Resources for promoting Habitat Gardens/ Sustainable Landscapes

Online

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve
Located in New Hope, PA, the Preserve works to inspire the appreciation and use of native plants by serving as a sanctuary and an educational resource for conservation and stewardship.
Jersey Friendly Yards
Provides a variety of resources to help home and property owners learn about environmentally sound landscaping techniques.
National Wildlife Federation
Certification programs – back yard, community, schools, houses of worship, on campus…
- NWF How to Get Community Certified
- NWF Community Habitat Certification Application Form
- NWF Community Habitat Certification Requirements
- Montclair Community Wildlife Habitat in NJ
  Montclair is the first certified Community Wildlife Habitat Project in NJ.
- Create a Community Certificate
Native Plant Finder
A project in Beta by Dr. Doug Tallamy, in cooperation with the National Wildlife Federation. This site will help you find the best native plants for your region to help you support wildlife in your garden. Use it to identify by your zip code, the plants which host the greatest number of caterpillars and thus most help birds and butterflies thrive in your garden and make better purchasing decisions.
Native Plant Society of NJ
A statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation, protection, and study of the native flora of New Jersey. Check out their Native Plant Lists of NJ.
Pat Sutton’s Wildlife Garden
Educator, wildlife gardener Pat Sutton’s garden and website are a great NJ resource.
Re:Yard
A sustainable Yard Certification Program by the Millburn, Maplewood and South Orange Green Team. Their focus is on the following areas: Site and Soil, Water Use and Water Quality, Energy and Air, Plants and Animals, Materials and Resources, and Beyond the Yard. Their focus is not so much on wildlife, but on sustainable practices.
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet FS1140 : Incorporating Native Plants in Your Residential Landscape
Most of us don’t come to the point of appreciating the value of native plants in our yards with a blank landscape. This Fact Sheet also offers tips for transitioning your existing yard into a native planting reflective of our ecoregion.
Rutgers Master Gardeners of Mercer County
A group of volunteers who provide horticultural information and programs to the community. They are trained by the faculty and staff of Rutgers University and its New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, NJAES and by horticultural experts.
West Trenton Garden Club
Our local garden club, established in 1953 to share the love of gardening, the principles of flower design and encouraging civic improvement with its members and the community.
Yardmap
By the Habitat Network, a joint project by the Nature Conservancy and The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Articles of Interest

Check out Pat Sutton’s website for lots of articles of interest – http://www.patsuttonwildlifegarden.com/welcome-to-our-new-website/
New Smithsonian Study Links Declines in Suburban Backyard Birds to Presence of Nonnative Plants Findings Give Landowners a Simple Road Map to Provide Essential Habitat for Breeding Birds
Nonnative Plants: Ecological Traps?
Redefining Curb Appeal by Tom Oder
The Natural Web a blog by naturalist and local educator, Mary Anne Borge from Lambertville Goes Wild.
Weedy to Wonderful: Creating a wildlife-friendly garden that even the neatnik neighbors can love by Janet Marinelli in Gardening, March 27, 2018

Great Reads

listed by author

Adams, George. Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2013.
Burrell, C. Colston. Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants. Brooklyn: Brooklyn Botanical Garden, 2006.
Hemenway, Toby. Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2000.
Not focused primarily on wildlife, but an excellent introduction to ecology and sustainable food gardening (including chapters on soil life and helpful animals).
Collins, Beryl Robichaud, and Karl H. Anderson, Plant Communities of New Jersey: A Study in Landscape Diversity. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1994.
An analysis of different types of natural plant communities in New Jersey (with plant lists and basic ecological information).
Kingsbury, Noël. Natural Gardening in Small Spaces. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2003.
Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible.
Leopold, Donald J. Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening & Conservation. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2005.
Detailed descriptions of hundreds of native ferns, grasses, wildflowers, vines, shrubs, and trees.
Rainier, Thomas and West, Claudia. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2015.
Stein, Sara. Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
The meditative memoir of a woman who put her back yard back in harmony with nature. See our book review
Summers, Carolyn. Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2010. Reasons to garden with native plants and how to incorporate them into popular garden designs. See our book review.
Tallamy, Douglas W. Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Updated and Expanded edition. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2015.
Tallamy, Douglas W. and Darke, Rick. The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2014.
Weaner, Larry, and Thomas Christopher. Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 2016.