Hyde Park Garden Habitat

06/13/2026

https://www.threads.com//post/DZeTIRGn0RW?xmt=

06/11/2026

From Native Plant Trust:
Happy Pollinator Month! Throughout June, we are celebrating our region's pollinators by sharing a variety of ways in which we can support them. Cole Campbell, Production Horticulturist at Native Plant Trust, put it best:

"Pollinators are essential to healthy ecosystems. After all, somewhere between 75-90% of all flowering plants rely on animals to be pollinated. In the Northeast, those animals are usually insects. However, before adult insects can pollinate plants, they have to pass through a larval stage where they feed on foliage of plants. Insect larvae are often picky with what they eat and typically rely on a single genus or species of native plant as a food source.

With pollinators in decline, it's more important than ever that we do our part to help protect them. Native plants are the cornerstone of the Earth’s ecosystems and provide the food and shelter necessary for pollinators to survive. Here are a few ways to get started:

Consider year-round offerings: Plants with four-season interest, such as having berries, foliage, and flowers throughout the year, and providing shelter in the fall and winter, add a beautiful color to your space, and support pollinators in numerous ways.

Roll back your lawn: Your lawn can be a functional part of your garden and be an early food source for pollinators in the spring. Mix in some lawn alternatives such as wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), which is also a host plant.

Swap your mulch for groundcovers: Fill your empty garden spaces with native groundcovers to provide food, habitat, and host plants for pollinators while helping your garden look fuller.

Leave the leaves and save the stems: Leaf litter and hollow stems act as shelters for bees and other pollinators that need to overwinter. Check out this article on leaving the leaves from Uli Lorimer, our director of Horticulture, or check out an article about saving the stems of plants by our production horticulturist Cole Campbell from last year’s fall magazine.

Stay tuned to our social media channels throughout the month and check out our free guide, Gardening for Pollinators, for more information on how you can support your local pollinators."

06/09/2026

It was so nice to be acknowledged and that the native plants look so fabulous tonight. Thankful for Partners for Climate Change for the grants and the Town of Hyde Park Supervisor and Board for allowing us to create these gardens to showcase organic practices and plants for our pollinators! We also thank the Aquanessing tribe who first settled, lived here, and loved this land.

06/04/2026

https://www.lhprism.org/action-steps-resources/

Action Steps/Resources from The Lower Hudson Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management

06/04/2026

https://nyis.info/ny-invasive-species-awareness-week/

New York’s Invasive Species Awareness Week 2026 New York’s Invasive Species Awareness Week ( ) is June 8th- 14th! The mission of the New York Invasive Species Awareness Week (NYISAW) is to promote knowledge and understanding of invasive species and the harm they can cause. We want to empow...

05/29/2026

Sharing:

All of us in this FB community are doing our part to help the ecosystem while just as many or more continue breaking it down and causing harm. My neighbor across the street and caddy corner from me now gets her lawn mowed by a “professional“ each week. Today, after mowing and trimming and blowing, the man sprayed her entire front yard with something. I was immediately upset, knowing the harm these chemicals cause for all of the insects and wildlife in the area. My heart literally sank and tears sprung to my eyes. Ugh. Rather than stew and say nothing, I felt safe enough with this neighbor to reach out to ask her some questions to assess whether she is aware of these dangers or not. Her response highlights where the issue is and I was dumbfounded. I asked her if the guy was spraying herbicides or pesticides on her lawn and followed it by saying both are harmful and explained in what ways. She responded with, “It better not be those things—it’s supposed to be to help the lawn and control the weeds.” Ummm, this is what herbicides do. 🤦‍♀️ What does she think is controlling the weeds? Sigh. It honestly feels like a loosing battle. Why are these chemicals, knowing how toxic they are, even lawful? It’s big business, I know. It’s just Soo Soo sad. I just pray, daily, for all the beautiful living things out there that all of us are supporting. I often think maybe I should move out of this suburban, HOA controlled neighborhood. But then I fear the one acre haven I’ve created would be destroyed by the new owners. And, these harmful practices are everywhere—no place is free from it.

From: Homegrown National Park

05/11/2026

Lupine is native here!

We cannot provide a specific schedule for prescribed fires in a given area due to the unpredictability of weather and fuel conditions. If you would like to be notified the morning of a prescribed fire, please subscribe below.  

05/11/2026

FYI - keep a look out!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CSjhR4txG/

5 Minutes Daily Hack

A turtle crossing a road in May is almost certainly a female carrying eggs.

She's not lost. She's heading to a nesting site she may have used for years — sometimes decades. The route is fixed. The road was built across her path, not the other way around.

Aquatic turtles — painted, snapping, spotted — leave ponds to find warm, well-drained soil for egg-laying. Land turtles — box, wood — make shorter crossings but face the same risk. They move slowly, and during nesting season most of the ones on roads are females.

Turtles take years to reach breeding age. A female lost on the road isn't replaced quickly. The slow ones crossing in May are the ones the local population depends on most.

🐾 If you see one:

Move her in the direction she was already heading — not back the way she came

Don't relocate her to a "better" spot — turtles have strong site fidelity and will try to return to their route

Carry small turtles by the sides of the shell, low to the ground

Snapping turtles: grip the rear of the shell above the hind legs, not the tail — the tail is part of the spine and pulling it causes injury

If traffic is heavy, turn on your hazards and help her across. It takes less than a minute

She'll cross the same stretch next year. Whether she makes it depends on who sees her first 🐢

05/11/2026

05/11/2026

Hmm.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B7x2UuyCW/

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