search OUR GOVERNMENT Supervisor Judi Bosworth Councilmembers + Boards & Commissions + Receiver of Taxes + Town Budgets Town Clerk + Town Forms Our Services > Sustainability Programs > Home Sustainability Workshops > Home Sustainability Workshops 2021 Spring Home Sustainability Workshops The Town of North Hempstead offers educational workshops in Sustainable Yard Care, Rain Gardens and Gardening with Native Plants. Click the links below to learn more. Sustainable Yard Care Rain Gardens Native Plant Gardening Sustainable Yard Care This workshop will introduce you to a variety of ways you can make your home yard more environmentally friendly including composting, using a rain barrel, saving water, creating wildlife habitat, reducing water pollution, using alternatives to pesticides, properly applying fertilizer, and more. The class will help you make your yard look great while also being healthy for the environment! This workshop has concluded. Click HERE to watch the recording of our April 10 workshop. Rain Gardens Rain gardens are shallow depressions in the landscape that are used to capture stormwater from a gutter downspout or sloped area. Rain gardens have many benefits such as: Pollution reduction: filter out contaminants that rainwater can pick up, such as pesticides, oil, fertilizers and animal droppings, which can migrate into our nearby bays and harbors Aquifer replenishment: water seeps into the ground, which helps to recharge Long Island's groundwater sources where all of our drinking water comes from Wildlife Habitat: A rain garden's use of native plants (click here for a list of native plants appropriate for Long Island landscapes) can provide food and shelter for birds and pollinators, like monarch butterflies, which are in decline (click here to learn about the Town's efforts to help monarchs and here to learn about protecting all pollinators) This website is also helpful in learning about rain gardens and provides steps to creating them: longislandraingardens.com This workshop has concluded. Click HERE to watch the recording of our April 24 workshop. Native Plant Gardening Native plants are those that historically and naturally occur in an area and tolerate the climate of the local environment. Gardening with plants native to Long Island is beneficial for many reasons including: They require less maintenance, including fertilizers, pesticides and watering They provide food and habitat to native birds, mammals, and pollinators, like the monarch butterfly, whose numbers are shrinking (click here to learn about the Town's efforts to help monarchs and here to learn about protecting all pollinators) They help to reduce flooding due to extensive root systems that take up large quantities of water These plants can also absorb more air pollutants and carbon dioxide than traditional turf grasses Many have beautiful flowers, colorful fruits and seeds and offer vivid seasonal color changes Click here for a list of native plants appropriate for Long Island landscapes This workshop has concluded. Click HERE to watch the recording of our April 24 workshop. NORTH HEMPSTEAD TOWN HALL 220 Plandome Road, Manhasset NY 11030 (516) 869-6311(516) 627-4204 Home Contact Us Suggestion Box Legal Statement Copyright © 2021 Town of North Hempstead, NY. All Rights Reserved. Powered by