Episode Details

What if a well-manicured lawn isn’t the end all be all? What if it’s actually harming the local habitat? Doug Tallamy is the co-founder of Home Grown National Park. It’s a non-profit that urges property owners to reduce their lawns and plant native plants. He shares all the little things we can do to help restore functioning ecosystems and mitigate the biodiversity crisis. And: Quarry Gardens is the first and only native plant botanical garden in Virginia. It started off as a soapstone quarry. Now it's an environmental gem with a beautiful quarter mile loop boasting over 500 species of native plants. Devin Floyd takes us on a tour of the gardens - showing off the quarry pits and the ancient ecosystems he calls lost worlds. Later in the show: The Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline is a toll-free number people can call to report things like run-ins with bears or complain about raccoon intruders. Jim Parkhurst studies the data from the hundreds of calls to the helpline. He breaks down the ways we humans can better co-exist with wildlife.