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Rethinking Lawns: Fighting Climate Change with Native Plants

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By Monica McQuail, Willistown Conservation Trust Communications Specialist

Photos by Blake Goll, Willistown Conservation Trust Education Programs Manager

With the arrival of March, many of us are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring and everything the season brings: the feeling of the warm sun on our skin, the taste of moisture in the air, the smell of damp soil after a brief rain, the stunning views of leafy trees and emerging flowers, and of course, the sounds of chirping birds…drowned out by the incessant drone of lawn mowers and weed-whackers.

Transitioning to working from home has meant that many of us have learned the strange truth of suburban life; that it’s neither peaceful nor quiet. According to Audubon, “A typical gas-powered push mower emits 85 to 90 decibels for the operator (90-95 decibels for riding lawnmowers). This scares away the birds, leads to hearing loss and detracts from the peace offered by the outdoors.” Not only are lawn mowers a nuisance to humans, but noise pollution leads to stressed out wildlife, especially for smaller animals that spend more time hiding than eating due to loud sounds, and birds that have been found to lay fewer eggs in noisy areas.

But what if I told you that a quiet future without lawnmowers and weed-whackers is not only possible, but even attainable right now? And that this future is filled with butterflies and helps prevent climate change? The solution is simple: rethink your lawn.

Lawns are a contradiction. They are the most grown crop in the United States, yet they produce food that humans and wildlife cannot eat. They’re a staple of American suburban life, yet they were imported from England (the most prized grass in our country  –  Kentucky bluegrass  –  is native to Europe and the Middle East, not Kentucky). They give off a sense of ease and leisure, yet they require an inordinate amount of work, time and money to maintain. Their lush green color evokes life, yet they are ecological deadscapes.

Now let’s look at the numbers. American homeowners dump about 80 million pounds of pesticides into their lawns each year – that’s about 10 times more than farms use per acre.  According to the EPA, Americans spill more than 17 million gallons of fuel each year when refueling lawn equipment, polluting our air and groundwaters along with those pesticides. Mowers and weed-whackers burn 800 million gallons of gasoline per year, which contributes to the greenhouse gases that drive climate change. And we can’t forget water – 3 trillion gallons of which are used on lawns annually, a number that is especially shocking in the wake of the recent droughts and some of the deadliest wildfires our country has experienced. With 40 to 50 million acres of lawn to maintain (a number that equals the country’s national parks combined), Americans spend a whopping $105 billion on lawncare.

With the climate and extinction crisis looming, maintaining these biologically barren landscapes is no longer a sustainable option, no matter how small your lawn may be. We need to start adding hardy plants that sequester carbon to our landscaping. We need to support insects that pollinate 80% of all plants (and 90% of flowering plants). We need to think about our watersheds and select plants that have long root systems that can absorb excess water and prevent polluted runoff into our storm drains and streams. We need to select plants that support our ecosystem and provide a viable food web and shelter for all organisms. In short, we need to plant native species. Not only do native plants possess all these benefits listed, but they also require less water, little to no herbicides or pesticides, and best of all – no noisy lawn mowers.

So this spring, as you begin prepping your grassy green lawn for the upcoming season, consider revamping some or all of it into a beautiful natural oasis that attracts birds and butterflies and requires little maintenance once it is established.

This innovative gardening concept goes by many names, including “Wildscaping,” “Meadowscaping” and “Ecosystem Gardening,” and its main tenants are to garden sustainably, conserve our natural resources and create a habitat that benefits wildlife, according to conservationist and author Doug Tallamy. Tallamay is behind the Homegrown National Park Movement (www.homegrownnationalpark.org), which aims to turn half (that’s about 20 million acres) of all privately-owned green lawns in the United States into native plantings.

“Now, for the first time in its history, gardening has taken on a role that transcends the needs of the gardener. Like it or not, gardeners have become important players in the management of our nation’s wildlife. It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to ‘make a difference.’ In this case, the ‘difference’ will be to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them,” says Tallamy in his book, “Bringing Nature Home.”

Lawns should not exist purely for “curb appeal.” They should provide joy, nourishment and life for all who inhabit them, from the Monarch caterpillar munching on milkweed and the goldfinch looking for seeds among some purple aster, to the child who stares with wonder at this incredible world. After all, if something is not eating your plants, then your garden is not part of the ecosystem.

