Yard & Habitat Certification

The movement to use native plants in landscaping has never been stronger. What is helping to strengthen that movement? It is thousands – even millions – of small actions like garden club talks; social media shares; articles in newsletters, hometown papers, and magazines; and neighbors talking to neighbors. We should never doubt the powerful impact of personal recommendations and stories in convincing others to make even small changes (“I planted milkweed and a monarch laid eggs on it!).

Photo courtesy of GNPS (gnps.org)

When it comes to informing neighbors of the changes we have made, we aren’t outside every minute. Instead we can show intention with signage that is visible all the time. Yard and Habitat certifications are available from a number of organizations. I could tell you all about them, including the one from the Georgia Native Plant Society, but another Georgia blogger did a great job in a two-part series describing why certifying your yard is a good idea as well as describing all the different types of certifications you can consider in Georgia.

I like how she points out that getting your yard certified benefits you as well by connecting you to more resources and helping you think more deeply about what benefits your landscape can offer to bees, butterflies, and birds. In addition, each yard certified strengthens the organization giving the certification, allowing them to demonstrate how much impact they provide as well. The Homegrown National Park organization is collecting numbers by state and by total acreage to showcase how many people are making changes.

So consider getting certified so you can let your yard do the talking when you’re not around.

Whether you are certified or not, you can still get your yard on the Homegrown National Park map. Learn more about their grassroots movement to convince one person at a time here.