosystems, and then there is sandy,… Read more: Starting Small
About the author:
Joe Sarnicola is a writer and native plant gardener based in Auburn, New York, and he is a member of the Habitat Gardening of Central New York Chapter Wild Ones.