Join Barnegat Bay Partnership, OCSCD and RCE for our 2020 Jersey-Friendly Yards Webinar Series: Wild About Jersey-Friendly Yards. On September 1, join us for Attracting Birds to Your Jersey-Friendly Yard. Native plants are the key to attracting birds to your yard. They provide the habitat, food, shelter and nesting places that birds need to survive. By creating a landscape of beautiful plants that are compatible with our native soils, you can make your yard a low-maintenance, chemical-free oasis for the birds! Presenter: Becky Laboy, Education Outreach Specialist, OCSCD. Registration required. For more information contact Karen Walzer kwalzer@ocean.edu.

An attractive and productive lawn and garden starts with getting to know your soil. This program will teach you the basics about soil, so you can start building a healthy foundation for your garden. Presented by Becky Laboy, Education Outreach Specialist, on September 9 at 7pm. Pre-registration required.

Get the scoop on your soil by taking a soil test. Find out the importance of testing your soil, how to conduct a soil test, and how to interpret the results to keep your lawn and garden healthy and happy. Presented by Dr. Stephanie Murphy, Director of the Rutgers Soil testing Laboratory, on September 24 at 7pm. Pre-registration required.

Soil compaction is a major problem impacting your lawn and garden. Learn what causes soil compaction, how it affects soil health, and how to correct soil compaction in the home landscape. Presented by Dr. Steve Yergeau, County Agent with Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic and Ocean Counties, on October 8 at 7pm. Pre-registration required.

For more information please call 732-505-3671 or email tbecker@co.ocean.nj.us

Join Barnegat Bay Partnership, OCSCD and RCE for our 2020 Jersey-Friendly Yards Webinar Series: Wild About Jersey-Friendly Yards. On September 15, join us for Wild About Composting. Compost and leaves are great resources for gardeners and provide an excellent source of food and shelter for animals. Sandra Blain-Snow will discuss how to invite a host of animals, birds and beneficial insects into your yard by recycling organic materials. Stop bagging leaves and taking them to the curb and start building a wildlife sanctuary in your Jersey Friendly Yard. Presenter: Sandra Blain-Snow, Recycling Program Aide, Ocean County Department of Solid Waste Management. Registration required. For more information contact Karen Walzer kwalzer@ocean.edu.

Join Barnegat Bay Partnership, OCSCD and RCE for our 2020 Jersey-Friendly Yards Webinar Series: Wild About Jersey-Friendly Yards. On September 29, join us for How and When to Clean-up the Winter Wildlife Garden. From the perspective of a life-long naturalist intimate with the workings of the natural world, Pat Sutton will share countless common-sense garden maintenance techniques that will help property owners avoid common practices that actually harm rather than benefit wildlife. Presenter: Pat Sutton, Educator and Naturalist, Pat Sutton’s Wildlife Garden. Registration required. For more information contact Karen Walzer kwalzer@ocean.edu. Photo by Tony Hisgett

Join BTMUA for the final program in their Weekend at the Reservoir series this summer. On September 10 from 7:00-8:00pm, Ann Earon will present Fall - Putting Your Garden to Sleep. Learn how to prepare your garden for the fall and winter seasons. For questions and to register, contact Shari Kondrup at skondrup@brickmua.com

In case you missed our program, Combating Climate Change with a Jersey-Friendly Yard, on July 23, hosted by the Pinelands Commission, you can click to access a live recording, and watch it at your leisure on YouTube. No password needed.

In case you missed our program, Creature Feature: Shorebirds of New Jersey, on July 14, hosted by Jaques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, you can click to access a live recording, and watch it at your leisure. Password: CgCp33Zt

In case you missed our program, Introduction to Jersey-Friendly Yards, on July 7, hosted by the Barnegat Bay Partnership, you can click to access a live recording, and watch it at your leisure. Password: Wildwebinar1

In case you missed our program, Don't Treat Your Soil Like Dirt! on June 25, hosted by the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, you can click to access a live recording, and watch it at your leisure. Password: 0a.78+!8

In case you missed our program, Unique Plants & Wildflowers of Barrens and Bogs on June 4, hosted by the Pinelands Commission, you can click to access a live recording, and watch it at your leisure on YouTube. No password needed.

Fall is when a 'super generation' of Monarchs travel 3,000 miles south to Mexico to wait out the winter. Along the way they require nectar for energy and milkweed to create a super-family of migrants, thousands strong. If you have native flowering perennials and native milkweed in your yard, it's likely you have Monarchs fluttering about, sipping nectar from your flowers and laying eggs on your milkweed.

Although Monarchs are common across the world, the subspecies known as Danaus plexippus plexippus is the only one that engages in this great North American migration, and this population is severely declining.

To learn more about Monarchs, their migration, and how you can support their populations, link to National Geographic, MonarchWatch, Journey North, Jersey-Friendly Yards and NJDEP.