Wild Ones LogoHabitat Gardening
in Central New York
    Issue #13 - July 28, 2009
In This Issue
Videos worth watching
Deer Solution
Thank yous
Reduce sewage overflow
Butterflies & Beetles
Vacation idea
Our sponsors

The Plantsmen Nursery
The greatest diversity of native plants and other items of interest to habitat gardeners
Growing Wild Perennials

Maple Hill Nursery

Phoenix Flower Farm

Wild Birds Unlimited
Videos worth watching
The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes
Severn Suzuki's address to the the UN Earth Summit 1992
Richard Attenborough
From the last Wild Ones Journal
Deer "Solution"
This solution may be the solution you're looking for! This recipe from Monches Nursery was featured in a recent Wild Ones member email.
Mix into a gallon jug of water:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. oil (either hot chili oil or regular vegetable oil)
1 Tbsp. dish soap

Allow to ferment for several days or weeks. Filter out large sediment and apply with sprayer. Reapply from time to time.

Thank you!
A big thank you to Ronda Tambasco for offering her extensive habitat garden (and wonderful hospitality) for our Show Me Help Me tour this month. She went the extra mile and invited others besides HGCNYers to tour her yard, too, and exposed a whole new group of people to our eco-friendly style of gardening.

And special thanks to Dan Carroll, a professional natural landscaper and co-founder of HGCNY, for offering his tips and commentary on Ronda's garden. We all had a great time and learned a lot!

July Habitat Garden Tours
Free and open to the public. Join us!

Homeowner Tours - You can arrange with some of our HGCNYers to tour their gardens at a mutually agreeable time. (See meetings webpage for contact info...)

Janet's Habitat Garden (and John's Edible Garden) -













Check Meetings webpage for updates, but currently scheduled tours are:
Wed. July 29 at 6:30 pm
Thurs. Aug. 13 at 6:30 pm
Mon. Aug. 17 at 6:30 pm
Sat. Aug. 22 at 10:00 am
(Directions to the Allens' gardens...)

HGCNY August meeting -Our last summer meeting before our regular meeting schedule starts up again in the fall will again be a social meeting at Clark Reservation State Park. If last year is any guide, we'll be treated to a delicious pot luck! We'll again tour the native plant demonstration garden at the picnic grounds, then conclude with a walk along the trail with a special emphasis on spotting invasive plants growing there. We'll be guided by ....
TENTATIVE DATE: Tuesday Aug. 25 at 5:00 pm (Check our next newsletter for final information.)
Bring your own place setting, any meats you would like to grill, and a dish to pass.

Annual HGCNY Native Plant Sale -We rely on HGCNYers to supply the plants for this sale, so as you survey your garden, please start thinking of which plants are likely candidates to donate to our sale. Native plants only, please! The tentative date for the sale is Saturday September 12 in the morning. Be watching for details in the next newsletter.
You can help reduce sewage flowing into Onondaga Creek
Many people aren't aware that the creek flows through downtown Syracuse and could be an asset to our community.

Near South Ave. during a creek cleanup project.


But when there's a storm, sewage actually flows into our creek! Those who have canoed down the creek can give you first-hand info. (Talk to John Allen about this.) There's nothing like toilet paper (post-use) festooning the banks of our creek...

But things are changing. Onondaga County has dropped the very expensive plans for a new sewage treatment facility (i.e. gray infrastructure) and is now creating green infrastructure. You can be part of this solution simply by keeping the water that falls on your property on your property so stormwater doesn't run off into the sewer and then into our waterways.

One very effective, beautiful, and habitat-friendly way to do this is to create a rain garden. This Post-Standard article describes one such local project.

A rain garden is simply a sunken garden designed to absorb rainwater from impervious areas such as roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas. Rain gardens reduce runoff by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground, as opposed to flowing into storm drains and surface waters, which can cause erosion, water pollution, flooding, and diminished groundwater.

Native plants are perfect for rain gardens!  Plants suitable for rain gardens in the Northeast are provided online by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and in hard copy by Onondaga County Cooperative Extension.

Rain Gardens: A How-To Manual for Homeowners provides more in-depth information to help you create your own beautiful contribution to solving a community problem.
Butterflies down; Japanese beetles up
You've planted lots of larval host plants (food plants for the caterpillar phase of a butterfly's life) and lots of nectar plants. You have a sunny location away from the wind. You've done your part, now where are they?

Unfortunately, our weather this summer--cool and rainy--doesn't favor butterflies. There have been noticeably fewer butterflies and skippers than in summers past. But you've now got the larval host plants and nectar plants (if they're perennials), so you'll be all set for a better butterfly experience next summer.

On the other hand...
Japanese beetles are thriving. Here's some info on natural Japanese Beetle control based on an article at www.life123.com:

Five organic ways to get rid of Japanese beetles
  1. Avoid growing their favorite plants, which in our gardens include native roses, sundrops, and raspberries. But this "solution" seems counterproductive. We want these plants!
  2. If you see them on your plants, pull them off and kill them. As far as Japanese beetles are concerned, the more the merrier; the more you already have, the more you'll get.
  3. Don't use pheromone traps (those plastic bags that get full of beetles while attracting legions more than they catch). They were initially designed to sample beetle populations, not to control them.
  4. Use biological control agents such as nematodes and milky spore bacteria.
  5. Keep your produce harvested. Overripe and rotting produce attracts beetles.
Removing by hand really is effective!
According to the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, when you remove beetles daily by hand from a plant, only about half as many are attracted to that plant compared to those on which beetles are allowed to accumulate.

Japanese beetles tend to congregate in clusters that can easily be knocked off of your beloved plants into a bucket of soapy water where they will drown. You may initially be squeamish, but after a while, you'll probably find it doesn't bother you at all! This is most easily done in the early morning while they are still sluggish. (Squishing them is also an option.)

In our experience, early, consistent efforts using the soapy water method pays off!
Looking for a garden vacation destination?
  The New England Wildflower Society's Garden in the Woods is "... an eye-popping showcase for our native plants . . . there can be few more beautiful places on the planet." ~ Boston Globe

The Garden has more than 1,000 native plant species, featuring more than 150 rare and endangered native plant species. Located 20 miles west of Boston, the Garden displays an ever-changing tapestry of flowers and foliage. You can buy native plants at the store on the grounds of the Garden.

Later in the season, you can visit Nasami Farm and Sanctuary in western Massachusetts. This native plant nursery, owned by New England Wild Flower Society, reopens to the public for its fall season September 3 through October 4, Thursdays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Or take a "staycation"
If you have a habitat garden, staying home--a "staycation"-- can be just as interesting and probably more restful than traveling. The key is to clear your calendar of other activities, tell people you're on vacation (but don't tell them your vacation will be at home), and don't do any chores. Just enjoy your time relaxing in your habitat garden.