April 4, 2023

Photograph taken by Bill Duncan I found online here: https://ozarkbill.com/2020/12/07/myrmecochory-seed-dispersing-ants/ 

Give it a Month

The first days of spring bring sunshine, warm temperatures, and enthusiasm to get out in your yard. For some, this may include cleaning up our yards. Before you head to grab the rake, take a moment to consider the wealth of biodiversity that uses these "messy" spaces. While we may be ready to get outdoors and get to work, many wildlife, particularly invertebrates like bees, moths, and butterflies, that use the cover of leaves, stems, and other dead vegetation are sleeping until warmer days come around. In fact, important pollinators, such as bumble bees, need temperatures exceeding 50 degrees (F). Other insects, like solitary bees & wasps, butterflies, dragonflies, and more need temperatures in excess of 60 degrees (F). You may see various bee and wasp species flying around in early spring as they begin to emerge from their winter slumber, but these insects still need a place to sleep and find cover when spring rain dampens and temperatures cool, which they find in our yards and gardens. Various insect and invertebrate species at the early stages of life are still using the space under the leaves--which provide them insulated cover from cool temperatures--to grow and mature. Leaf litter is also critically important to native spring flowers, which provide food for our early season pollinators. 

Consider letting your garden remain "messy" for another month and you yourself can go to bed happy knowing you are doing what is best for our native pollinators. Better yet, leave and incorporate dead leaves, stems, and other vegetation into your gardens as this organic material will provide nesting habitat, places to sleep, and feed decomposers in our soils who then convert the former pile of leaves into nutrients for plants. With your help we can create an oasis for biodiversity in Loveland. 

Want to keep your lawn, but bring back life to your yard? This is the class for you!!

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This is Doug and I sitting on a log. We bring you this photo us to look you in the eyes and implore you to join Love Our Land. You see, the funds we bring in right now are the most important. We bring in new members all year, but the members that join now get much more out of their memberships (free classes and walks!) and we get to plan out more activities and classes for 2023! Thank you to those that have already joined!

Mike and Doug

Creating an Oasis for Local Biodiversity
Loveland Learning Garden, local Girl Scout Troop 4025, and Love Our Land are partnering to convert an area with nonnative plants at Loveland Primary School to a native garden that will support native pollinators and other biodiversity. The native garden will host a diverse assemblage of native wildflowers and grasses that serve as food sources, nest sites, and cover for a wide variety of local wildlife, including imperiled species like the American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) and monarch (Danaus plexippus). The area is very visible to students, faculty, administrative staff, and parents who enter the school, which will help raise awareness about the importance of landscaping with native vegetation. An interpretive sign providing information about the intention of the space and how it will improve the health of the local environment will be placed in the native garden to educate students and passersby. The native garden plans to be used by Loveland Learning Garden and teachers to teach students about how native plants provide substantially more benefits to biodiversity than their nonnative counterparts. Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Love Our Land, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us all.

Special Thanks to our Business Members and Sponsors!!

Doug sets the record straight on coyotes

Note: The Loveland Weekly Podcast is not associated with Love Our Land.

We seek to reconnect people and nature and in doing so, empower citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to address the biodiversity crisis in their own neighborhoods and yards.

www.LoveOurLand.org