Sustainable Living Outdoors

Your Backyard

Cut Back on Pesticides

In short, pesticides kill insects. In April 2019, a major study warned that 40 percent of all insect species face extinction due to pesticides—particularly neonics, since they’re the most widely used insecticide on the planet—but also because of with climate change and habitat destruction.

Insects are an important part of ecosystem conservation, and encouraging them will improve the health of your local environment (and probably your health and well-being too).

Get started with a soil test!  Don’t just keep on putting on fertilizers and chemicals onto your lawn or garden without knowing if you need them, or if you are even putting on the right product. It’s easy to do a soil test yourself. Click to find out more.   

Plant Pollinators. Give Up Some Lawn.

Plant native perennials, shrubs and trees in your landscape to help our local pollinators and birds.

For more information, check out New Canaan Pollinator Pathway. Also, watch Prof. Doug Tallamy talk about the importance of planting native plants to help birds and pollinators.

Mulch Your Lawn in the Fall

Got leaves? Consider mulching them in place to cut down landfill waste, air pollution and noise pollution while providing your lawn with a free, nutrient-rich fertilizer. A study by Michigan State University found that mulching is 100% beneficial for the lawn. Mulched leaves are decomposed by earthworms and microorganisms and turned into plant-usable organic matter.