Garden and Home

Rain gardens offer an opportunity to work with nature to restore balance, using the contours of the land to capture water that flows to lower elevations. The plants’ roots absorb rainwater and nitrogen runoff, while the soil filters particulates before they end up in our waterways. And rain gardens are also a way to ameliorate the dramatic loss of 3 billion birds in North America over the past 50 years.

Like helicopters and jets, leaf blowers have long been the bane of many a South Fork resident’s existence, each one a portable spewer of pollutants and source of ear-splitting noise. But in towns and villages alike, enough residents got angry and organized, and governments listened. Today, the use of leaf blowers is restricted across the South Fork.

Where some see weeds, others, like Jill Musnicki of Sag Harbor, see "a hotbed of glorious biodiversity," to borrrow a phrase from The Guardian. Her front yard has been carefully cultivated into a pollinator garden with native plants undesirable to some but "a miracle" to bees, butterflies, birds, and all kinds of beneficial insects.

In the Northeastern United States, at least, these blossoms — whether red, pink, peach, yellow, white, or some combination of all — are at peak perfection starting in late May through June. As you stroll about, drive around town, or even take the train, here are some South Fork spots where you can find this favorite flower.

On the list of milestones that allow you, force you even, to reflect back on your life, moving is right up near the top. Efficient packing and smart planning can reduce the angst just a little bit.

Who better to understand the power of collaborations between brands than two women with backgrounds in the fashion industry, which seems to rely on the constant merging of brands? With 100 Design Style, Nikki Butler and Brigitte Branconnier created an interior design company that seems to strike the perfect balance between layout, light, color, tactile materials, and a connection to nature.

Budbreak — when wine grapes’ winter buds open and begin to release their woolly leaves — has unfurled across the East End, perhaps inspiring people to dream of growing wine grapes of their own.

To make your backyard bird-friendly, you'll need to think like a bird when making landscaping decisions.

What are pollinator gardens and why are so many people talking about them right now? The idea, according to the organizers of the Pollinator Pathway movement, is to manage backyards without pesticides and with native plantings so they can connect with parks and preserves, creating a sort of bird and insect “refuge corridor,” an "archipelago" of habitats.

Priya Kapoor Lasky started her business, Own Retreat, based on a simple question: If you desire peace in your life, why not create a dedicated space in which to seek it? She is referring to Zen, meaning a sense of calm, quiet focus, often derived from Buddhism and other philosophies in Asian and South Asian cultures.

These small, sunny flowers, scorned by many keepers of the East End's rambling stretches of unbroken green lawn, are looked down upon as weeds — but at what cost?

The Star's Hunter-Gatherer has gone shopping for things that can be useful inside and outside. They'll bring the spirit of outside inside, and the comfort of inside outside — yes, you can have it both ways.