Environmental

Double the plants in your landscape at no cost by dividing and transplanting your favorite plants to new locations. According to the Dallas County Master Gardener Association, a division of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, fall and spring are both great times to move perennials, as transplanting in the summer may cause too much stress on the plants.

The Richardson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association’s (RCPAAA) fall electronics recycling and document shredding event is taking place Oct. 25, so if you haven’t been collecting materials, now is a good time to start.

If you haven’t tried composting yet, fall is a great time to learn more about it, as fallen leaves (a great component of compost) are getting more plentiful. A large amount of space is not required; a composting bin can be as small as three feet wide. Materials to place inside include “browns” (brown leaves/grass, cardboard, newspaper) and “greens” (plant-based food scraps, green leaves/grass) in a 2:1 ratio.

With fall officially here, cooler temperatures typically bring more outdoor activities and with that comes a risk of more incidents of West Nile virus (WNV) infections—in fact, fall is considered the most active season for WNV infections. The City of Richardson tests mosquitoes each year from April through the end of October, and sprays areas if/where WNV is detected in mosquito samples.  

Animal Shelter staff would like to remind homeowners that this fall while you’re getting your property ready for a change in the season that it’s a good time to make sure it’s wildlife proofed as well, to keep wildlife intrusions and other problems at bay.   

Texas Pure, the regional composting/mulching facility that partners with the City of Richardson and four other area cities, is hosting its annual customer appreciation sale this month, taking place through Sept. 30.

Members of Richardson’s World Mission Society Church of God helped clean up trash from Foxboro Park last Sunday through Richardson’s Community & Corporate Environmental Cleanup Program. The program is open to any group who wants to help beautify Richardson. All supplies are provided, including gloves and trash tongs, and filled bags are picked up when the project is finished.   

The Dallas County Master Gardener Association, Inc. (DCMGA), a division of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, has released its Garden Task List for September.  

Monarch butterflies have begun their annual southbound migration, heading from Canada and the northern/Midwest U.S. to their winter home in Mexico, and have already been reported in the Dallas area. Richardson is a great place to spot them, as the City has been a Mayors’ Monarch Pledge city since 2015 (a program of the National Wildlife Federation), recognizing that the butterfly is an important part of our ecosystem.