What to plant for the birds:

  • Composite flowers, spruces, hemlocks and pine > House Finch, Purple Finch, Cassin’s finch, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, Pine Siskin
  • Birches and sumacs > Black-Capped Chickadee, Carolina Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Juniper Titmouse, Oak Titmouse
  • Pines, hickories, oaks, cherries > Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Ladder-Backed Woodpecker, White-Headed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker
  • Oaks and beeches > American Crow, Fish Crow, Northwestern Crow, Blue Jay, Carolina Scrub-Jay, Woodhouse Scrub-Jay, Florida Scrub-Jay
  • Sunflowers, elderberries, serviceberries > Northern Cardinal, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Black-Headed Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, Western Tanager
  • blackberries and wild grasses > Dark-Eyed Junco, White-Throated Sparrow, White-Crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lark Sparrow
  • columbine, jewelweed, bee balm > Hummingbirds

What to plant for the butterflies:

  • Native oak trees, willows, birches, maples; goldenrod, milkweed and sunflowers > Butterflies and caterpillars

If you want to learn more about native plants, follow Willistown Conservation Trust @wctrust on social media, head to wctrust.org to find more educational content, or join us for our many stewardship-focused events!

The Trust Teams up with Project Plastic at Ashbridge Preserve to Clean Up Microplastics Using Innovative Device: The Plastic Hunter

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Last year we learned that Microplastic Pollution is No Small Problem, after our Watershed Protection Program discovered the dangerous presence of these minute plastics within the headwaters of our focus area: Crum, Darby and Ridley Creeks. Our Watershed Team continues to document and monitor their presence, but now with the help of Project Plastic.

Based in Princeton, New Jersey, Project Plastic is made up of Princeton students and postdoctoral researchers working to design, develop and implement natural systems that can be used to remove plastic pollutants from rivers. Founder Yidian Liu was inspired to find a solution to plastic pollution after observing an increase in the presence of plastics and microplastics gathering in the waterways following large storms in her hometown in China. Now, with Project Plastic, it is her goal to create the first portable microplastic collection device that is both easily portable and environmentally friendly.

Enter the “Plastic Hunter,” an “affordable floating wetland unit that collects and removes microplastic debris from rivers via plant root biofilters.” Resembling an elongated hexagon, this device consists of a fiberglass frame that holds a net-like pad that is both compostable and consisting of a planting membrane. This is where the magic happens – once deployed on the surface of a polluted river, the plant membrane grows downward, and over time, its dangling roots catch microplastic fragments. Once saturated, the removable planting membrane is carefully lifted from the water with a net, and the contaminated plant matter can be taken back to the lab for analysis. A new pad replaces the old one, and the microplastic-trapping cycle continues.

  • Plastic Hunter’s natural fibers and root system catch microplastics
  • Removing Plastic Hunter
  • A Root Sample Retrieved for Analysis

Conceived and developed by Yidian Liu and Nathaniel Banks, this device and Project Plastic have already received attention after winning multiple awards, including a $10,000 prize for top startup at the Princeton Startup Bootcamp.  They have since added to their team, refined their idea, filed a patent, and made multiple design improvements using 3D print prototypes. And then this past December and January, Project Plastic officially launched the very first Project Hunter prototype at Ashbridge Preserve with the help of our Watershed Protection Team.

Thanks to the continual monitoring of our watersheds, Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath identified a test site known to be highly contaminated with microplastics at Ashbridge Preserve. Plastic Hunter lived here for one month, where it was anchored to stakes located on either side of the stream, covering the majority of the stream’s width. And in place of a true plant membrane, an artificial root system comprised of coconut fiber brushes was used to entrap microplastics, essentially acting as a filtration device.

  • Project Plastic and WCT at Ashbridge Preserve
  • Plastic Hunter Up and Running at Ashbridge Preserve

Throughout Plastic Hunter’s stay at Ashbridge, Lauren McGrath and Watershed Conservation Associate Anna Willig collected water samples around Plastic Hunter on a weekly basis to determine if the device had reduced microplastic quantities within the stream. Once Plastic Hunter was removed from the stream, its fibers were taken by to Project Plastic’s lab for analysis, and there, the team found that their prototype was mostly effective in capturing microplastics.

