Another easy way to spread the word – please post notices on your community
bulletin boards. We have created teeny signs in English and Spanish. Please print and cut them out, then post them on bulletin boards at your library, coffee shop, ice cream stores, grocery store, laundromats, waiting rooms, rec center, etc.
Looking for a certified, environmentally-friendly landscaping company? The Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Program trains and certifies professionals to be better stormwater partners and environmental stewards. A searchable directory can be found on their website.
Help us attract future funding –Pledge to Plant NOVA Natives! Collecting data about our campaign’s reach will make us more attractive to agencies that distribute grants. (Right now we are grant-less, so if you would like to help, donations would be welcomed.)
Save the Date: January 25, 10 am to 3 pm Plant NOVA Native conference for property management professionals – Planned topics include stormwater basins, utility easement meadows, landfill meadows, conservation corridors, and overcoming barriers to using native plants. (The exact date is a little tenuous still – check our website for updates.)
Volunteers needed – please contact plantnovanatives@gmail.com if you can spare some time.
· Another web person – we have two great people managing our website right now, but they are short on time and could use a third partner. If you have basic skills in learning relatively user-friendly computer software, we could use your help.
· Research how our jurisdictions are handling native plant issues – Each county and city has its own rules about what kind of plants are required or banned in development projects. We would like someone to research and tabulate those regulations and comprehensive plans so we can look for opportunities to increase the use of native plants.
· Create library exhibits – Starting in December, we have reserved exhibit spaces for a month at a time at a few public libraries (and would like to arrange more). We need someone to manage that and to help create and put up the exhibits.
· Research faith community contacts – We are planning a short newsletter to send to faith communities with information about using places of worship to create wildlife habitat. We need someone to do the mildly tedious job of looking up contact information for as many faith communities as we can find.
· Be our representative in your NextDoor.com neighborhood. Twenty people so far have volunteered to post our monthly newsletter on NextDoor.com. Just those twenty postings generated around 1500 additional views of last month’s article. Anyone with a computer can do this easily. Please send us an email with your zip code to see if we need someone to do this in your area.
Virginia Conservation Assistance Program grants. Money has been allotted for 2018, but once that runs out, there are no guarantees. Anyone interested in a spring planting should get themselves organized very soon.
Feeling ambitious? Start a watershed-friendly garden certification program in your community. Distributing a checklist and offering signs or prizes might be just what it takes to motivate your neighbors. Lake Barcroft Association has a very thorough checklist for residents who are interested in protecting the lake.
Audubon-at-Home Ambassadors needed. November 3 Training Session. Anyone interested should email audubonathome@folhc.org.
This month’s newsletter article – Please reprint these articles on social media and in any newsletter you can – work, faith community, HOA, club, PTA, etc. Facebook is great, and if everyone posts on their local NextDoor.com, we will have all of Northern Virginia covered. Or link to them on our blog, which includes previous articles in this series.
One-Stop Environmentalism: Plant a Native Tree
If you only have time to do one thing to support wildlife in your yard, let it be to plant a native tree.
The benefits of trees in general are obvious: in addition to providing shade and year-round beauty, they cool the environment, soak up greenhouse gases, and provide fruits and shelter for birds and other wildlife. But trees that are native to our area go far beyond that. Unlike trees from other continents, a tree that is native to Virginia can support astonishing numbers of Virginia native insects. And insects – especially caterpillars – are what songbirds feed their babies. No native plants, no caterpillars; no caterpillars, no baby birds. And no butterflies either, of course!
Northern Virginia is blessed with numerous native trees, with choices for every landscaping need. Fall is a good time to plant many of them. Details on those trees and on the best planting methods are available at https://www.plantnovanatives.org/native-trees.