Deep in the concrete jungle of New York City, in an exuberant community garden surrounded by tall buildings and enclosed by a chain-link fence, a sign proclaims that this block-long space is a certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat. Step inside. The birds are singing.

Certifications such as the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Habitat program are raising awareness of gardens as natural environments. Birds, butterflies, toads and turtles never pay any attention to signs when they are sizing up a garden, but official signs do the work of informing your neighborhood and community of your commitment to nature and the environment.

"Any kind of sign -- whether it shows your garden is a pesticide-free zone or a backyard wildlife habitat -- it's a signal to your neighbors that you are doing something different, and it defines what you're doing," says Kim Eierman, a horticultural consultant in New York. Eierman's company, EcoBeneficial, works with clients to improve their environmental footprint.

Eierman lives in a suburb of New York City where gardens are very small. "My message to folks is, 'If I can landscape for the environment, anybody can,'" she says. "A small lot can make a big difference."

You don't need credentials or experience to make your statement. The NWF's habitat program helps interested gardeners turn their backyards into spaces that offer wildlife food, shelter, water and places to raise their young. The NWF provides guidelines, tips and, above all, encouragement. If you have a few shrubs and a birdbath, you qualify. If you have more extensive landscaping -- a mixed-shrub border, a couple of trees, pretty flowers and a small brush heap, you're a first-class habitat gardener.

Besides the NWF, the Monarch Waystation program sponsored by Monarch Watch, which supports monarch butterfly research and conservation, encourages gardeners to make their own backyards a haven for monarchs. The Xerces Society's Pollinator Habitat program asks gardeners to "sign the pledge" to provide habitat for pollinators and protect them by avoiding the use of insecticides.

As is apparent from the emphasis of these programs, pollinators are particularly vulnerable. Modern farming practices, loss of habitat, and the widespread use of garden pesticides have all contributed to a decline in populations of bees, butterflies, birds, flies, bats and other pollinators. To increase awareness of the gravity of this situation, a number of conservation and garden groups have joined forces to form the National Pollinator Garden Network and sponsor a Million Pollinator Garden Challenge. Their goal is to register one million public and private gardens, parks and other properties whose owners are committed to growing plants rich in nectar and pollen to revive pollinator populations. The map of registered gardens on the network's website shows the impressive progress of their efforts.

Another group, The Pollinator Partnership, offers visitors to its website a virtual gardening tool: You can plant a window box for pollinators online. You can share your virtual window box on Facebook, to get the word out, and take your plant list to a garden shop so you can create the real thing. The Pollinator Partnership also offers a bee-friendly certification program for farmers.

In her business, Eierman advocates relying on native plants of all kinds, but she does not do so at the expense of good garden design. Garden paths, walls, patios and other hardscape features define a garden's spaces and give it much of its character. Within this context, plants need not all be trimmed and tailored, she says. For inspiration, she recommends the extensive plant lists available on the Xerces Society's website.

The first step toward making your garden a better ecosystem may be the decision to eliminate some of the lawn. "Typically, people cling to a lot more lawn than they could ever possibly use," Eierman says. "They don't think about how harmful it can be, especially if they are not managing it organically." A smaller lawn also saves you time and energy.

Eierman suggests creating what she calls a "pollinator victory garden" full of an assortment of flowers, with blooms from spring through frost, concentrating on pollinator-friendly plants in large groups to help sustain healthy populations of beneficial insects. A diverse planting makes any garden more beautiful. Milkweeds, hyssop, zinnias, cosmos, day lilies and joe-pye weed are among the many great flowers that will bring butterflies and other pollinators to your garden.

It's fine to grow nonnative plants, Eierman says, but native plants support native insects -- many of which depend completely on them. Trees and shrubs give the garden depth and character and also provide habitat.

The birds and the bees can't read signs, but they can read the signals you send them by planting a garden they will regard as an attractive habitat. The signs are really a statement for the benefit of your neighbors. Good things sometimes need to have attention called to them.

