When we moved into our home in 2014, we never imagined our yard would become a thriving turtle habitat. Over the past decade, we’ve documented more than 20 individual Eastern Box Turtles using simple photo tracking — no paint, no tagging, just curiosity and care. Here’s how you can do the same.

Discover how to turn your garden into a winter haven for wildlife with native plants. From berry-producing shrubs to evergreen shelter, support birds, pollinators, and more while enjoying the natural beauty of the season.

Discover the top native woody pollinator host plants for Hampton Roads. Learn how to plant trees like oaks and cherries to support local wildlife and pollinators in Southeast Coastal Virginia.

Discover the top 10 nonwoody pollinator plants perfect for your Hampton Roads garden! Learn how these native plants can beautify your yard while supporting local butterflies, moths, and other vital pollinators. Visit Southern Branch Nursery to find these plants and more.

My clients all want “year-round interest” in their garden. If you do as well, a helpful tool for achieving this is to look at something like a seasonal color chart. You can put something like this together yourself, or if you live in the SE Virginia(ish) area, you can cheat and borrow mine!

Combine your landcape beds for lower maintenance, better native plant design!

Use “Cues to Care” to create a native plant design that looks as good to the neighbors as it does to wildlife.

What is a Virginia native plant community, and how can you build one to create wildlife habitat? Part 3- Start to build your design!

What is a Virginia native plant community, and how can you build one to create wildlife habitat? Part 2- Find an appropriate native plant community, and choose your plants!

What is a Virginia native plant community, and how can you build one to create wildlife habitat? Part 1 - Identify your local native plants!

Getting your native plants established for long-term success and low-maintenance growth.

“Wait? 150 Erigeron pulchellus?? Where are they all going?”

If you don’t know what a plant plug is, I want to take a minute to introduce you because they can be very economical, and really are for everyone!

Don’t let your garden bed fall victim to weeds! Try out some of these methods to keep them at bay without using harmful chemicals.