Jessica Damiano is one of today’s leading voices in all things gardening. She’s a tireless advocate for the public, as evidenced by her weekly columns for the Associated Press and her award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Her wealth of expertise makes her an excellent source of unique and valuable gardening tips and advice, available through a subscription service. This on-demand, streaming service provides fans of gardening with the tools they need to grow their talents and skills— all from home.
In her latest talks, Damiano lays out the importance of native trees as the centerpiece of a healthy ecosystem. She notes that these trees are a necessity for caterpillars, a crucial protein source further up the food web. Celebrated entomologist Doug Tallamy reminds us that we need to be nurturing these insects throughout all the stages of their development.
We’re a big proponent of native trees for generating the caterpillars that produce the base of that food web,” Tallamy said. He stresses that these caterpillars eventually come down from the trees to pupate in the soil. How humans landscape under these trees makes a huge difference in their ability to withstand environmental pressure.
“We want uncompacted areas where we’re not walking, which means planting beds around our trees,” he explained. “If you’re mowing or walking under them, you’re squishing all those caterpillars.”
Damiano’s advice pairs nicely with Tallamy’s guidance on how individuals can help to restore their local ecosystems. Among her many recommendations, she encourages gardeners to choose native plants that will bolster the food web. She notes that some species pass more carbon energy to other species than others.
“We need to select plants that are going to support the food web, the plants that are going to share the most energy with other living things,” Tallamy restated.
In her Weekly Dirt Newsletter, Damiano does much more than offer tips for improved gardening success. Her mission is to cultivate a culture of ecological responsibility. The new subscription service was created to empower people to better learn and apply sustainable gardening practices in their own gardens and backyards.
For those interested in enhancing their gardening knowledge and contributing to environmental conservation, Jessica Damiano’s subscription service is available at Weekly Dirt Newsletter.
