Planning Yard Projects for Next Year? Begin With a YardMap

Reader Contribution by Yardmap Network
article image

For passionate gardeners and farmers, there’s an immense joy that comes from browsing through garden catalogues on the dark, cold days of winter. Cuddled up with your favorite steaming, delicious beverage, hours can pass as you peruse and dream about your next backyard adventure. Perhaps this year you are going to try a permaculture mound full of your favorite vegetables or you’ll create a native wildflower pollinator patch or, perhaps, design a bird sanctuary outside your favorite window? Wherever your imagination takes you, it is always advisable to begin with a map, a YardMap!

The YardMap Network is a citizen science project designed to cultivate a richer understanding of bird habitat, for both people concerned with their local environments and professional scientists. The program is housed at the Lab of Ornithology, in Ithaca, New York. We collect data by asking individuals across the country to literally draw maps of their backyards, parks, farms, favorite birding locations, schools, and gardens. We connect you with your landscape details and provide tools for you to make better decisions about how to manage landscapes sustainably.

In the United States, there are over 40 million acres of non-native lawns[1], about the size of Wisconsin. Some lawns serve practical purposes, such as space for kids to burn-off extra energy in a neighborhood game of soccer, but many acres of lawn exist out of horticultural habit, a default American garden landscape of sorts. With over 75% of endangered or threatened species occurring on private lands[2], the individual homeowner has the capacity to make a big difference in encouraging dynamic, native landscaping in place of non-functional lawn. So, keep a little lawn, the stuff you use, while letting us help you transform the rest of your property into a wildlife haven. 

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368