Are you ready for spring? If you have a yard, now’s a good time to think about tending to it, and maybe improving it. I sure do love my yard, with its trees, flowers, birds, and I’m also reluctantly grateful for the squirrels and bugs.
Chard Your Yard is a program that provides 3′ x 5′ x 12″ installed garden beds for residents of Seward, Longfellow and some nearby neighborhoods. These are provided at-cost to residents; construction and delivery are provided by volunteers. Some need-based financial assistance is also available. You could grow flowers or vegetables. It’s a great activity for kids, and people with disabilities can request higher garden beds. Check out the Chard Your Yard website, and sign up for a fun summer activity. There will be a bit less lawn to mow, and maybe some tasty treats!
When summer arrives, keep an eye out for the Seward Garden Tour. It’s a fun social event that highlights the beautiful and imaginative things people do with their yards. You could volunteer to host a tour stop in your yard, or sign up to visit other people’s gardens. It’s an opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new people. I don’t think the date has been set for 2025 (as of Feb 12) but it will be on the calendar at sng.org.
Bird populations have declined a lot all over the world, including North America. Avian flu is one culprit and that could get worse. However, habitat loss has been a major challenge for years now. If you want to help support bird populations, there are lots of steps you can take to make your yard a better ecosystem. One school of thought says you should not have a bird feeder, as that induces birds to cluster together and so transmit the flu.
If you want to provide food for birds in a more natural way, you should nurture plants that support a rich ecosystem. Among other things, it turns out we should support bugs. They can be a nuisance, but bird parents like to feed bugs to their young, because of the fats and proteins they contain. Some plants provide more support for a variety of bugs and birds than others, especially native plants and trees. However with climate change and the reality of all the many introduced species, it’s a balancing act. Read Nature’s Best Hope or see the Homegrown National Park website to learn more. To support pollinators (good bugs), see the DNR’s page on Minnesota Pollinator Resources
Americans who are fortunate enough to have a yard get a lot of joy from them, and take pride in their appearance. For many people, a large expanse of uniform green grass is the goal, but that kind of yard can be a desert from an ecological perspective. If you want the general appearance of a lawn, you could plant a bee lawn, or just plant some clover. Start with the University of Minnesota’s Bee Lawn web page. A few people in Seward joined the Lawns 2 Legumes program, which offers a combination of workshops, coaching, planting guides and cost-share funding for installing pollinator-friendly native plantings in residential lawns.
At a minimum, you could reduce the amount of water and pesticide you put on your lawn.
Trees make any yard more beautiful, they provide habitat for birds, and their shade makes a summer more enjoyable. If there’s a drought, please water your boulevard trees along with the trees in your yard. The Park Board puts a lot of time and money into watering trees, but they can’t get to all the 1,000’s of trees. If you want a new tree, consider the Tree Trust.
If you don’t have a yard, enjoy our parks! Minneapolis is fortunate to have so many wonderful parks, with lawns, flowers, woods, and lots of trails. And bugs and squirrels.
