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Plankton: The Oceans’ Wanderers
Check your yard for places where water pools during rainstorms or runs quickly into the street. Plan a rain garden that captures this water. Rain gardens can be located near downspouts or other locations to catch runoff from roofs and yards or along driveways. Plant your rain garden with native plants such as lady fern, cardinal flower, great blue lobelia, and sneezeweed. When established, your rain garden will require minimal attention and provide maximum beauty and benefits.
What you Can do
To encourage Bay-Friendly Landscaping
• Use organic and biodegradable products, if possible. See the Resources chapter for more information on nontoxic pest control alternatives.
• Encourage natural predators like lacewings, ladybugs, praying mantises, and spiders that eat pests.
• Prune and remove pest-infested areas.
• Spray water to physically remove some pests from plants.
• Set out pans of beer or brewer’s yeast to attract slugs and snails.
• Buy plants that are pest- and drought-resistant and free of pests and diseases.
• Choose suitable plants. Include native and non-native plants that have been adapted to our local climate and soil. LBI is in Zone 7.
• Remove invasive plants.These grow rapidly and squeeze out others.
• Follow the plants’ sun and shade requirements and needed growing conditions.This helps them resist pests and diseases.
• Plant gardens with a variety of plant types, making them less susceptible to insect damage .
• Encourage insect-eating birds by providing birdhouses and birdbaths.
• Spread the word about Bay-Friendly landscaping.