  • Water Samples for Analysis
  • Processing of the Water Samples
  • Microplastic Fiber Identified under a Microscope

Says Yidian Liu, “The Ashbridge Preserve field test marks a prospective start to the development and continued refinement of the Plastic Hunter, as well as an auspicious confirmation of the device’s technical feasibility and efficacy. We are looking forward to continuing to improve this device with the help of the Trust’s Watershed Team.” The group hopes to make Plastic Hunter more buoyant with increased connectivity between those fibers and the device’s frame.

The vision for this group is to deploy future generations of Plastic Hunter across rivers, ponds, and other bodies of water, where their hexagonal frames can connect to one another to create larger filtration devices. Yidian and Nathaniel aim to keep costs as low as possible, so that their product can be affordable and reach a variety of customers across the world. And by focusing on using compostable, natural materials, they hope to also reduce the cost to our planet.

Says the Trust’s Watershed Protection Program Director Lauren McGrath, “Globally, microplastic contamination is a major concern for public and environmental health, and identifying meaningful solutions for the reduction and removal of plastic from stream and ocean systems has been a serious challenge. We have enjoyed partnering with the Project Plastic Team and are inspired by their creative and innovative approach to this increasingly complex issue. We hope that through regular monitoring and creative problem solving, we can continue to better understand how to reduce microplastic pollution in our waterways.”

Visit Project Plastic to learn more about their plastic-free vision for the future!

The Trust Receives 525K from DCNR for Land Conservation

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We have exciting news to share! The Trust will soon receive two grants from PA DCNR to further land conservation efforts in Chester County:

🍃$500,000 toward the acquisition of approximately 12 acres for an addition to the Kirkwood Preserve.

🍃$25,400 for further development of Rushton Woods Preserve, including the construction of a pedestrian walkway, ADA access and landscaping.

“Willistown Conservation Trust’s phenomenal work in protecting and preserving more than 7,500 acres has given people of all ages the chance to enjoy nature,” said State Representative Kristine Howard. “I’m excited to see the trust utilize these grants to not only grow protected lands, but to make them more accessible for all.” Howard said the funds are part of the Pennsylvania DCNR grant program, which pulls from multiple state and federal funding sources to award grants.

Bird Conservation Group Receives Funding from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Track Important Migratory Routes along the Northeast

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The ability of scientists to track migrating animals as small as hummingbirds and butterflies along the Atlantic Coast will take an important step forward in the coming year, thanks to a partnership between the Northeast Motus Collaboration (NMC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

The NMC, comprised of Willistown Conservation Trust in Newtown Square (where it is based), the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in Dauphin County, and Project Owlnet, has received $82,500 from the USFWS to upgrade a dozen stations in the Motus Wildlife Tracking System, a rapidly growing global network of automated telemetry receivers.

Established in 2013 by Birds Canada, the Motus Wildlife Tracking System combines highly miniaturized transmitters, some weighing as little as 1/200th of an ounce, with more than 13,000 automated receiver stations around the world. As a result, scientists can now track small birds, bats and even migratory insects like monarch butterflies and green darner dragonflies across continents and hemispheres, like a gray-cheeked thrush that made a remarkable 46-hour, 2,200-mile non-stop flight from Colombia to Ontario.

The Northeast Motus Collaboration will upgrade 12 coastal Motus sites managed by the USFWS, from Massachusetts to Virginia, which were among the earliest stations in the Motus network. With these upgrades, the receivers – which originally tracked transmitters using the 166 MHz frequency – will also be able to monitor a second, 434 MHz, which is used by a new generation of tracking tags. The funding will also underwrite maintenance on the stations through 2024 and decommission two sites that are no longer needed.

  • Oven Bird with Nanotag. Photo by PARC
  • Todd Allegher of Willitown Conservation Trust working on a Motus Station in Nantucket
  • Northeast Motus Collaboration – Todd Allegher, Pam Loring, Zoe Korpi at a Nantucket Motus Station

Says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Public Affairs Specialist David Eisenhauer, “We are thrilled to work in partnership with Northeast Motus Collaboration to upgrade Atlantic coast Motus stations with new tracking technology. These stations provide key detection coverage at coastal sites throughout the northeastern U.S. to track regional movements of thousands of birds, bats, and insects tagged by Motus collaborators throughout the Western Hemisphere. Data collected by the Motus stations help us learn more about migratory routes and stopover sites used by many different species as they travel, rest, and refuel throughout our region. This information is critical for developing science-based conservation strategies to benefit wildlife, habitats, and people at local to international scales.”

