If I could give you one word of advice to guide your yard care activities during the month of April, it would be “wait.”
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All articles filed in Yards and Landscaping
Rebuilding lost habitat connections, one yard at a time
More than 47,000 people have joined the “Homegrown National Park” in its first five years and these regular everyday Americans have collectively restored 170,000 acres of native habitat.
Here in Washington County, Minnesota, we’ve observed similar enthusiasm over the past twenty years as native landscaping has grown in popularity.
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These are a few of my favorite things
If spring naturally has you dreaming of flowers and gardens, I’d like to encourage you to enhance your vision a bit this year to include native flowers, shrubs, and trees that can help to provide habitat for birds and wildlife and protect our water resources. March is the perfect time to begin planning, and there are numerous resources available to help you get started.
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Live, love, laser loon
How a billboard helped to transform weeds into prairie
Round leaf bittersweet is an invasive woody vine, native to China, Korea, and Japan, that was introduced to North America in the mid-1860s as an ornamental shrub. The vines girdle and smother trees and out-compete our indigenous American bittersweet, making it a formidable foe in our Minnesota woodlands. In an attempt to eradicate bittersweet from their soon-to-be prairie, Wendy and Mark tried killing it off with a low-heat fire, digging up the roots, and smothering it with a large blue tarp. All efforts proved unsuccessful until now.
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Fall yard & garden – no it’s not too late to plant!
In the coming weeks, there are several steps you can take to prep your yard and gardens for winter and continue to support pollinators, birds and other wildlife. But, you might be surprised to learn that fall is also a really great time to plant a native garden!
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Meet our 2025 Natural Shoreline Award winners!
We are excited to announce the winners of our inaugural Natural Shoreline Awards, sponsored by the East Metro Water Resource Education Program and Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership. These awards recognize Minnesotans who are protecting lake, stream, and wetland habitat in Chisago, Isanti, Ramsey and Washington Counties.
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Submit a nomination for 2025 Natural Shoreline Awards
The Natural Shoreline Award Program recognizes beautiful lakeshore, riverfront and streamside properties that incorporate native flowers, shrubs, trees and plants. Award-winning properties can be located in Chisago, Isanti, Ramsey or Washington Counties.
2025 Program Timeline:
– July 1 – August 7: Call for nominations
– August 7 – 31: Program judges will tour and evaluate shorelines
– September 9: Award recipients are announced
Learn more and submit your nominations.
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Score your shore: A tool to measure the health of your lakeshore property
Maintaining and restoring lakeshore habitat isn’t just good for wildlife, it also helps to protect valuable real estate from literally washing away.
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Do turf lawns protect us from ticks or make the problem worse?
Many homeowners assume that a tidy lawn with short grass is the best defense again ticks. On a large scale, however, suburban lawns may actually be making our tick problem worse.
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East Metro Water 