Adapted from Roll Back Your Turf  (originally published in Native Plant News by Native Plant Trust) by Jane Roy Brown and Alexis Doshas, offers a practical and inspiring guide for transforming traditional lawns into ecologically rich gardens with native plants. For generations, the classic American lawn has been a symbol of tidy, well-kept landscapes. But the cost of maintaining that green carpet—endless mowing, watering, fertilizing, and weed-killing—comes at a high price t

Protecting wildlife in Connecticut begins right here in our own community. With increasing development and habitat loss, local conservation efforts are more important than ever. The Southington Land Trust works to preserve open space, protect wildlife corridors, and maintain healthy habitats, but lasting change happens when residents get involved too. Here’s how you can help protect wildlife and support conservation in Southington and throughout Connecticut. Support Local Wil

Some ideas for helping create and improve habitat for native plants and animals. 1. Lawns. How much lawn do you really want or need? Lawns are the highest maintenance item in the backyard. Lawns require a lot of time, attention and money. They also are heavy consumers of water, a precious and limited resource. Perhaps you can downsize the lawn to a size you really use for play and picnics and make butterfly and bird friendly flower and shrub beds with part of the yard. Use n

Water has entered my conversations a lot lately. It comes up when I walk at the West Hartford Reservoir with my best friend and we discuss the news of the MDC sale of water to the Niagara bottling company, it comes up when I catch up on another friend’s daughters, one in California and one in Texas both battling serious droughts and wildfires, it comes up when chatting with neighbors about their yellowing lawns. Water may be the next resource we begin to lose, and we should s

Autumn leaves are everywhere. The question is what are you doing with your leaves? Are you dumping them on the open space or pond behind or alongside your property? Wrong. All leaves should be taken to the curb in front or along side of your home. We, as Southington residents, are very fortunate to have free leaf pickup, and the schedule will be printed in the local paper. If, for some reason, you do not make the deadline for leaf pickup in your neighborhood, leaves can b