Our mission at Yellow Springs Farm is to embrace conservation landscaping as a means towards protecting our land and water and to restore biodiversity.
We assist our clients with landscape design, habitat restoration and preservation using our expertise, native plants and organic and natural landscape care products.
Our focus on conservation landscaping comes from the knowledge that preservation of our environment, including waterways and woodlands in both our residential and rural areas is necessary to insure the future health of our planet and ourselves. Re-establishing native habitats with native plants and environmentally sensitive methods is a way to “conserve our landscapes” for the benefit of our water, air and environment.
Native plants are more hardy and adaptable to local soil and climate with less maintenance and have been demonstrated to be more attractive and necessary to our native insects, birds, and other wildlife species.
We offer over 200 varieties of trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses and ferns in nursery containers. We also sell plug trays for meadow restorations, as well as ball and burlap for larger installations. We also have the capability to contract grow material 1-2 years in advance of your project needs.
Our Background
Yellow Springs Farm Native Plant Nursery, founded by Catherine and Al Renzi, is located in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. The farm and nursery consists of an old farmhouse, dairy barn, a springhouse with pond on 8 acres of land.
If you tour the property, you will see different display areas that we have created, including a meadow, a rain garden, a wetland, pond and woodland area that we are in the process of restoring with native plants. We use these demonstration areas for client tours as well as for our ongoing research studies on native plants and their interaction in our environment. We hope to contribute to the science as well as the art of environmental education and conservation landscaping.
Our projects include residential and institutional landscapes, woodland restoration, rain gardens, meadow establishment and maintenance, invasive species identification and removal, streambank and stormwater retention basin management, pond restorations, and hardscaping.
Our customers and clients include homeowners, schools, state and local municipalities, churches and hospitals as well as other non-profit, private and public institutions.
Why Conservation Landscaping?
Continued residential and institutional real estate development results in stormwater runoff from streets and construction sites. Farms are a prime source of non-point source pollution such as fertilizers, manures, herbicides and pesticides. As residents and business owners, we are responsible for many water contaminants including sediment, sewage, fertilizers, pesiticdes, herbicides and motor oil. These pollutants eventually make their way to waterways and affect the native biodiversity that we depend on for clean air, soil, and water, and ultimately our food sources.
Conservation landscaping utilizes an environmentally friendly approach to design, plant selection and maintenance with the goals of providing wildlife habitat, improved air quality and less surface water run-off and better quality of life.
Some of the key benefits that Yellow Springs Farm products and services offer include:
- Use of locally derived native plants requiring less maintenance, as well as minimum amounts of fertilizers and pesticides
- Use of organic and natural soil amendments that do not run-off or leach out into our water or drainage systems
- Improve soil and air quality
- Provide habitat for birds, insects, reptiles and mammals
- Conserve water and improves water quality
- Realize the beauty of a naturalistic landscsape
Our Products and Services
- Nursery grown Native Plants including Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Ferns and Grasses for pick-up, via mail order or delivery to your site.
- Landscape Design, Installation and Maintenance for homeowners, estates, as well as private and public institutions
- Consulting for Landscape Design, Streambank and Pond Improvement, Soil Health, Habitat Restoration and Invasive Species Management
- Environmentally Friendly Products and Fertilizers for Soil, Gardens and Lawn Care-Safe for Children and Pets
- Pond, Stream Bank, Retention Basin, Woodland Restoration and Meadow Development and Maintenance
- Teaching, Public Speaking and Writing For Various Educational, Horticultural and Environmental Groups and Publications concerned with conservation landscaping, native plants and land stewardship