Sources

Official signs identifying your garden as a Wildlife Habitat, Honeybee Haven or Monarch Waystation, among other designations, are available from a number of organizations, all working to promote ecologically sound gardening practices and awareness of the importance of insects and other wildlife in our gardens.

The application processes are all online. It takes only a few minutes to click through the steps for qualification, and along the way you're likely to pick up a few great gardening ideas. The sturdy signs are available for a fee, and you'll have to mount them yourself on a fence or a post. Here are a few of the possibilities:

-- The National Wildlife Federation's Garden for Wildlife initiative spreads the word about habitat loss and promotes local, garden-scale efforts to increase habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. On the NWF website, nwf.org, you can learn about native plants and the conditions wildlife needs, certify your garden as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat, and purchase a sign.

-- Monarch Watch, monarchwatch.org, promotes butterfly gardening, especially for monarch butterflies, which are particularly threatened. A good monarch butterfly garden includes milkweed, which is the only food monarch caterpillars eat. Monarch butterflies are attracted to many different flowers, but the females lay their eggs only on milkweed. The website offers tips for butterfly gardeners, lists sources for milkweed plants and seeds, and takes visitors through the steps to make a garden a certified Monarch Waystation.

-- Beyond Pesticides, pesticidefreezone.org, sells ladybug and honeybee signs with the words "Pesticide Free Zone." The sign is also available in Spanish.

-- The Pesticide Action Network, panna.org, offers tips on bee-friendly gardening. Join the group and receive a "Honeybee Haven" sign.

-- The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge website, millionpollinatorgardens.org, is a rich source of information on pollinators and pollinator gardening for home gardeners, communities, schools and businesses. You can register your garden on the site. Signs, flags and banners are available at gardencentermarketing.com.

-- The Xerces Society, xerces.org, is dedicated to the protection of invertebrates, including butterflies, beetles and worms, as well as their habitats. The organization's pollinator conservation resources include books, regional plant lists, conservation guides and links to nurseries and garden shops that sell native plants.

-- Kim Eierman is the owner of EcoBeneficial, a horticultural communications and advisory business. She works with gardeners and businesses in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey to turn their gardens into ecologically smart landscapes that support birds and pollinators. Virtual landscape consulting for other regions is also available. Her website, ecobeneficial.com, includes videos and podcasts on garden ecology and sustainability, plus tips for turning your garden into a Pollinator Victory Garden.

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)

Rain barrels are hot garden accessories. A rain barrel connected to a downspout lets you collect 50 gallons or so of free water every time it rains. It's also the mark of an environmentally sensitive gardener. With a rain barrel, you're conserving a precious resource and setting a good example at the same time.

You can't count on a rain barrel to provide enough water for a big lawn, or to irrigate long rows of tomatoes or beans in a vegetable garden, but a barrel full of rainwater is enough to keep the plants on the porch watered and can give plenty of water to newly planted trees and shrubs. An attractive rain barrel by the porch makes you less likely to forget to attend to pots of flowers around the front door. As rain barrels have moved into the mainstream, designers have kept up with classy-looking models you'll be proud to put right out front.

City and county governments across the country have long championed rain barrels through partnerships and programs that provide them to homeowners -- sometimes free, sometimes at a discounted price -- to help them conserve water and to increase awareness not only of water's value, but also of its cost. In Fairfax County, Virginia, residents attending rain barrel workshops learn all about rain barrels, put one together on the spot, and go home with rain barrels of their own. In San Diego, a rain barrel rebate program rewards residents with up to $400 for installing rain barrels at their homes. Chicago's Metropolitan Water District offers a free rain barrel program. The water district of Portland, Oregon, sells residents discounted rain barrels. In Fort Worth, Texas, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) has taken up the cause, too, with a rain barrel promotion that attracts hundreds of participants twice a year.

"It's a perfect program," says Chris Chilton, BRIT's marketing director, echoing the observations of other groups. The rain barrel partnership with the Fort Worth Water Department also helps introduce residents to BRIT, which houses a million-specimen herbarium and is committed to conservation.

