Key Takeaways and Resources from Doug's Interview:

• There are 44 million acres of lawn in the United States and we need to shift away from that to improve biodiversity and ecosystem health

• Native plants provide the following services (for free!):

  • Act as carbon sinks

  • Support local pollinators

  • Support local food webs

  • Support the health of the local watershed

• Here is a link to the Ecoregions that Doug mentioned---remember to use these to figure out what types of plants you should be adding to your yard

• Put yourself on Doug's Homegrown National Park Map by planting one or more native plants in your yard---you can make a difference!

Key Takeaways and Resources from Kevin's Interview:

• "Moderation and observation"---do not do too much of any one thing in your yard and make observations to see what is attracted to the spaces you do and do not modify

• Do your research---reflect on your goals and determine what will fit those goals with the space you have

• Practice restraint---if you can let your lawn go unmown, leave your perennials untrimmed, and leave your leaves, then you can create some awesome habitat for bees 

• Avoid using mulch---ground nesting bees do not like it and they are important native pollinators

• Check out the link for Kevin's Bee Quest to learn more about native bees!