A "messy" yard and a "clean" yard look different to a human. To wildlife, the difference is food and no food. Shelter and no shelter. Alive and empty. A manicured lawn with trimmed hedges, mulched beds, removed leaf litter, and sprayed borders provides almost no habitat for the species that control pests, pollinate plants, and feed birds. The "messy" features most homeowners remove are the ones most species depend on. 🌿 LEAF LITTER (removed in fall cleanup) — Shelters firefly larvae, moth pupae, overwintering beetles, salamanders, toads. Feeds the decomposer community that produces soil. Removal = the entire soil food web loses its substrate. DEAD BRANCHES (pruned for aesthetics) — Woodpeckers drum on them. Cavity nesters nest in them. Insects colonize the wood. One dead branch supports more life than a living one. BARE SOIL PATCHES (covered with mulch) — Seventy percent of native bees nest in bare ground. Mulch eliminates access. TALL GRASS AT EDGES (mowed to the fence) — Ground-nesting bees, firefly pupae, toad shelters, box turtle foraging habitat. Mowing removes all of it. SEED HEADS LEFT STANDING (deadheaded for looks) — Goldfinches, sparrows, and juncos eat the seeds through fall and winter. 🐾 The hybrid approach: - Neat in front. Wild in back. Mulch on paths. Leaves under shrubs. - The "messy" section can be small — a ten-by-ten-foot patch produces disproportionate habitat - Every feature removed reduces the species count. Every feature left supports multiple species. The yard that looks "finished" to a neighbor is often empty to the ecosystem. The yard that looks "neglected" is the one where everything is working. #WildlifeHabitat #NativePlanting #BackyardEcology #HabitatGardening

It began as a single apple tree in the park of the Meshchersky princes. Over time, its branches bent to the ground, took root and formed new trunks linked to the same roots. Local legend says the tree bows in mourning for the prince and his young wife. 🕯️ 📸 NativePlanting, Wiki

The #dormantseason, spanning from late fall through early spring, is a rest period for most plants in the northeastern US. Learn more about planting natives during the dormant season: bit.ly/4pYNDUW #ernstseeds #nativeseeds #nativeplants #dormant #nativeplanting

Delighted that #WatsonHomes are putting in 1 #SwiftBrick per home on the new #CreamsMill development in Little Lever, #Bolton. Bricks have started going in, also #Batbricks #HedgehogHighway #Nativeplanting #Canal restoration & aquatic margins will be included. Looking good 🤞🏼

Great morning spent with some members and staff. Weeding around the native shrubs that were planted in January to help them thrive. Thanks to all those who turned out to help #GreatBigGreenWeek #ecology #habitats #nativeplanting #greenergolf

The Swiss use native plantings around their roads and right of ways. Lower maintenance, carbon savings from avoiding mowing, and water savings too plus promotion of biological diversity. Here’s an example from Interlaken….👏👏 #nativeplanting #swiss #iowa #westdesmoines #DesignInspiration

The rain has put a stop to planting but I managed three trees and five Hebe. Nearly there. This planting is a council resource requirement and is about 50m x 3m of natives. #NativePlanting

Muwékma Ohlone Tribal Members planted native flora at Stanford's Muwékma Four Directions Garden. Health plants, grassland foods, berries, and crafting materials were carefully placed. muwekma.org/native-gardens.h… #MuwékmaNativeGarden #StanfordUniversityFarm #NativePlanting

Constellation Brands' staff helped to plant a further 800 natives along the Kaurimu Stream today. So good to see people keen to care for our environment. #NativePlanting #KaurimuStream #ConstellationBrands

🌿🌟 @FannieLouHS doing great work! Planting native species and engaging in water quality testing today. Keep up the amazing efforts! 👏🌱 #EnvironmentalStewardship #NativePlanting #WaterQualityTesting #CommunityEngagement @NYCSchools

These grow along the dunes. Good ground cover for our garden. The pink is very cheery! Delightful name, Pigface. Bushtucker - maybe dune tucker - if you like the salty flavour. #NativePlanting #WildlifeGardening #Natives

Our backyards balconies can help nurture ecosystems, including by supporting pollinators. Here's how why to consider #NativePlanting to help sustain bees, butterflies, & other critical insects: scenichudson.org/viewfinder/… #WorldBeeDay #HVViewfinder

Nom nom. A few more berries off our baby midyim bush. #Aboriginal #BushTucker Respects to the Gubbi Gubbi people for their Knowledge of local food plants. #gardening #NativePlanting #qld

A big thank you to the over 450 community volunteers who have helped us plant over 17,000 native plants across Wellington and Auckland streams since 2021. Your dedication to the environment inspires us! Let's keep up the good work together. #volunteers #nativeplanting

This year, we're thrilled to collaborate with NZ Golf, the Department of Conservation, and Te Ara Hikoi to plant more native trees in Canterbury. Let's protect our environment, one tree at a time. #environmentalconservation #nativeplanting #partnership

We're excited to partner with Botanica By Air Wick for a 3-year project to enhance urban streams and waterways through native tree planting. Let's continue to protect and preserve our environment. #environmentalconservation #nativeplanting wwf.org.nz/news/project-rebl…

More local native plants going in the garden. Hibbertia vestita / hairy guinea flower. #NativePlanting #WildlifeGardening #Rewilding

FEATURE SPOTLIGHT! 💡 How does your Garden Grow? A Canadian Geographic article, written by Michela Rosano @CanGeo #wildways #naturalizedgarden #nativeplanting #nomowway #biodiversity #pollinators @nmlister

Midyim berries from my garden. Local wild plant and bush tucker. They tase a little bit perfumy to me, a bit like parma violet. #homegrown #food #NativePlanting #bushtucker

I'm looking forward to eating these berries. I'm growing a local native plant called Midyim, Austromyrtus dulcis. Beautiful. Raw, they taste a bit of parma violet! I bet there are some good antioxidants in here! #NativePlanting #Bushtucker #WildFood #Biodiversity #HomeGrown