Healthy Yards
Healthy Yards provides resources to educate and encourage residents and officials to adopt sustainable landscape practices that support and restore biodiversity, restore soil health, and maintain clean water. We are connected with multiple municipalities in our county to create pollinator pathways by restoring the biodiversity and health of the ecosystems in our yards and designated town spaces.
What we're doing
Engaging members of the community in more sustainable use of yards and residential greenspaces while also engaging elected officials to enact policy that promotes sustainable use of municipal green spaces. We will focus on the connectivity of our community’s ecological system.
Educating residents and lobbying for policy change to:
- drastically reduce pesticide use
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replacing parts of lawns while encouraging planting native species to support healthy pollinator pathways
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removal of invasive species of plants
Our Pollinator Pathway Program:
We invite you to join the Irondequoit Pollinator Pathway to beautify your yard while supporting our local pollinators. Pollinator Pathways provide corridors of critical healthy native habitat and food sources for butterflies, moths, bees, other pollinating insects, birds, and other wildlife. We have a goal of 2/3 native plants, but favorite non-natives can be included in your gardens on the Pollinator Pathway.
Click here for more direction on the Pollinator Pathway.
Click here to access the submission form with native plant list.
Where to buy native plants
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Amanda’s Native Garden Perennial Nursery specializes in propagating and growing native perennial wildflowers, native ferns, native grasses, and sedges.
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Call and ask about Public Market deliveries.
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8030 Story Road, Dansville, NY
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585-750-6288
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Once yearly sale, ordering begins in winter. Orders due 3/6 by 4 pm!!
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Native or naturalized trees, shrubs, flowers, edible plants (seedlings and seed mixes). Lots of great information as well!
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Orders are due by 3/6 at 4 pm. Pick up April 23-24 at the EcoPark, 10 Avion Dr.
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Overstock Sale will be on Saturday, April 25th, at 9- 11AM at the EcoPark.
The Seneca Park Zoo's Butterfly Beltway project offers a variety of seed mixes in prepackaged sizes that cater to a wide range of needs, from covering up to an acre of land to as small as a patio planter. Our goal is to feature as many native species as possible in our mixes, which attract and support a diverse range of native pollinators.
Order native plants online. Find NY native plants in broad strokes by selecting Native Perennials, Native Grasses and Sedges, Native Trees and Shrubs, Native Ferns, or Native Climbers.
Healthy Yards Resources
Identify natives, invasive plants, composting information, seasonal yard advice.
Identify Native Plants
Seasonal Yard Advice - Fall
Leaving your leaves will provide the nooks, crevices, and blankets that these species need to survive the coming months. Leaves left in garden beds and under trees contain nutrients that amend the soil and insulation to the plant roots as well. Rake excess leaves into a pile to decompose or add them to an existing compost bin.
Check out our parent group - Healthy Yards Monroe County. They describe steps every can take to have a healthy yard.
Invasive Plants
Please do not plant these in your yard, and consider removing if already planted.