2nd Place Winner in the Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo Contest

The second place winner of the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog’s Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo contest is Gemma Evans of College Park, Maryland.

Gemma’s photo made it into the voting round because it illustrated several eco-friendly principles. Gemma won second place in the contest because her photo received 186 total votes - the second highest number of all entries in the contest.

Here is the information Gemma submitted on her entry form, illustrating how she helps to make a positive difference to the local environment by creating an eco-friendly landscape.

Which eco-friendly practices are represented in this picture?: Eco-friendly plant choices, Water conservation techniques, Elimination of chemicals, Creation of wildlife habitat , Reduction or replacement of lawn areas

How does this photograph illustrate eco-friendly lawn and garden practices?: This photo of my shade garden shows many eco-friendly practices! You can see a wide range of native & shade-loving plants; use of mulch to reduce weeds & the amount of watering needed; plants that attract wildlife (birds, rabbits and insects); and replacement of lawn area (an on-going project).

Plants include ferns, bleeding heart, wood poppy, coral bells, redbud saplings, dwarf crested iris, rudbeckia, turtlehead (white and pink), lambs ear and hostas.

You also can see the base of a beautiful & massive Willow Oak, which provides a great deal of habitat for wildlife of all sorts, as well as plenty of leaves for my compost pile.

What you can’t see in the picture, that I am happy about, is any English ivy – an ongoing project is hand-pulling the darn stuff. You also can’t see the compost that has been included in the bed. I compost at home, and also purchase locally-made compost (and mulch) from the City of College Park.

I feel good using it, knowing that it didn’t travel more than a mile to get to my garden!

Thanks so much to Gemma, Nancy and to all of our other entrants!

1st Place Winner – Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo Contest

The Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog sponsors would like to congratulate Nancy Striniste of Arlington, Virginia – our first place winner in the Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo Contest.

Participants were asked to submit photos reflecting eco-friendly landscaping practices. Qualifying photos were then moved into the voting round, where site visitors could vote for their favorite photo.

Nancy Striniste was the first place winner, receiving a total of 261 votes for her photo entitled Living Roof and Front Yard Habitat Garden.

Here is the information Nancy submitted on her entry form, illustrating how Nancy helps to make a positive difference to the local environment by creating an eco-friendly landscape.

Which eco-friendly practices are represented in this picture?: Eco-friendly plant choices, Water conservation techniques, Reduction of stormwater runoff , Elimination of chemicals, Creation of wildlife habitat , Reduction or replacement of lawn areas

How does this photograph illustrate eco-friendly lawn and garden practices?: When we added our front porch in 2006, we couldn’t resist trying a living roof which would capture and clean stormwater, keep the porch below cool and comfy, and be soft and beautiful. This month there are iceplants, sedum and talinum in beautiful bloom on the roof. We’ve replaced our front lawn with a certified wildlife habitat—including North American natives such as Inkberry, Winterberry, Clethra, Itea, Oakleaf Hydrangea and a big patch of Echinacea which you can see in front of the fence— teaming with butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects—and later with flocks of goldfinches. Just to the left of the porch is a rain chain, and behind that is a rainbarrel and a new two-bin composter where we’re making rich mulch for the gardens. To the right of the driveway is a raingarden planted with natives, which captures about 50% of our roof water. The most recent addition, right in the center, sitting on the wall, is a tongue drum with a sign that says “PLAY ME”. It has become a favorite stop for neighborhood kids and it’s really fun to hear their music.

Congratulations Nancy, and thanks for doing such a great job creating an eco-friendly landscape. We know that your actions benefit us all.

We’ll have a post about our second place winner, Gemma Evans, tomorrow.

Green Gardener Photo Contest - It's Time to Vote!

Is a picture worth 1000 words? Help us pick a winner

 

Here at the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog, we are always trying to spread the word about the many benefits of Green, eco-friendly gardening.

 

We’ve had some great photos entered into our Green Gardeners Make a Difference photo contest and now we would like your help in picking our winners.

 

There are 18 photos, of 18 yards, which have been advanced into the voting round of the contest. All of the photos meet the requirements of the contest, which were to show at least one of these eco-friendly principles:

 

• Eco-friendly plant choices (ie: Right plant/right place, waterwise plants, native plant species)
•  Water conservation techniques – ( Rain gardens, rain barrels, mulch to retain water, drip irrigation, etc.)
•  Reduction of stormwater runoff – (rain gardens, rain barrels, downspout redirection, permeable surfaces)
•  Elimination of chemicals – (hand weeding, beneficial insects, compost)
•  Creation of wildlife habitat – (such as butterfly garden, berry laden plants, etc.)
•  Reduction or replacement of lawn areas

If the eco-friendly principle doesn’t seem obvious in the photo, please be assured that the entrants did list the principles when they submitted their photos. We know all of the great benefits that these properties provide and we are thrilled that these gardeners have decided to share their “green” efforts with our readers.

 

We hope that you will help us encourage more Green Gardeners by adding your comments to the photos, sharing them with your friends and voting on your favorites.

 

Click on a photo Title to read more information, to add a comment, or to share it. There is a button to share the photos on Facebook, but you can also add the link to Twitter or to your Pinterest Board to help get more votes.

 

Remember, you only get ONE vote per day, through July 13th, so be sure to ask all of your family and friends to add their votes!

 

I love them all, but I’m not allowed to vote!!

June 15th is Nature Photography Day

  In 2006, the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) celebrated the first Nature Photography Day. The day was designated to not only promote the enjoyment of nature photography, but to show how photographs can be used to help advance the cause of conservation and protect plants, wildlife, and landscapes.

Today, on the seventh annual Nature Photography Day, we all have the opportunity to use our cameras to explore and share the beauty of the natural world around us, and perhaps to help influence others to see and appreciate that beauty as we do.

