Native Yards and Yarns

  • 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 Plants
    Author: 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 Biodiversity
    Author: 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 Small
    Author: 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
  • Backyard Beginnings: How a Native Garden Can Help Heal Our Shared Home
    Author: Joe Sarnicola This is a letter I wrote to the Citizen (Auburn’s newspaper) a couple weeks ago. I thought this would be a good place to share it as well. Over the past few years I have learned that our environment is fragile and even slightly broken. I have also learned that by converting… Read more: Backyard Beginnings: How a Native Garden Can Help Heal Our Shared Home

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.