Pinelands Nursery, a wholesale native plant nursery located in Burlington County, has started a new podcast, Native Plants, Healthy Planet. The podcast’s hosts, Tom Knezick and Fran Chismar, are aiming to educate listeners about the benefits of native plants and connect “native plant enthusiasts with non-profit organizations specializing in pollinator habitat, restoration, clean water, and native plants.”
During Episode 5, “Meet Jersey-Friendly Yards,” Tom and Fran interview Karen Walzer (BBP’s Public Outreach Coordinator) and Becky Laboy (Ocean County Soil Conservation District’s Education Specialist) about landscaping for a healthy environment in New Jersey using the resources and tools on the Jersey-Friendly Yards website.
Jersey-Friendly Yards is a Barnegat Bay Partnership website created through a grant from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Designed for use by all New Jersey property owners, the site is a one-stop source of information about environmentally-friendly landscaping practices that anyone can follow at home. It features two great tools: a searchable Plant Database for finding “the right plants for the right place” in your yard and an Interactive Yard to practice the 8 steps to a Jersey-Friendly Yard.
Native plants are a key component of a Jersey-Friendly Yard. They offer a long list of benefits from conserving water and eliminating the use of fertilizers and pesticides to providing critical habitat for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. For a list of nurseries selling native plants in our region, including online nurseries that will ship plants to you, visit the Where to Buy Native Plants page on the website.
For more information about Jersey-Friendly Yards, contact Karen Walzer at kwalzer@ocean.edu or Becky Laboy at education@soildistrict.org.
