Did You Miss the Nature in my Backyard Tour? Second Chance!
Robin Schachat and Jane Ellison
Did you miss the Garden Walk in July? The Master Gardeners of Cuyahoga County have invited SLGC members to join them for the Garden Walk the day before their 2023 Fall Seminar “Flowers, Trees, Backyards and Bees”. The Keynote Speaker at the seminar will be Harvey Webster – formerly of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History – presenting “Save the World: Nature in My Backyard.” And guess what! Our own Ryn Clarke will be presenting a photography session as well.
The featured gardens on the tour include those of SLGC members Ann Cicarella and Robin Schachat. Ann’s is an intricately designed and classically interpreted residential garden complete with a stream, a pond, many terraces both formal and informal, and a central potting shed, which is used, from time to time, for native plant sales. Robin’s is a work in progress, with the front gardens slowly making the transition from formal beds to sweeps and clusters of native plants, relying heavily on the keystone plants necessary to our local pollinators. These gardens, which were viewed in July by over 100 current and future gardeners, demonstrate their owners’ commitment to biodiversity and to fostering habitats that nurture our songbirds and other wildlife.
Nature in my Backyard, the new collaboration between the Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland and the Shaker Lakes Garden Club, got off to a great start with the Garden Walk and we have since visited nine gardens to help homeowners identify non-native invasive plants and make suggestions for native plant replacements.
Nature in my Backyard provides a blueprint to help you get started with a garden that, in addition to pleasing you, preforms ecological services. Or, you may take advantage of the many resources that will help you continue your garden’s evolution in the same direction.
See our website for straightforward steps that anyone with a yard, a patio or a balcony can take. When you complete the steps, your hard work will be rewarded with a yard sign to recognize your accomplishment, and (we hope) will encourage your neighbors to join you in this effort. If you are not sure where to start or what to do, our program is unique in offering Volunteer Gardeners who will come to your yard, patio or balcony to help you realize your particular vision for a diverse and sustainable garden. Resource lists, including Ohio native plant lists, local native plant nurseries, books for research, apps, and videos are also available at the site.
Yes, we all can certainly do our part to:
“Save the World: Nature in My Backyard”!
Saturday, October 7, 2023, 8:15 AM - 3:30 PM
Parma - Snow Library, 2121 Snow Road, Parma 44134
Breakfast, Lunch and Raffle items!
Click here to register. Or see the Audubon website to register.
To register for the October 6 Nature in my Backyard tour, which includes both 5 east side and 5 west side gardens, please email natureinmybackyard@clevelandaudubon.org.
Join the Movement! Let’s put birds and butterflies back where they belong – in our gardens!