NANPA encourages everyone to get out in nature this weekend and to share your photos on their  Nature Photography Day page. Theirs isn’t a contest, but just a spot to share a favorite photo of nature that was taken on June 15th, 2012.

While you have your camera in hand, I encourage you to take a closer look at your own yard and take your best shot to help further the cause of conservation, by showing the beauty of the plants, wildlife and landscape of your own yard.

Our Green Gardeners Make a Difference event IS a contest, and you have the chance to win great prizes. The contest is free, so you have nothing to lose! Top winners will be chosen by online voting, so even if you don’t think you have the best photo or the best garden to show off, our voters (including your friends and family) might disagree.

Whether you enter or not, I hope you enjoy taking a closer look at the nature that you have all around you, in your own home landscape.

I took the above photo in my front yard this morning. Although I can’t enter the Green Gardener photo contest myself, this photo would be eligible to enter for several reasons: it’s a photo of a gulf fritillary caterpillar (indicating I don’t use pesticides) on a native passion vine (native plants), in one of my butterfly gardens (wildlife habitat). All of those things are great steps for a Green Gardener!

Five days to enter. Fantastic odds of winning a prize

There are only 5 days left to enter the Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo Contest and the odds of winning a prize are fantastic!

Currently, there are only SEVEN entries in the contest!! Which means one of those entries will walk away with the top prize of $700 worth of garden goodies! Second place prizewinner will receive $400 worth of garden goodies. And keep in mind that the winner can choose to receive a garden center gift certificate instead of the great prizes that we have chosen!

The rules are simple. Take a photo of your home landscape depicting any of the following eco-friendly gardening practices. If you aren’t sure whether your yard will qualify, I’ve provided links to some blog posts that better explain some of these principles.

• Eco-friendly plant choices (ie: Right plant/right place, waterwise plants, native plant species)  - choosing suitable plants means that your landscape will require less water and less chemicals to maintain
• Water conservation techniques – ( Rain gardens, rain barrels, mulch to retain water, drip irrigation, etc.)
• Reduction of stormwater runoff – (rain gardens, rain barrels, downspout redirection, permeable surfaces)
• Elimination of chemicals – (hand weeding, beneficial insects, compost)
• Creation of wildlife habitat – (such as butterfly garden, berry laden plants, etc.)
• Reduction or replacement of lawn areas

Write a short description explaining which of the six eco-friendly practices your photo represents.

All photos that meet these rules will be moved into the next round where they can be voted on by friends and family.

For more information, visit the contest website: http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/211893

Good luck!

Disconnect and redirect – Earn $50 and enter our photo contest

I often mention the problems that can be caused when rainfall from our roofs flows directly into storm drains. Even during short rainfalls, a huge volume of water rushing in from streets, parking lots, and other paved areas can contribute to flooding and sewer overflows in waterways such as Rock Creek, the Anacostia and the Potomac Rivers.

To help alleviate this problem, the District Department of the Environment and Rock Creek Conservancy are sponsoring The Downspout Initiative: a do-it-yourself rebate program to offer District residents $50, per downspout, for the disconnection and redirection of downspouts which are contributing to this problem.

If the downspouts on your home or garage are directly connected to a storm drain pipe, or if the water flow is  directed to hard surfaces, they may be contributing to stormwater problems.

By disconnecting downspouts and re-directing the rainfall to lawns, into gardens, mulched areas, or trees, District homeowners can help water sink into the ground, nourishing landscapes, and naturally infiltrate back into the earth.

The Downspout Initiative website provides step by step instructions for disconnecting your downspout and applying for your $50 rebate.

AND, since you have to provide before and after photos of your downspout disconnection and redirection process, keep in mind that the AFTER photo would be a great entry in our Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo contest, in which we are encouraging home gardeners to share photos of their “green” gardens.

For more information about the Downspout Initiative rebates, visit the Rock Creek Conservancy page: The Downspout Initiative

For more information about the Green Gardeners Make a Difference photo contest, visit the contest page on Facebook. 

Help show the world – Green Gardeners DO Make a Difference

Metro DC is often earning accolades for everything from green buildings, green roofs, green energy and even green college campuses.  But we, of the Metro DC Lawn and Garden Blog,  think it’s time to recognize the individuals who are doing their part to help protect the planet from their own homes and yards – the area’s “green” gardeners.

Beginning  May 25^th, 2012, the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog is launching the Green Gardeners Make a Difference Photo Contest for residents of the Metro DC area.

Participants can take a photo of a “green”, eco-friendly aspect of their home landscape, and enter it online. Judges will advance all qualified entrants into a final round, where website visitors get to vote for their favorites. Winners of the contest will win one of two great prize packages.

If you want to join in the fun (and help show the world that Green Gardeners DO Make a Difference), take a photo of your home landscape depicting as many of the following eco-friendly gardening practices as you can, in one photo:

• Eco-friendly plant choices (ie: Right plant/right place, waterwise plants, native plant species)
• Water conservation techniques – ( Rain gardens, rain barrels, mulch to retain water, drip irrigation, etc.)
• Reduction of stormwater runoff – (rain gardens, rain barrels, downspout redirection, permeable surfaces)
• Elimination of chemicals – (hand weeding, beneficial insects, compost)
• Creation of wildlife habitat – (such as butterfly garden, berry laden plants, etc.)
• Reduction or replacement of lawn areas

Write a short description explaining which of the six eco-friendly practices your photo represents. Keep in mind that some things can represent more than one principle.

Enter your photo and you’ll be on your way to a chance at winning some great garden goodies!

Only one photo per person is allowed, so make sure you read the full rules before uploading your image.

Good luck!