Learn about gardening for wildlife
Book
Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard
In this new book, Tallamy takes the next step and outlines his vision for a grassroots approach to conservation. Nature's Best Hope shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats. Available for checkout at Urbana Library.
Website
Homegrown National Park
HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK™ IS A GRASSROOTS CALL-TO-ACTION TO RESTORE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION by PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS AND CREATING NEW ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS. Our goal is 20 million acres of native plantings in the U.S. This represents approximately ½ of the green lawns of privately-owned properties.
Website and book
The Humane Gardener
Plants are the solution to everything. That’s the driving concept behind the Humane Gardener website, book, presentations, and probably any conversation you’ll ever have with me (you’ve been warned!). Whether you’re trying to resolve conflicts with wildlife or immersed in efforts to save local fauna, you’ll be more successful if you let plants lead the way. Available for checkout at Urbana Library.
Book
Bringing Nature Home:Â How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants
As development and habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. In Bringing Nature Home, Douglas W. Tallamy reveals the unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife—native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. Available for checkout at Urbana Library.
Certification
National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat
Anyone can create a welcoming haven for local wildlife. Turning your yard, balcony container garden, schoolyard, work landscape, or roadside greenspace into a Certified Wildlife Habitat® is fun, easy, and can make a lasting difference for wildlife.
Plan your garden or container
National Wildlife Federation
Six Tips for Pollinator Gardens in Small Spaces
If you don’t have a traditional garden space where you can plant directly in the ground, you can plant in containers and place them on your patio, deck, rooftop or front stoop. Select a few different kinds of plants of varying heights, colors and textures.
Better Homes and Gardens
Nature Lovers'Â Gardens
Our nature lover's gardening will be your garden color with plenty of ideas. There's something special about a natural garden filled with life, find out here how to attract butterflies with garden plants. You'll find everything you need to know to transform your garden into a nature-lover's garden retreat.
Gardener's Supply Company
Raised bed garden plans
This garden features plants that will attract butterflies all season long. In spring, the orange milkweed foliage provides food for monarch butterfly larvae. Summer brings continuous blooms in a rainbow of hues. And come autumn, the nectar-rich, fall-blooming aster helps monarch adults fuel up for their migration.
Prairie Moon Nursery
Potted garden kits
All Garden Kits are designed with a diversity of 14 species of wildflowers and grasses (2-4 plants per species) for blooms spring-fall, perfect for starting a native garden! Orders ship when all the species in the tray are well-rooted and transit-ready, early May through June.
Lehigh Gap Nature Center
Native Plants for the Small Yard
This book includes: A description of the connection between native plants and local ecology; Guidance on flower garden designs for your yard, including nine different design templates you can use and/or modify as you wish; Advice on installing and maintaining a flower garden; and Information on the best native plants for small spaces, as well as visual guides for common yard weeds and invasive plants.
Watershed Stewards Academy
Conservation Landscape Design Tool
This tool provides guidance on installing conservation landscapes (sometimes called BayScapes). Based on a few choices, the guidance is tailored to your needs. After a short interaction with this website, you should have most or all of the information you need to begin and maintain your project.
Find plants for your garden
Buy native plants locally
Where to find pesticide-free native plants near Urbana
To help you navigate your way to increasing our pollinator populations, we've included many local nurseries below and how they responded to our queries about pesticide use. You can download a printable PDF of this list here.
Find native plant nurseries
Choose Natives
ChooseNatives.org is wild for wildlife! We promote North American native plants over non-native alien plants in order to nurture healthy, balanced ecosystems and help restore natural habitats for all wildlife populations. An equally essential part of our mission is to assist Mid-Atlantic region gardeners in locating native plant nurseries and plant sales.
Buy native plants online
Prairie Moon Nursery
We are dedicated to helping you be a part of the collective effort to nurture and sustain the living landscape. Our website and catalog are great educational resources to help make your project a success. If you need help, give us a call and a friendly plant nerd will be there with advice and suggestions.
Find local sustainable food
Farm delivery
South Mountain Creamery
We are a dairy farm family: we bottle our own milk, make our own butter, yogurt, and ice cream. We brought the milkman back in 2001 and have been making home deliveries to the DMV for 19 years and counting. Shop our online farmers market and have your products delivered to your door. Over the years we have grown to be the largest and most efficient home delivery business in the area. And now, we are not just supporting three generations of our farm family, but nearly 200 local sustainable farm families.
Community Farm Share (CSA)
House in the Woods Farm
House in the Woods Farm is a certified organic, national award-winning farm in Adamstown, Maryland, celebrating 20 years in production with a mission to connect you to the food, the land and the community. Our farm share program offers member-only U-Pick rows and a 20-week growing season of organic produce, all grown on the farm featuring heirloom varieties.
Deli and market
Pump + Rye
At Pump + Rye, we want the best for our food fam! Our deli showcases chef-driven, responsibly sourced local ingredients that are highlighted on our menu of classic and modern sandwiches. Our rotating seasonal menus are thoughtfully curated to highlight the best of our local farmers prepared with love from our kitchen to yours.
Community garden
Stone Barn Community Garden
STONE BARN COMMUNITY GARDENS was created by Natelli Communities as a community resource for local residents. Here, a limited number of garden plots are available for rent to grow fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. The Radonovich family, operators of Twin Hills Farm, is thrilled to be managing the operation of the Gardens, located at the intersection of Maryland Route 355 and Park Mills Road.
Online farmer's market for pick up
Frederick Fresh Online
Community FARE is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2011 with the mission of diversifying, expanding and safeguarding a healthy local food economy that will preserve the integrity and biodiversity of farmland in Frederick and surrounding counties and ensure food access to the regional population.
Farm work share
House in the Woods Farm
House in the Woods Farm has workshares available! We seek a few adult volunteers to help on the farm, four hours per week, ideally on Wednesday or Friday mornings. Come learn with us! Help plant seedlings, harvest crops, and prepare the farm for the upcoming season. In exchange, receive hands-on farm education, weekly vegetables, and some garden zen. Contact Ilene for more information.