Nurture Native Nature

Creating Healthy Local Ecosystems

Welcome to Nurture Native Nature, a blog about my ongoing journey creating a wildlife sanctuary in my own small piece of our precious earth. Hopefully I can help

make it easier for you to do the same.

oakleaf hydrangea, chipola river ticksee

Why Dyed Mulch is Ecologically Problematic

It’s not your imagination that dyed mulch is covering your neighborhood. It's been around for 60 years, but the dyed mulch market has...

ljmarkson

Jun 23, 20246 min read

Event Alert for Saturday April 13! Your Yard is Nature's Best Hope: 10 Ways to Help Pollinators and Birds with Leslie Inman and Vicki Mann

If you live in Atlanta set aside THIS Saturday, April 13 from 11:00am-1:00pm for a Free eye-opening presentation at Lost Corner Nature...

ljmarkson

Apr 8, 20242 min read

Make Your Yard a Safe Hummingbird Habitat!

Like everyone else who eagerly anticipates their arrival, I’m checking out my yard every day looking for my first “hummer” of the...

ljmarkson

Mar 30, 20248 min read

Nurture Native Nature - Spring Habitat Yard Events!

I'm sharing spring events Nurture Native Nature is hosting or cohosting in the next few months in Atlanta. At some point I need to figure...

ljmarkson

Mar 19, 20243 min read

How to Make a Wildlife Container Pond

If we want to consider the ecological function of our yard, a water source is a foundational habitat element. Bird baths and other...

ljmarkson

Jan 23, 202414 min read

Be an Advocate for Nature By Sharing What You Know

I try to go out of my comfort zone and share information in online neighborhood groups where the focus is rarely on creating a wildlife...

ljmarkson

Oct 24, 20235 min read

Nature Loving Strangers are Kindred Spirits

I was recently looking through my lengthy list of ongoing blog ideas and catchy titles for articles yet to be written and came across...

ljmarkson

Oct 9, 20234 min read

The Future Needs More Violets and Fewer Lawns

I stopped to chat with an elderly neighbor who had just finished weeding her hosta beds. She showed me healthy violet patches growing in...

ljmarkson

Sep 23, 20234 min read

A Day Focused on Restoring Biodiversity in our Own Greenspaces

At the recent Georgia Audubon’s cleverly named Georgia Grows Native for Birds Round Robin: Transforming Your Greenspace, they partnered...

ljmarkson

Sep 11, 20233 min read

New Fall Habitat Yard Workshops in Atlanta!

By rewilding my urban Atlanta yard I'm hoping to restore nature in some small way where I live. So far, I’ve been focused on sharing my...

ljmarkson

Sep 4, 20235 min read

Container Gardening for Biodiversity and Habitat

Using native plants in container gardens is a low maintenance and sustainable way to add biodiversity and create habitat in small spaces...

ljmarkson

Jul 2, 20234 min read

18 Edible Herb Flowers to Grow for People and Pollinators

I help take care of the two herb beds at my community garden with a goal make it more sustainable. When I took this on a couple years ago...

ljmarkson

Jun 30, 20237 min read

25 Dry Shade Tolerant Native Plants for a Southern Habitat Yard

Back in February I wrote about how having a section of sewer pipe replaced offered me an opportunity to replant a section of my rewilded...

ljmarkson

Jun 8, 20238 min read

Connecting Grey Treefrogs and Pokeweed to Sustainable Landscaping

A new game I like to play is drilling down on how even the smallest observation in my rewilded yard can connect back to the importance of...

ljmarkson

May 18, 20233 min read

Organizations are Not People - A Cautionary Tale

I’m sharing the following lengthy and raw personal journey post in the context of helping others who want to help repair our natural...

ljmarkson

Mar 23, 202310 min read

Our Actions Have Amplified Cowbird's Impact

At the end of February, the when the red-winged blackbirds migrate North, their raucous noise is replaced by the gurgling murmur of a...

ljmarkson

Mar 18, 20232 min read

The Native Carolina Cherry Laurel Controversy

I recently watched a small flock of hungry cedar waxwings eat what berries (drupes) previous birds missed on my now blooming Carolina...

ljmarkson

Mar 14, 20234 min read

Children Care Deeply About Protecting Nature - Let's Nurture This

We pulled into our driveway from an outing and there was a mother with her 7-or 8-year-old daughter at our front door. The little girl...

ljmarkson

Mar 5, 20233 min read

S**t Happens - and Opens up Possibilities!

One of the main lessons in my daily guided meditation is how our suffering comes from not being able to align our inner expectations with...

ljmarkson

Feb 5, 20236 min read

Native Crossvine is a Habitat Plant

I thought crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) was indestructible. It climbs by tendrils then attaches to trees with even more with roots to...

ljmarkson

Feb 2, 20232 min read