by Suzanne Buchauer
On May 14th, 2025, the Upper Nyack Green Committee held a landscaping event in the Old Stone Meeting House, in Upper Nyack, NY. It was very fun to connect with people, hear from different perspectives and learn from each other. Each speaker brought in passion and enthusiasm for their topics and it was truly rich in content and a pleasure. There was a lively Q&A and discussion after the presentations and lots of opportunity to make new contacts and further learn or join in.
This is a summary of the Upper Nyack Green Committee Landscaping Event with links to articles and videos.
Harry Vetter, Chair of the Upper Nyack Green Committee, spoke about some of what the Upper Nyack Green Committee has achieved for our village:
A BRONZE CERTIFIED CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY!
- Encouraging gardening with native plants and plants for pollinators
- Promoting the transition to renewable energy
- Recent workshops on EV’s and Heat Pumps
- Advocating for composting
- Championing campaigns such as Community Solar
- $70,000 in funding for Village projects such as solar panels on the DPW building
- Secured free energy audits of two village buildings
- Petition to reduce “noisy season” by curtailing seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers
- Planning to launch Street Tree Planting campaign
Patty Mann brought in information on Native Species. She has actively done research and is using this information on her own property, with great success, as many noticed during the tour of her garden on May 10th, 2025.
Patty’s article and compilations of native plant links, called: Why Plant Native? And What to Plant, can be found here.
Suzanne Buchauer, will be giving a tour of her do-it-yourself (DIY), 10-year landscaping project, on Saturday, June 28th at 10:00, at her residence (216 Wanamaker Lane). During the tour, you can see exactly what Suzanne spoke about during the alternative landscaping event, namely:
- 10-year do-it-yourself (DIY) landscaping project on private property
- Saving oak trees project and the very large trees/forest strip on private lot—over 50 trees and over 25 varieties.
- Personal protection tips from poison ivy, ticks and other biting bugs.
- Backyard pollinator pathway and butterfly garden
- Backyard composting of fruit and veggie—what works and easy tips!
- Leaf composting ideas and how to use leaves in the landscape—leaving the leaves!
- Organic mowing ideas—mow with high setting and often, to self-fertilize grass
Dana Harkrider, Founder of the Nyack Pollinator Pathway, brought in the following three minute video on pollinator pathways—it is very inspiring, knowing that each of us can make a difference, by planting certain trees, shrubs and flowers in our community, at our work and at home, as we can:
To learn more and join the pollinator pathway effort at your home/work or in your community, please learn more here:
Sue Ridge, from the Gardening Club of Nyack, spoke about the garden club work and the butterfly garden located at Memorial Park—Nyack, New York
To learn more about the Gardening Club of Nyack, please go to:
http://gardenclubofnyack.com
Marcy Denker gave us an overview of her work with The Nyack Tree Project, a community forestry partnership between local volunteers that has coordinated the planting and maintenance of approximately 400 trees along Nyack streets and in the parks since 2016.
Find out how to donate to the project at: https://nyackparks.org/nyacktreeproject
Contact us to participate at: NyackTreeProject@gmail.com
Nyack Tree Project FB page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068874784349
Nyack2030.com is the website for the Village of Nyack’s climate action initiatives. Visit the website to learn about projects and explore the Nyack2030 Climate Action Plan. The Natural Resources chapter starting on page 42 describes the vision of sustainable landscapes and just the kind of community partnerships to build local expertise exemplified in the workshop.
Below is the full Nyack Climate Project 2030 document:
Happy landscaping, everybody!
Upper Nyack Green Committee 