Wild parsnip or poison parsnip can spread quickly and it can take over a meadow or field. This reduces the biodiversity in that field of the plants and the insect and other wildlife. The sap can also give you a really nasty burn or rash, especially if you get it on your skin on a sunny day.

Safely remove wild parsnip to increase biodiversity and avoid a nasty burn from its sap.

Each week, Charlie Nardozzi joins Vermont Public’s Mary Engisch for a conversation about gardening, and to answer your questions about what you're seeing in the natural world.

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Some garden plants grow quite large and take up lots of space, like cucumbers and pumpkins. But summer squash — like zucchini and yellow crookneck — can be grown vertically if you have limited real estate in your garden.

Go vertical to save space when growing summer squash this season

Their heady fragrance can transport you; plant tall or smaller flowering shrubs for color and scent all season.

Plant some flowering shrubs close to your house so you can enjoy their color and fragrance for years

The trend of "No Mow May" follows the logic that leaving your whole lawn unmowed for the month can help pollinators. The birds, bugs and bees will use the overgrown weeds and flowers as food and shelter. Instead of doing this for a month then mowing it all down, consider dedicating a small portion of your yard to pollinators for the whole season.

Mow or no? Some lawncare tips to benefit pollinators

This Earth Day, embrace some more Earth friendly gardening practices, like reusing plastic pots, forgoing pesticides and planting pollinator friendly lawns.

Honoring Earth Day through everyday gardening habits

With bigger and more frequent rain events brought on by human-caused climate change, you can either raise up your garden or try planting things that thrive in wetter conditions.

Safely remove wild parsnip to increase biodiversity and avoid a nasty burn from its sap.

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