Helping Create a Homegrown National Park® in East Granby

Helping Create A Homegrown National Park® in East Granby

What if the path to healthier forests, cleaner water, and thriving wildlife began right in our own neighborhoods?

Thanks to people like you who care about protecting the natural world, Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy volunteers are helping bring that vision to life in East Granby through the growing Homegrown National Park® movement.

Entomologist, ecologist, and conservationist Doug Tallamy has inspired communities across the country with a simple but powerful idea: if half of America’s lawns were replaced with native plants, together we would create the equivalent of a 20-million-acre national park. Native plants provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies, bees, and countless other species while reducing the need for mowing, fertilizers, pesticides, and excessive watering. They also improve air and water quality and support healthier habitats and wildlife.

Inspired by one of Tallamy’s presentations this spring, Hartford Audubon Society members Vicky and Paul Margiotta saw an opportunity to make a difference at the Greenstone Hollow Nature Preserve in East Granby. While most of the 38-acre preserve consists of forest and wetlands, a three-quarter-acre mowed lawn at the property entrance offered the perfect place to demonstrate how native plantings can transform wildlife habitat.

With support from the Hartford Audubon Society and the dedication of volunteers including members of Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy, the area is being transformed into a vibrant native landscape. Volunteers planted 14 native trees along with 37 native shrubs and perennial plants chosen to support pollinators and birds throughout the seasons.

Oaks were selected because a single mature oak can support thousands of insect species, forming the foundation of a healthy food web. Native shadbushes and mulberries will provide spring blossoms
for pollinators and late-summer fruit for birds such as Cedar Waxwings. Eastern Red Cedars will offer year-round shelter and nutritious berries for wildlife. TRLC member Chris Fisher arranged irrigation from a neighboring property to help the young plantings become established during their first growing season, while volunteers from both organizations continue to water and care for the site.

Perhaps the greatest impact will be felt by the next generation. The neighborhood children who gather nearby each day to catch the school bus will watch this landscape change over the coming years – from a mowed lawn into a thriving habitat alive with butterflies, songbirds, and native plants. Because of your commitment to conservation, they will see firsthand how small actions can create lasting change for wildlife and our communities.

This project is a wonderful reminder that conservation doesn’t always begin with protecting hundreds of acres. Sometimes it starts by transforming a single lawn into a place where nature can flourish.