Donate

Bay Friendly Yard Program

Photo Gallery

Certify Your Yard
Webinars

Find Out More

Plant Bay Friendly!

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 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 info@savethegreatsouthbay.org for more info!

Apply Now!

Bay Friendly Guidelines:

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

Bay Friendly Yard Webinars

Bay Friendly Yards: Ocean Beach

Director of Habitat Restoration Frank Piccininni addresses the Village of Ocean Beach Civic Association on how to create Bay Friendly Yards in the Fire Island community.

Bay Friendly Yards: Recycling Stormwater

Stormwater runoff accounts for a large percentage of nitrogen in our local waterways which in turn triggers harmful brown tides in the Great South Bay. Managing stormwater runoff is not only one of the three essential elements of a Bay Friendly Yard but crucial to protecting the Bay.

Bay Friendly Yards: Creating A Butterfly Garden

Butterflies are not only beautiful to observe but also serve an important role in our local ecosystem. Planting an area in your yard as a butterfly garden restores native habitat whilst creating a landing pad for butterflies and other essential pollinators!

Bay Friendly Yards: Nature and Mindfulness

The chirping of birds, the metamorphic wonder of butterflies – a nature encounter in your own yard. Learn about the mental health benefits of a Bay Friendly Yard and a healthy ecosystem presented by Kristen Perret, PhD on behalf of local environmental non-profit Save The Great South Bay. The

Bay Friendly Yards: Creating Wildlife Habitat

The typical suburban yard lacks the basic necessities of wildlife habitat. Learn how to bring your yard to life by creating a Bay Friendly Yard that is also a place for wildlife to call home, during our webinar on Saturday, May 15th at 10:00 AM via Zoom with Frank Piccininni, Director of Habitat

Bay Friendly Yards: Three Essential Elements

The typical suburban lawn relies heavily on fertilizers, pesticides, and huge amounts of water. It’s polluting, expensive, lifeless and tired. Bay Friendly Yards are beautiful, full of life, less expensive to maintain, and (bonus!) help filter groundwater before it hits a creek or the Bay.

Photo Gallery

More About Bay Friendly Yards

72,000 Ladies Released at the Mall of America

72,000 Ladies Released at the Mall of America

Apr 24, 2013

The management of the most well known mall in the nation has released more than seventy thousand ladybugs inside the mall in order to control pests on the tropical plants living there. Read: instead of using a pesticide.

What Mother Nature and The New Inlet Can’t Do — A Bay in Peril

What Mother Nature and The New Inlet Can’t Do — A Bay in Peril

Apr 16, 2013

With The New Inlet, Mother Nature’s true gift was to give us but a glimpse of what the Great South Bay was and could be again. It’s a challenge to us to take action. Next summer, will The New Inlet even be there, whether because of nature or man? Then what? The bay starts to die again. Here’s what Mother Nature alone can’t fix, and what we must fix if we want this bay all the way back, New Inlet or no New Inlet:

What Each of Us Can Do This Spring To Help Our Local Waters

What Each of Us Can Do This Spring To Help Our Local Waters

Mar 28, 2013

The Great South Bay is where the results of all our human activities end up, as is true for all our bays, rivers and ponds. Given how many of Long Island’s waters are under stress, it is very important that each of us do what we can to limit the damage.

Vision Long Island Helping To Map Out A Sustainable Future

Vision Long Island Helping To Map Out A Sustainable Future

Mar 6, 2013

Vision Long Island is holding its third and final public meeting tonight at The Southampton Town Hall between 7-9 tonight March 6th.   The non-profit organization, dedicated to building a sustainable future for Long Island, is gathering public opinion as it puts...

Join Our Mailing List

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!