Smart Landscapes Videos

Roof Garden

Here’s a neat gardening challenge for you: Growing plants -- on a roof. Roof gardens have actually been 
around for centuries, and they do a lot of good things for the environment, including reducing flooding, reducing urban heat temperatures, increasing building energy efficiency, 
and a host of other benefits.

In this video, we will show you how we recently constructed a small green roof over the porch area of an outdoor storage shed. 


 

Drought-Tolerant Landscapes

If watering your garden during the hot dry summer months is a problem, you might consider planting a drought-tolerant garden next year. Drought-tolerant landscapes, also known as xeriscapes, feature plants that need little water.

In this video we’ll show you how to make a xeriscape garden, to help get rid of the sparsely growing lawn In this Mississippi front yard.


 

Pollinator Gardens

For many gardeners, the joy of being in the garden is often found in seeing all the butterflies, bees and moths that animate the landscape. But these hard-working bugs do more than just look beautiful, they do the important job of pollinating our flowers and food crops.
 
Now, more than any other time, however….they need your help! Bee and butterfly species are declining nationwide due to habitat loss, disappearing plant species, and pesticides. 
 
This video offers a beautiful way to help - simply grow more flowering plants in your garden.


 

How to Make a Bug Hotel

This video will show you how to make a bug hotel. Bug hotels, like these, will encourage good garden bugs to winter in the garden by giving them a place to hibernate and nest over the colder months, so they’ll ready to help in the spring.


 

Toad Abodes

Toads are a familiar sight in many Mississippi landscapes, and can be encouraged to take up residence in your garden by creating miniature houses or “toad abodes.” These beneficial amphibians are a welcome addition to the home garden as they eat a wide variety of insects and small invertebrates.


 

 

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Publications

Publication Number: P2330
Publication Number: P3660

News

Filed Under: Community, Family, Lawn and Garden, Landscape Architecture, Smart Landscapes, Natural Resources January 17, 2024

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- Fans of The History Channel’s “Forged in Fire” can see season-six champion Seth Borries demonstrating his skills in person during Forge Day at The Crosby Arboretum. Forge Day will be held Jan. 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Picayune. This family-friendly event highlights the historic and modern uses of the forge.

Filed Under: Lawn and Garden, Landscape Architecture, Smart Landscapes, Natural Resources October 19, 2023

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Piney Woods Heritage Festival will be held at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum Nov. 4 to celebrate the region’s heritage. The 21st annual event offers various displays and demonstrations for the public. The event begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m.

Filed Under: Insects, Insect Identification, Lawn and Garden, Plants and Wildlife, Smart Landscapes, Places for Wildlife, Natural Resources September 13, 2023

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- School groups, nature enthusiasts and the public can enjoy two fun-filled days of exciting, hands-on learning about the environment, ecosystems, wildlife and insects at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. BugFest offers insect-related displays, interactive exhibits, games and crafts. Biologists, naturalists, entomologists and other experts from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama will host booths and give presentations on butterflies, bats, caterpillars, beetles, crayfish, ladybugs, hissing cockroaches, dancing praying mantises, native and exotic arthropods and more.

Success Stories

The grant was awarded to Dr. Eric Sparks, director of the MSU Coastal and Marine Extension Program, and a team from the MSU Extension Service, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, The Nature Conservancy, Harte Research Institute, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, and the PEW Charitable Trusts.
Volume 9 Number 2

Mississippi State University and partners have been awarded a grant of nearly $6.6 million from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation for shoreline restoration work on the Gulf Coast.

A man standing in a harvested field.
Volume 9 Number 2

Sledge Taylor is no stranger to cover crops —he first planted vetch on 100 acres of his Panola County farmland in 1979—but he has ramped up his cover crop usage and added other sustainable agricultural practices over the past 15 years.

A man stands in a wooden shed holding parts to a soil sensor system.
Volume 8 Number 2

Brian Andrus irrigated exactly zero times on his Sunflower County farm in 2021. He didn’t even turn on his well.

 

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