Bay Friendly Yards

Long Island invented the suburban lawn. It’s time to reinvent it. Let’s plant natives, let’s bring them back. They require no fertilizer or pesticides, no extra water. They are more beautiful, are less expensive to maintain, and they help restore habitat. They also help filter our groundwater before it reaches the bay and our water supply.

Certify Your Yard As Bay Friendly

Do you practice sustainable gardening methods?

Habitat Restoration
Stormwater Management
Local Stewardship

Become a Certified Bay Friendly Yard and proudly display a yard sign.

Apply Now or email us [email protected] for more info!

Get A Free, Native Planting, E-Book To Help You Get Started!

Step-by-step instructions to assess your yard
Lists of LI native species
Tips on how to arrange these plantings

Plant Bay Friendly, Native Plants

Choose from three curated native plant bundles designed by our experts with Long Island yards specifically in mind – yards that retain water, dry yard areas, or coastal yards!

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Recent Progress Promoting Bay Friendly Yards

Bay Friendly Yards: Creating Wildlife Habitat

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | May 17, 2021 | Bay Friendly Yards, Eco Lawns, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

The typical suburban yard lacks the basic necessities of wildlife habitat, devoid of birds, butterflies and other delightful creatures. These creatures are not only an essential part of local ecosystems but also provide an amazing nature show! What does a butterfly...

Water Warriors {Yep, That’s Us}

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | April 29, 2021 | Advocacy, Bay Friendly Yards, Creek Defender, Great South Bay Oyster Project, Water Quality | 0 Comments

Written by Tom Schlichter and as seen in Newsday, 04/29/21 Long Island outdoors lovers are often looking for environmental organizations to volunteer with come spring. Especially attractive are grassroots societies that endeavor to promote, protect and improve our...

Sustainable Development In Our Neighborhoods

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | January 8, 2021 | Advocacy, Bay Friendly Yards, Eco Lawns, Education, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

The word is out. What so many of us love most about Long Island, from its recreational opportunities such as biking, fishing, kayaking and more, to its easy access to shopping and services, continues to attract people to the Island, making development unavoidable. No...

Help Save The Bay on GivingTuesday

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | December 1, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Creek Defender, GivingTuesday, Great South Bay Oyster Project | 0 Comments

GivingTuesday is a very simple idea - a day that encourages people to pause for a moment, reflect on what's important to them & simply do good. It is now a global movement and your chance to help the Great South Bay. Save The Great South Bay is a 501(c)3...

One Creek, One Tree at a Time

by James Bertsch | September 23, 2020 | Advocacy, Bay Friendly Yards, Creek Defender, Fixing Habitats, Water Quality | 0 Comments

We all want to make a difference. It feels good when you do! We saved trees recently. Those trees are helping us save the Great South Bay. As Sayville Creek Defender, I helped lead Save the Great South's first wide-scale invasive removal. It was a pilot. Thanks to the...

Lindy Becomes LI’s First Bay Friendly Certified Library

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | September 21, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Eco Lawns, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

Save The Great South Bay is thrilled to welcome Lindenhurst Memorial Library to our community of Bay Friendly Yards. Lindy Library has a long history of being green and jumped right on board. With their no-fertilizer, no-pesticide clover lawn, composting bin and...

Bay Friendly Yards: Rewilding LI

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | September 17, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards | 0 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6K6g4kb56Q Fantastic discussion last night on incorporating sustainable landscaping to not only protect our waterways, but also to promote biodiversity and healthy regional ecosystems. From the purpose of native planting to the...

Creating a Rain Garden

by Save The Great South Bay | August 31, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Cleaner Water, Eco Lawns, Fixing Habitats, Water Quality | 0 Comments

Beyond providing nutrition and beautifying spaces, gardens can serve many purposes, such as supporting natural processes and pollinators. Rain gardens are a type of specialty garden that help protect our waterways by managing stormwater runoff. Below are some tips ...

Top 3 Elements of a Bay Friendly Yard

by Save The Great South Bay | August 11, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Cleaner Water, Eco Lawns, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

Long Island invented the suburban lawn. Fields of green with ornamental bushes brought in from all over the world requiring all manner of care -- watering, fertilizing, pesticides -- so that exotics and plants from other climates could survive here. But this search...

Top Five LI Native Trees

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | August 5, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Education, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

Lost trees thanks to the blustering winds of Tropical Storm Isaias and wondering what to replace them with? Here are our top five suggestions of Bay Friendly Yard trees - all of which are native to Long Island. According to Frank Piccininni, Director of Habitat...

Restoring Habitat Along Carll’s River

by Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director | July 24, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Cleaner Water, Creek Defender, Eco Lawns, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

On the banks of the beautiful Carll’s River in Babylon Village, just where it crosses under Park Avenue, you will find the Carll’s River Native Forest, a Save The Great South Bay habitat restoration project established in April 2019 as a collaborative effort with the...

Hunt for the American Chestnut Challenge

by Niko Nantsis | April 20, 2020 | Bay Friendly Yards, Fixing Habitats | 0 Comments

For thousands of years after the last glacial period, the American Chestnut, Castanea Dentata, dominated the eastern Deciduous Forests of the eastern United States, making up 25% to 30% of the forest canopy of Long Island’s hardwood forests. Growing over 100 to 120 ft...