In the thick of Minnesota midwinter, dealing with snow is a way of life. Clearing snow and ice from roads and sidewalks helps us get around safely. Many of us rely on road salts and deicers to make the job easier, but these chloride-based products have harmful impacts on the environment, including the native plantings… Read More →
Cooler mornings, yellow-tinged leaves—the first signs of fall are in the air. As summer’s blooms begin to wane and the warm hues of goldenrods and grasses take their place, it may be tempting to pull out those blankets from the closet and make a cozy beverage. But late summer and early autumn can be one… Read More →
Maple trees can be wonderful denizens of the urban landscape, growing quickly to provide shade in the summer and glorious colors in the fall. But many home gardeners are challenged by what to plant underneath their maple tree. Horticulturist and native plant enthusiast David Pierson, of Pierson Garden and Landscape, provides some ideas below. Planting… Read More →
Environmental educator Nick Voss ponders snags and life. (Photo: Nick Voss) As winter becomes a not-so-distant memory, gardeners, greenhouses, and landscapers are thrilled to return to a celebration of life. But before we join the chorus, there’s the in-between gloomy zone of spring. Some may wait and suffer through it, but I invite you to… Read More →
Insects are among nature’s more industrious workers, ensuring generations of bountiful and useful plants. We can help them do their work by creating a more pollinator-friendly yard. And when we do so, trees and shrubs have a strong role to play. There are already many other benefits of trees. They serve as a carbon sink,… Read More →
The following essay is by environmental educator Nick Voss, Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization. Photo by Nick Voss. The American Goldfinch is a common neighborhood bird, familiar to many as a cheery visitor who’s happy to munch on an offering of birdseed. When paying a visit, they often… Read More →
For Dana Boyle, a Twin Cities metro resident, a Lawns to Legumes grant was part of a yard transformation which had been percolating over several years, and which she writes about below. We visited Dana and asked her some questions about her project. In the following video links, she talks about how she converted her… Read More →
The following essay is a personal reflection by environmental educator Nick Voss. Voss is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization Photo of Fort Snelling State Park. This is a story of a day camp at Fort Snelling State Park, but it’s also a story of the cosmos, and of… Read More →
In 2020 many Minnesotans enthusiastically rose to the challenge of protecting pollinators in their yards through Lawns to Legumes, a state Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) program to empower people towards a more sustainable and pollinator-friendly Minnesota. Blue Thumb was selected to help put the program into action. A major goal of L2L… Read More →
A Lawns to Legume Story Another participant project from Lawns to Legumes, a Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources program supporting residents to create pollinator habitat in their yards through cost-share grants and other resources. I had the good fortune to move next door to a landscape architect. Though retired, she was willing to… Read More →
