COMMUNITY
WILDLIFE HABITAT™
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With a neighborhood full of certified gardens our goal is to create and connect native habitat corridors for wildlife to thrive!
College Park Climate Action Neighborhood
College Park Climate Action Neighborhood
is working to become certified with
is working to become certified with
National Wildlife Federation's
Community Wildlife Habitat™ Program
Hoary Skullcap
Cardinal Flower
Square Foot Native Gardens - with help each step of the way!
Square Foot Native Gardens - with help each step of the way!
If slow and steady, baby steps and brick by brick is your MO then we have the plan for you! Consider Square Foot Native Plant Gardening. Sandy Cooper has the following suggestions for creating a little piece of habitat in small, easy steps, plus free plants to get you started.
1. Consider a 2 x3’ space in your yard that could work as a native garden.
Tips to create a space:
Remove a patch of invasive English Ivy
Pull out non-native Day Lilies or Vinca
Consider removing a grassy patch that you won’t have to mow
2. Prepare the area prior to fall planting:
Cover with carboard to block weeds
Amend soil with compost or leaves as needed
3. After planting care:
Water thoroughly a few times a week if there is not sufficient rain, but once your plant has set roots and shows some growth, it will only need water in an extended hot, dry spell.
Consider “leaving the leaves” on this spot to provide organic matter and protection for your plant.
CONTACT Sandy Cooper at godownswinging710@gmail.com for help creating your square foot native garden, and to pre-order free plants that she is nuturing now for fall planting!
PLANTS AVAILABLE:
Plugs: Cardinal Flower, Golden Alexander, Hoary Skullcap, Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Plants:Wingstem, Golden Alexander, Purple Coneflower, Scarlet Beebalm, Lanceleaf Coreopsis
DID YOU MISS OUR "HOW TO HABITAT" WORKSHOP?
DID YOU MISS OUR "HOW TO HABITAT" WORKSHOP?
Not to worry - our dedicated Habitat Team is happy to help assess your yard and get you started on the path to a CERTIFIED WILDLIFE HABITAT!
Email us at CollegeParkCAN@gmail.com
Our Habitat Team - Sandy Cooper, Doug Snavely and Caroline Herr
Photos from our How To Habitat Class -
May 3, 2025
Community Wildlife Habitats™
Community Wildlife Habitats™
The National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat™ program partners with cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds to become healthier, sustainable, and more wildlife friendly. Communities in this program earn community wide certification by certifying individual properties as Certified Wildlife Habitats® and by educating and engaging with residents throughout the process. Through the program, hundreds of communities are enhancing and restoring wildlife habitat in urban and suburban areas across the country, while also connecting to existing work around climate resiliency, community resiliency, urban forestry, water conservation, and beautification.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat™ program partners with cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods, and communities of all kinds to become healthier, sustainable, and more wildlife friendly. Communities in this program earn community wide certification by certifying individual properties as Certified Wildlife Habitats® and by educating and engaging with residents throughout the process. Through the program, hundreds of communities are enhancing and restoring wildlife habitat in urban and suburban areas across the country, while also connecting to existing work around climate resiliency, community resiliency, urban forestry, water conservation, and beautification.
Why We Think Habitat is Important in our Neighborhood!
Why We Think Habitat is Important in our Neighborhood!
“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”
“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”
“Biodiversity losses are a clear sign that our own life-support systems are failing. The ecosystems that determine the earth’s ability to support us are run by the plants and animals around us. It is plants that generate oxygen and clean water...and that buffer extreme weather events like droughts and floods. It is insect decomposers that drive the nutrient cycles on earth, allowing each new generation of plants and animals to exist. It is pollinators that are essential to the continued existence of 80 % of all plants and 90% of all flowering plants, and it is birds and mammals that disperse the seeds of those plants…” Doug Tallamy
“Biodiversity losses are a clear sign that our own life-support systems are failing. The ecosystems that determine the earth’s ability to support us are run by the plants and animals around us. It is plants that generate oxygen and clean water...and that buffer extreme weather events like droughts and floods. It is insect decomposers that drive the nutrient cycles on earth, allowing each new generation of plants and animals to exist. It is pollinators that are essential to the continued existence of 80 % of all plants and 90% of all flowering plants, and it is birds and mammals that disperse the seeds of those plants…” Doug Tallamy
What it all boils down to is this: the act of planting something for a purpose is the definition of gardening, so when you plant natives to support wildlife, you are part of the Garden for Wildlife® movement!
What it all boils down to is this: the act of planting something for a purpose is the definition of gardening, so when you plant natives to support wildlife, you are part of the Garden for Wildlife® movement!
When you create a space that provides four essential habitat elements – food, water, cover, and places to raise young – and practice sustainable gardening, the National Wildlife Federation will recognize it as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®.
Read more about each of these habitat essentials and use this checklist or assessment quiz to see if you’re ready to certify your habitat.
To learn more about how to create a biodiverse habitat in your yard visit our resources page here: Gardening for Wildlife & Pollinators
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