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Newsletter Posts

Filtering by Category: Ecosystem

Alternatives to a Privet Hedge

Robin Schachat

Let’s begin by assuming that you have not planted a solitary specimen of privet in your garden.  If you have, the solution is simple.  Make one strong cut across the stem or stems just above soil level, and follow by digging out the remaining roots.  If you need a lovely specimen to fill in its place, the world is full of beautiful native shrunbs;  pick one you love, and plant it in the privet’s place.

This method also works well for privet plants that have popped up in your garden without being intentionally planted.  Just Remove Them.

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Non-native, Invasive Honeysuckles:  ‘Tis the Season!

Robin Schachat

Early in the spring it is a great pleasure to go for a walk and see the lovely fresh green of early emerging foliage on trees and shrubs – “spring green” is a happy phrase almost whenever you hear it, signaling renewal, regrowth, the onset of longer and sunnier days.  Unfortunately, locally one of the earliest of these pretty sights is the soft green leaf of a bush honeysuckle.

Honeysuckles are members of the genus Lonicera.  None of the bush species of Lonicera is native to Ohio. 

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A Favorite Thing: Witch Hazels

Robin Schachat

It’s that time of the year, dear friends – the time when flowers are everywhere…in catalogues. But we can still plan for floral pleasure in the darkest days of the year. Martha Marsh sent me an email on Christmas; honeybees are mobbing her Helleborus niger, the Christmas rose. In my garden, being hit by ice pellets as I write, three of my Hamamelis are in full and fragrant bloom.

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Let’s Keep Moving Forward!

Robin Schachat and Jane Ellison

With this article, your Nature in my Backyard program begins a series of articles on the worst invasive non-native plants that are common in our northeast Ohio residential gardens, and appropriate native plants with which they should be replaced. Our inaugural article celebrates a recent triumph against one of the worst invaders, the Callery Pear, which crowds native trees out of our local forests.

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It's Lightning Bugs Time Again!!

Jane Ellison

A lone female flashing on the ground is saying: "Hey fellas!".  Hopefully you left some areas in your garden with leaves over the winter and it won't be long until the whole yard is full of fireflies at dusk.

But wait…..it might not happen even if you did "leave your leaves." If you or your neighbors have outdoor lights on at night it can harm lightning bugs, pollinators, and many other insects. Half of all insect species are nocturnal. They need darkness, except for moon and star light to orient as they search for food and a mate.

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