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Bay Friendly Yard Program

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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.

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More About Bay Friendly Yards

Bay Friendly Yards: Rewilding LI

Bay Friendly Yards: Rewilding LI

Sep 17, 2020

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...

Bay Friendly Yards: Rewilding LI

Bay Friendly Yards: Rewilding LI

Sep 10, 2020

We invite you to join us on Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 7-8 M via Zoom for a panel discussion and Q&A on how you can incorporate sustainable landscaping to not only protect our waterways, but also to promote biodiversity and healthy regional ecosystems. Our panelists...

Creating a Rain Garden

Creating a Rain Garden

Aug 31, 2020

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

Top 3 Elements of a Bay Friendly Yard

Aug 11, 2020

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

Top Five LI Native Trees

Aug 5, 2020

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

Restoring Habitat Along Carll’s River

Jul 24, 2020

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...

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