Filed under: Events, MillionTrees NYC, Nature, Queens, Tree care, Turf grass care | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, gardening, grass, MillionTreesNYC, native plants, New York, public, public garden, Queens, trees
Project Leaf Drop in association with the Western Queens Compost Initiative welcomes the community to bring their bagged leaves without branches, trash, or wet yard waste, to participating sites on specific dates in October and November.
Project LeafDrop (nycleaves.org) is a coalition of community and botanical gardens, environmental groups, City agencies and community partners dedicated to directing fallen leaves from the trash bin to the compost bin, giving New Yorkers the chance to recycle residential leaves into compost and keep them out of our waste stream. Bagged leaves left curbside are sent to the landfill along with everyday garbage. Making a difference starts with you!
For More information including dropoff sites and dates visit http://nycleaves.org/
Filed under: Events, gardening, Nature, Queens, Tree care, volunteer | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, compost, composting, environment, family activities, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, grass, herb gardening, New York, NYC Civic Corps, plants, public, public garden, trees, turf grass, vegetables, volunteer
It’s never too early to start planning — and fundraising — for your spring projects. If you have a local environmental project that needs financial or volunteer support, apply to post your project on ioby today. ioby stands for ‘in our backyards’ and connects people to environmental projects in their own neighborhoods so they can support them with donations or volunteer time. Anyone can post a project that meets our criteria. Got questions about how it works? Call 917-464-4515 or email info@ioby.org to talk to Erin or Brandon about your idea for neighborhood change.
Read some success stories to find out how ioby’s community can support work just like yours. Or join us at our benefit event on November 11th to meet 2010 Heroes In Our Backyards.
Filed under: gardening, Turf grass care | Tags: botanical, botanical garden, botanical gardens, environment, gardening, gardening tips, grass, public garden, public gardens, sustainability, turf grass
Take a good look at your lawn. Most likely, after a summer of heavy use, the soil is compacted, weeds have crept in, and turf is uneven. Looks like you’re in the market for a lawn overhaul!
But no need to be nervous — John Aronica of Organically Green shares his simple steps to get your lawn in tip-top shape for next summer’s picnics and barbeques:
1. De-thatch: An accumulation of dead or decaying plant matter nested between the roots and living tissue of lawn, thatch is usually a serious problem only when it becomes thick – about ¾” or more. Though our area lawns don’t have excessive thatch accumulation, its removal is an important first step in lawn renovation.
2. Core aeration (or hollow tine aeration): By removing small plugs of soil and lawn, compacted soils are exposed to water and oxygen, allowing for deeper root growth. Aeration in fall is preferable over other seasons — autumn temperatures are less stressful to turf than summer, and lawns benefit from winter’s freeze/thaw process by breaking up compacted soil. Spring aeration should be avoided as it aids weed seed germination. To prevent re-compaction, Organically Green removes the plugs.
3. Top dress: Evenly spread a ¼” layer of compost over the area. Compost inoculated with beneficial fungi and bacteria works best.
4. Over-seed: Select seeds that are suited to the site’s conditions, and evenly distribute over the compost top dressing.
5. Irrigate: So that seeds don’t dry out, evenly water the renovated area 15-20 minutes, three times a day until germination – be sure not to over-water as seeds rot in sopping wet landscapes.
The Queens Botanical Garden is proud to feature our partners’ products and services. However, QBG does not offer product and service guarantees as results in other landscapes may vary.
