Spring Gardening:

Make your garden greener:  learn about GreenScaping.  According to the US EPA, "GreenScaping encompasses a set of landscaping practices that can improve the health and appearance of your lawn and garden while protecting and preserving natural resources".  The EPA's Greenscapes page has all the details for homeowners.  Check it out!

Composting 101:
Compost is the dark, fertile soil that is made from garden wastes and certain kitchen scraps. Think of it as recycling the nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium that your garden plants need.  Composting can save you money and reduce pollution.  It's also easy if you know how.  To learn how to compost or to improve your technique, go to www.nyccompost.org or read our article on composting in Sustainable Riverdale, at left.

Lawns:
Grass will green up and grow naturally in the spring, without added fertilizer.  Hold off on the fertilizer until the fall.  If you want to pep up your lawn now, you can try this:  wait for a dry spell when the soil is not wet, aerate the lawn, then topdress with finely sifted compost. 

To treat bald spots, spread the area with about 1 inch of compost, work the compost into the soil to a depth of about 4 inches, then seed. 

To combat crabgrass, observe your spring flowers.  Look for the time when the forsythia flowers have passed their peak, and the lilacs are ready to burst open.  This time period is when crabgrass starts to grow.  Stop it by applying corn gluten, an organic, non-toxic dry herbicide that stops crab grass from emerging. 

Read the Golden Rules of Organic Lawn Care,  by the Northeast Organic Farmers Association.


Cornell's gardening pages are full of information for every season.

Hudson River Valley Greenway -

5 routes are being studied as possible routes for the Hudson River Valley Greenway in the Bronx.  Click here for a discussion of the project. 

Read the Preservancy's column, Sustainable Riverdale, as published in the Riverdale Press.