On Sunday, July 13, nearly 30 homeowners across Northern Westchester County will open their gardens to the public as part of the fifth annual Northern Westchester Pollinator Garden Tour. These homeowners use earth-friendly landscaping practices designed to support pollinators and restore ecological balance in their yards.This free self-guided tour highlights gardens that use healthy, sustainable practices and aims to raise awareness about how residents can make a meaningful impact—right at home. The naturalistic gardening approach on display is a growing trend nationwide among both landscape professionals and homeowners.
The theme of this year’s tour is “Less Lawn, More Life,” inspired by the national challenge encouraging property owners to reduce turfgrass in favor of native plantings and habitat-rich spaces.
Earth-friendly gardens offer a range of environmental benefits: they provide essential habitat for pollinators, improve water and air quality, and help fight climate change by sequestering carbon. In contrast to traditional landscaping—which often relies on large lawns, exotic plants, and chemical inputs—
What defines earth-friendly landscaping? Practices include avoiding pesticides (except in specific cases), planting native species, reducing lawn areas, composting, mulch mowing, rewilding, and creating meadowscapes, among others.
“The gardens on the tour aren’t all ‘showpiece’ gardens—though some are truly lovely—but every one of them supports nature in ways that help our struggling birds, bees, and butterflies,” said Fiona Mitchell of Healthy Yards, a co-organizer of the event.
For more information and to access the garden map, visit www.healthyyards.org/tour.
URL for the tour map
