Rebekah Perkins -Silver Louisiana Certified Habitat

Rebekah's yard has been undergoing a transformation since she moved here a

few years ago. Her background in environmental science motivated her to

evaluate what was worth keeping and what had to go. We applaud her for the

heavy work of removing dozens of invasive, mature ligustrums as her first step in

improving the habitat. She also cleared an area that what was once a lined pond,

and kept some of the liner to hold water for a rain garden to support the

amphibians who live there. She added buttonbush, clematis, pickerelweed, irises,

and river oats. A majestic live oak is a centerpiece of the yard, under which she is

nursing basket grass and other shade loving covers. She kept the cross vine,

muscadine and elderberry that were already here, as well as non-native camellias

along a path she created with stepping stones and edging. She mulches with her

(and her neighbors') abundant oak leaves, and has a compost bin out back for

other yard waste. Now that the ligustrums are gone, her goal is to keep reducing

lawn and increasing the number and size of her beds, which have already been

planted with a great diversity of shrubs and wildflowers. Most of the native plants

she added to the property were acquired from ANPP’s Teche Gardens

greenhouse in Arnaudville.