The Scoop

Environmental Action Team

March- April 2025

Earth Day reminds us of our responsibility to protect and nurture the environment. And if each of us does a small part, the collective can eventually have a huge impact.

Did you know that in the last 20 years, the country has lost 22 percent of its butterflies? Creating a sustainable landscape is an effective way to celebrate Earth Day and contribute to the planet’s health. By incorporating native plants, practicing eco-friendly gardening (not using chemical pesticides) and fostering wildlife-friendly habitats, we can have a meaningful impact, increasing the numbers of butterflies and other pollinators. 

This may sound like a lot to manage, but we can create habitat refuges for butterflies and other insects simply by planting native flowers, shrubs and trees. Incorporating native plants into gardens and green spaces can reduce our ecological footprint while providing essential habitats for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. And, native plants contribute to soil health and reduce the need for chemical pesticides, which can harm surrounding ecosystems.

With a little planning and foresight,  we can cultivate landscapes that not only enhance our surroundings but also promote environmental sustainability for generations to come. This Earth Day, let us commit to nurturing our landscapes in a way that supports the planet and its inhabitants.

Some resources: 

Homegrown National Park: homegrownnationalpark.org

Carolina Native Nursery: https://www.carolinanativenursery.com/

The Wild Ones: https://wildones.org/

The Scoop

Environmental Action Committee

November

2024 Newsletter

The garden’s almost finished for the year. Except for the final clean-up, plants are going to sleep, interconnected roots are hugging each other below ground, earthworms are burrowing deep and the landscape is heaving a sigh. I love this time of year simply because of the time for reflection. 

I will sit awhile in the sun. We’ve had a rough couple of months, but the plants are still hanging on. And we’ve had a lovely gift of warmer-than-usual fall days.

So, I love to mull over what happened in the garden this year. The fall greens, broccoli and leeks are still standing strong, but gone are the luscious fruits of high summer. I ate my last fresh tomato, and now it’s the appropriate time to bring out the canned tomatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.

This is a good time to do a basic inventory of what needs to be cleaned up before winter and what can be left until next spring. If dead plants standing bother you, then cut them down. But try the chop and drop method in which you do three chops with hedge shears and let the stems fall. They provide organic matter to feed the plants next year.

The healthiest gardens and landscapes are those that mimic nature. Nature doesn’t remove leaves or dying foliage. The plants will simply grow through the plant matter the following spring and will be healthier for it. We have an overwhelming amount of tree debris because of the storm, but for the most part, nature will take care of it. Just slowly.

Most importantly, do what you feel needs doing in your own garden. Our wonderful landscape crew has put many parts of our campus landscape to bed, and we’ll be letting nature take over from here. We’ll remove the leaves from hard surfaces, but the rest will be blown into beds to make mulch. The ornamental grasses will be left standing to provide winter interest and will be cut back in early spring.

The beds may look a bit messy as we chopped and dropped perennials and annuals, but I invite you to come take a look in the spring as plants emerge through their cozy blanket. Nature isn’t tidy. Nature recycles beautifully and once we take her lead, we will be able to finally relax. And, we’ll be ecstatic when those hostas pop through last year’s leaves. Last year’s leaves will be the carpet that feeds next year’s plants. The garden and landscape will progress through the regular sequence even if we don’t intervene. It may not be as tidy, but it will progress. 

This year, let’s sit back and enjoy the show, make every effort to relax, not get insanely nuts over tasks not done, and spend more time simply being in the garden.

-Kate Jerome

The Scoop

Environmental Action Committee

May/June

2024 Newsletter

The Scoop

Environmental Action Committee

March/April

2024 Newsletter

The Scoop

Environmental Action Committee

January/February 2024 Newsletter

I decided to stop feeding the birds this summer, particularly because the feeders draw in the squirrels, which makes my dog go crazy, running and chasing. She ended up with a torn CCL recently and I realized that I was just baiting her into running after squirrels.

To make a long story short, my feeders are being stored for now. I will bring them out to the front yard after the bears go to sleep and a spot far from where the dog can chase the squirrels.

 The upshot of this I’ve made my first resolution for the new year. It’s a bit early, but I’ve decided that I’m going to feed my birds from what I grow, not from feeders. This morning in my perennial bed where I’ve left up all the seedheads were maybe 20 birds, five different kinds. Finches were dancing on the coneflower seedheads, and on the ground were several types of sparrows with juncoes, cardinals and a rose-breasted grosbeak.

They had plenty to eat since I left my garden wild for the winter. These stems and debris also harbor insects including the pollinators we need to keep our planet healthy. And, below the leaf litter are the pupae of caterpillars which will feed the birds in spring when they emerge.

So, my resolution is that next year when the gardening and plant-buying bug hits me, I will concentrate on only growing what provides food for the birds and other wildlife. Of course, in most cases, this will mean native plants as well as some non-invasive non-natives that provide food.

I collected seeds from wild stands of black cohosh (bugbane) and goldenrod, and hyssop, vervain and sneezeweed from my perennial garden. I’ve “winter-sown” them to put out in my landscape next year. And I may simply not resurrect my feeders at all. Feeding birds can be controversial. 

Here is an excellent  source from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discussing the pros and cons of bird feeding: 

https://www.fws.gov/story/feed-or-not-feed-wild-birds

The Scoop

Environmental Action Committee

October/November 2023 Newsletter