Healthy Yards co-founders open their gardens to visitors

This English cottage-style garden in Bedford, which features a wide variety of native perennials, shrubs and trees, will be open to visitors Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

This Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m., the gardens of Healthy Yards co-founders will be open to visitors. The gardens showcase two different ways to support pollinators and birds in a backyard. The event will take place rain or shine. 

One of the gardens, located at 36 Aspetong Road, Bedford, is a sunny sloping meadow with a small upland woodland habitat. This landscape is filled with plants that provide sustenance for wildlife. More than 2,000 species have been observed in this yard, including several first records of insects in Westchester. This garden has also produced a large share of the material for the annual Westchester seed and plant swap events. A plant propagation workshop will be held at 2 p.m.

An English perennial garden, located at 8 Sunset Drive, Bedford Hills, is an half-acre, cottage-style garden where, over the past seven years, about 70% of the lawn has been replaced with herbaceous beds. It features a wide variety of native perennials, shrubs and trees, with a focus on attracting insect and bird life. More than 50 bird species have been recorded there.

Visit healthyyards.org for more information.