Learning Resources

Doug Tallamy's book, "Nature's Best Hope," and his ongoing work were the inspiration for creating this tour. Tallamy urges us to consider our role in sustaining biodiversity and to act accordingly:

"Everyone who owns land has a golden opportunity to enhance, rather than degrade, local ecosystems by including ecological function as a criterion when we choose landscape plants. And everyone who does not own land can become a player in the future of conservation by volunteering for a local park or land conservancy. 

The four ecological functions that all landscapes need to perform are: 1) support a diverse and complex food web; 2) manage local watersheds; 3) move carbon from the atmosphere to the soil; and, 4) provide food and housing for as many species of native bees as possible."

-excerpted from Doug Tallamy's recent essay, Gardening For Life. 

If you haven't heard of Dr. Tallamy or read his books, this lecture he gave to Google is a great place to start. More favorite resources for learning the why and how of supporting biodiversity in our residential yards are listed below. Have a favorite resource that's not listed here? Let us know! 

Organizations

Our Partners:

• ClearWater Conservancy - conserving and restoring natural resources through land conservation, water resources stewardship, and environmental outreach across central PA. Be sure to check out the native plant garden at their North Atherton office!

• PA Native Plant Society - educational resources, plant lists, and a not-to-be-missed annual native plant sale

• Sustainable Centre Region - a collaborative body working with municipal governments to develop strategic direction, build partnerships, and establish region-wide programs that inspire the community to embrace sustainable practices. 

• Pennsylvania Master Naturalist Program (PMN) - this tour is being organized as a service project for the PMN, a statewide partnership initiative that aims to connect people with their local ecosystems through intensive natural science training and local conservation service work.

Other Local Organizations:

• The Arboretum at Penn State 

• Center for Pollinator Research

National Organizations

• Wild Ones - "promotes environmentally friendly, sound landscaping to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration, and establishment of native plant communities"

• Homegrown National Park - started by Doug Tallamy as "a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks" 

• Ecological Landscape Alliance - geared toward professionals, but plenty of resources for home gardeners

Other Websites, Articles, Fact Sheets

PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources:

• Landscaping with Native Plants home page - see the list of links on the right side of this page for several additional resources, including: Native Garden Templates based on site conditions and PA Native Plant lists by site conditions (PDF).

• On "leaving the leaves"  -  Rake Less 

Soft Landings - how and why to create "soft landings" under keystone plants in order to "provide critical shelter and habitat for one or more life cycle stages of moths, butterflies, and beneficial insects." This is part of a broader website by author and biologist Heather Holm, who provides several resources on supporting pollinators, including region-specific planting lists. 

Audubon Society - Plants for Birds and How to Make Your Yard Bird Friendly

Rebecca McMackin/Ecological Horticulture - Her occasional newsletter is a fantastic resource! View past newsletters here. Rebecca also has delivered several excellent online lectures recently, including this one on pollination ecology. 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Mulching Guide (PDF)

Monarch Nectar Plants for the Mid-Atlantic (PDF by the National Wildlife Federation) 

Webinars, Videos, and Podcasts

Grow Native Massachusetts Expert Video Series - a fantastic lineup of recorded lectures on a wide variety of topics related to ecological landscaping. Be sure to check out their other great resources while you're there. 

Ohio State University "Tending Nature" Speaker Series and Bumblebee Short Course for Community Scientists

Cultivating Place - Although produced in California, this podcast covers a lot of topics in the spirit of ecological landscaping. 

Books

Coming soon.