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Your Virginia bluebells may be ringing in spring, but that isn't an invitation to start disturbing the garden just yet. The soil is still too cold to accommodate new plants. Overwintering bees in the ground haven't begun to emerge. Be patient, you should be able to begin gardening around mid-April. The rule of thumb is 5 straight days of 50 degree temperature in the evenings. When you do begin gardening in earnest, use a rake and avoid using leaf blowers. Leaf blowers in the garden harm insects that are still in the ground and strip the top nutrient-rich layer of soil away. Gently rake the mulch and leaves aside and move the piles back around your plants after you have planted.
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CONNECT PROPERTIES
Protect Pollinators
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Habitat fragmentation from roads and hard surfaces or natural disasters contributes to species extinction. A tiny sweat bee, a pollinator of wild flowers, sunflowers and apples, can only travel 500 feet for food. If we garden for pollinators we will reconnect a healthy, native landscape that preserves wildlife.
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Saturday, April 22, 10am - 12noon. Earth Day Clean-up at Kosciuszko Park and a guided tour of plants, trees, birds and butterflies led by Stefan Martin of CT Audubon.
Pollinator Pathway Stamford spring/summer workdays at Kosciuszko Park will take place on Saturdays May 20, June 10, July 8, August 12, September 9 and October 14, from 10am-12noon. Learn about native plants and how to care for them. No gardening knowledge required. We really appreciate volunteers who help us restore the wonderful native gardens in the park.
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NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES
These aren't raspberries
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Wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius) is in the same genus as raspberry and blackberry, and is edible, but is non-native. It grows into an inpenetrable thicket that displaces valuable habitats for native wildlife. To identify wineberry, look for red stems covered in dense red hairs. Native raspberries do not have red, fuzzy stems. Wineberry doesn't need pollen from another flower to seed, therefore reproduces more easily than natives.
Before you remove wineberry, have a plan for what you want to plant in its place. Without replacing it, you risk the return of the same invasive. The root system is relatively easy to remove with a spading fork. Plants pulled early in the season are much smaller and easier to manage. Native alternatives to plant: raspberries (Rubus idaeus), or other native plants that like sun and rich, well-drained soil.
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Stamford's Tree Resolution Update
The Stamford Joint Board of Representatives and Board of Finance FY 2023-24 budget review and public hearing will take place on April 4 at 7pm. Time allotted to each member of the public is 3 minutes. Zoom link found here.
We urge anyone interested in supporting Tree Resolution 4159 to submit your comments or sign up to speak. If you prefer, you can request that your comments be read at the hearing.
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Importance of Urban Forests Talk
Presented by Pollinator Pathway Stamford
On March 7 high school students from Westhill, Stamford, AITE and JM Wright attended a talk on the Importance of Urban Forests given by Pollinator Pathway Stamford's co-chair Melanie Hollas, with invited guest speaker, Ron Markey, the city's tree warden.
Held at the Mill River Park Whittingham Discovery Center, the talk covered the valuable role trees play in capturing carbon dioxide, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, cooling our surroundings and preventing flooding from storms through strong root systems.
Last year the City of Stamford and Stamford Downtown conducted a tree survey geo locating existing trees and documenting the species, size, condition, stumps and dead trees. The results showed 680 tree sites with 617 trees in this urban forest rated as young (having a diameter of 0-8") with an overall fair condition. The next step? Plant more trees!
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Help Plant a Tree
Many students attending the talk, concerned about the impact climate change will have in their lifetime, were eager to participate in future hands-on tree projects in the city. Are you interested in learning how to plant a tree, volunteer or adopt a tree? Do you want to become involved in our Tree Group? We coordinate with the City and Stamford Downtown. The next tree planting will take place the second half of April. Email us and we'll keep you posted. PollinatorPathwayStamford@gmail.com |
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BEE CONNECTED
Join Pollinator Pathway Stamford and add your property to the map.
Take the pledge to help bees and other pollinators.
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