Mary Frase, who comes from several generations of family gardeners, tells anyone who asks her about her volunteering, “I grew up playing in the dirt and I still like to play there.” She turned this love into an extraordinary commitment to native habitat.

We have added a new monthly feature to the Potomac Flier, the Wildlife Sanctuary Almanac.

This year, the Fairfax County Tree Preservation and Planting Fund (TPPF) gave Audubon at Home and Plant NOVA Natives a grant to fund mini-grants for invasive plant removal on community association or faith community common open space.

Just updated with questions and answers and new photos! Here’s an effective alternative to harmful mosquito spraying, as suggested by Doug Tallamy. Jill Spohn takes us through the steps of building your own mosquito larva traps at home.

What do English ivy, barberry, butterfly bush, and mimosas (the tree, not the drink) have in common? You can find them in most Northern Virginia neighborhoods, and you can buy them at many local nurseries, garden shops and big box stores. But they are all invasive plants in Northern Virginia.

Plant communities are assemblages of plant species that grow in a particular habitat and interact with each other, wildlife, and the environment around them. Plant communities are a natural extension of “right plant, right place.”

Are you ready to brighten up your yard but not spend hours researching plant choices? You may be a candidate for a native plant “package” that includes plants that thrive in similar landscape conditions.

Audubon at Home is looking for a volunteer to manage a photo contest. The contest will solicit high-quality before and after photos of natural landscaping projects from Audubon at Home clients and ASNV members.

Audubon at Home partnered with Plant NOVA Natives to invite homeowners’ and civic associations to apply for funds to beautify their neighborhood entrances using low maintenance native plants.

Join Plant NOVA Natives and ASNV’s Audubon at Home program for their third annual symposium for landscape professionals.

Pesticides are occasionally necessary to prevent disease transmission to humans, but improper use of pesticides can have health and environmental risks. Reduce pesticide exposure by trying preventative and less toxic pest management first.

The Audubon at Home program helps homeowners create wildlife habitat in their own yards, with the aim of attracting and supporting beneficial species who breed and live in our area. We call these species Sanctuary Species.

Audubon at Home Program, in partnership with the Plant NOVA Natives campaign, has been awarded a grant of $15,000 to demonstrate the concept that native plantscan fit nicely into a conventional suburban aesthetic. Apply today!

Read Glenda Booth’s article in the Mt. Vernon Gazette on choosing nature over a manicured lawn.

Former Audubon at Home Co-Director and ASNV Board member, Robin Duska was recognized by the Virginia Master Naturalist state board as their 2020 Volunteer of the Year.

Neonics are systemic (absorbed by the plant) and are often applied to seeds before the seeds are sown so the growing plant takes up the pesticide. Neonics are used for both farming and landscaping, exposing all pollinators to their damaging effects.

As we finally begin to emerge from this dark and isolated winter, many of us are thinking about getting outdoors into the garden.

The Plant NOVA Natives website maintains a list of native-only plant sellers and updates its list of seasonal native plant sales in our 4-county region.

Encouraging cavity nesting birds in suburban yards requires knowledge of birds and insects and how to support them. Larry Cartwright shared his knowledge with AAH Ambassadors in February.

We are very pleased to announce that ASNV’s Audubon at Home Program, in partnership with the Plant NOVA Natives campaign, has been awarded a grant of $15,000 to demonstrate the concept that native plantsan fit nicely into a conventional suburban aesthetic.