Since its founding in 2015, the Northeast Motus Collaboration has installed more than 100 Motus sites in the mid-Atlantic states and New York, and is in the middle of a multi-year project to install an additional 50 sites in New England. It is, after Birds Canada, the largest operator of Motus receivers in the world. Says Willistown Conservation Trust’s Director of the Bird Conservation Program and Northeast Motus Principal Lisa Kiziuk, “This critical funding is a testament to the scientific understanding and advancement that we can achieve when we collaborate for conservation.” The work of Northeast Motus Collaboration has been made possible by state and federal grants, private foundations and individual donors.

Northeast Motus Collaboration – The Mission of Northeast Motus Collaboration is to create an interior northeastern U.S. telemetry network to track migratory animals while taking a landscape-scale approach to conservation – connecting enormous expanses of land through scientific research, for the benefit of both humans and wildlife. For more information, visit www.northeastmotus.com.

Willistown Conservation Trust – Found 20 miles west of Philadelphia, Willistown Conservation Trust focuses on 28,000 acres within the watersheds of Ridley, Crum, and Darby Creeks of Chester and Delaware Counties. Since 1996, the Trust has permanently conserved over 7,500 acres, including three nature preserves open to the public: Ashbridge Preserve, Kirkwood Preserve, and Rushton Woods Preserve, which is home to Rushton Conservation Center and Rushton Farm. The Trust offers six nationally renowned programs for public engagement and research: Bird Conservation, Community Farm, Education and Outreach, Land Protection, Stewardship, and Watershed Protection Programs. For more information, visit www.wctrust.org.


Willistown Conservation Trust and Delchester Group Inc. Partner to Permanently Protect 16 Acres on Grubbs Mill Road

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Of the 16 acres, nine will be added to the Trust’s Kirkwood Preserve

Willistown Conservation Trust is pleased to announce that up to nine acres will be added to Kirkwood Preserve, and seven acres surrounding the public nature preserve will ultimately be permanently protected with a conservation easement, thanks to a partnership with Delchester Group Inc. (DGI). Through the protection of the 16 acres, the Trust is forever preserving both critical bird habitat and an important piece of history within the Willistown countryside.

The 16-acre property – commonly known as the “Massey Farm” or the “Alpaca Barn” – can be found on Grubbs Mill Road, where it has gone on and off the market for the past couple of years. When the Trust and DGI learned that a developer from out of town was proposing to purchase the land and build up to four homes on Grubbs Mill and Goshen Roads, they knew they had to act quickly. Surrounded by conserved open space, public preserves, and the adjacent Historic White Horse Corner, development would be devastating to the natural and historic landscape of Willistown. DGI’s community of investors purchased the property in September; the Trust plans to purchase nine acres from DGI through private and public fundraising, and DGI will hold the remaining seven acres until the group finds a conservation buyer willing to preserve the property’s beauty, rural character, and open space. 

  • The Alpaca Farm (when it had alpacas) in 2003 | Photo by Jennifer Mathes
  • 9 acres of the property will be added to Kirkwood Preserve | Photo by Jennifer Mathes

The Trust’s nine acres will allow Kirkwood Preserve to expand across Grubbs Mill Road, with new public walking trails anticipated. Additionally, this parcel is part of the Upper Ridley/Crum Important Bird Area, and its rich habitat has been identified by the Audubon Society as critical for bird conservation. The grasslands on this property are vital for nesting birds. Listed as a Class II historic resource by Willistown Township, its conservation also preserves the history and legacy of Thomas Massey who purchased the land among 500 acres in 1699, and later passed it on to his son, James Massey who built the “James Massey House” (c.1790) and historic barn that exist on the property today.

The Trust intends to refurbish this Chester County, stone-posted bank barn, in addition to hosting many volunteer days at this site to clean up debris, remove invasive plant species, and spruce up the outdoor spaces around the barn and other structures. Stay tuned for a future volunteer day!

OUR NATURE PRESERVES

Our nature preserves are open to the public 365 days per year from sunrise to sunset, providing natural places that offer peace and respite for all. Willistown Conservation Trust owns and manages three nature preserves in the Willistown area - Ashbridge, Kirkwood and Rushton Woods Preserve. We maintain these lands for the … Learn more about our nature preserves.

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The work of the Willistown Conservation Trust is concentrated on 28,000 acres of Willistown Township … read more