When you are trying to figure out where to set up a rain barrel in the garden, some of the decisions have already been made for you. The barrel doesn't just sit out there to collect the falling rain; it gathers it from an elevated, impervious surface -- in other words, a roof. The natural place for a rain barrel is just under the eaves of the house, connected to a downspout. You might be tempted to put the rain barrel right beside an outdoor spigot, but it would be better to put it where you do not otherwise have easy access to water. Of course, it is important to check local codes and the rules of your local homeowner's association before you settle on a spot for your rain barrel.

Most residential rain barrels are of modest size, holding up to about 55 gallons of water. An inch of rain on a typical 1,000-square-foot roof will channel more than 600 gallons of water into a home's downspouts. A good rain will provide more than enough water to fill a barrel. Overflow valves direct excess water away from the house and keep the water from pooling up around the barrel. If the overflow can be directed into a low-lying area, this is a good place for a rain garden full of attractive plants that tolerate moist soil. Rain gardens allow the water to seep back into the soil instead of washing off into storm drainage systems.

A rain barrel full of water weighs more than 400 pounds, so give it a firm, level foundation. Raising a rain barrel a foot or so off the ground also makes it easier to get to the spigot (which is at the bottom of the barrel). A pad of cinder blocks or pavers will support a rain barrel nicely, or you could make a platform with two-by-four lumber and sturdy corner posts (several plans for platforms are available on the internet).

You can attach a hose to the rain barrel's spigot, but your barrel will not have enough pressure to run a sprinkler. It's easier to use the hose to fill a watering can (remember, a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds) and carry the water to your plants.

If you live in an area with watering restrictions, rain barrels save the day. You can't turn on a hose on no-water days, but as long as there is rain in your barrel, you can water to your heart's content.

Rainwater is also better for your plants than treated municipal water -- it contains none of the salts, minerals or chemicals that have to be added to city water, but it naturally contains nitrate, a form of nitrogen easily accessible to plants.

You'll definitely save some money on your water bill when you rely on a rain barrel as one source of water for your garden -- but the investment you make in a rain barrel goes beyond money. When you make room for a barrel in your garden, you're taking a stand for conservation and sustainability, protecting your local watershed by reducing storm-water runoff, and saving energy that would otherwise have been used to treat and pipe water to your garden. In a world of limited resources, it's something to bank on.

SIDEBAR

Rain Barrels and Vegetable Gardens

There is some controversy about whether rainwater collected in a barrel is safe to use on a vegetable garden. Rutgers University Extension tested rainwater running into barrels from asphalt roofing and found that the water quality was fine, but the experts suggested adding one ounce of bleach to a 55-gallon rain barrel once a month, then waiting 24 hours before using the water, to allow the chlorine in the bleach to dissipate into the atmosphere. Rain barrel water is not officially considered potable.

For more information: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/fs1218/

SOURCES

-- Great-looking rain barrels (and the supplies you'll need to set them up) are available from mail-order specialists and building supply stores. One source for rain barrels is Gardener's Supply Co., gardeners.com.

-- For more on do-it-yourself rain barrel projects, see the website of BlueBarrel Rainwater Catchment Systems, bluebarrelsystems.com, for barrels, plans and information.

-- To find out about your area's rain barrel programs, contact your local water department, or Google "rain barrel program" and the name of your city, or "rain barrel rebate" and the name of your city or county.

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)

Even if you don't own your home, you can have a wonderful garden of your own. Renters don't have as many options as homeowners might, but they can still have a lot of fun.

No matter where you live, a well-cared-for garden sets a good example for the neighborhood, and most landlords are delighted to have tenants interested in keeping the place spruced up and attractive. But is it OK to dig holes in a yard you don't own? Before you grab a spade, you should probably have a conversation with your landlord.

For this conversation, a quick garden plan -- or even pictures from magazines -- might be very compelling. Let the landlord know your plan to make the most of what is already there. If your rental property has trees on it, don't propose a sunny garden that would require major tree work (and would introduce the question of who should do the job or pay for it). Plan a shade garden, instead, with hostas and other shade-loving plants in pots or in the ground. In sunny gardens, there are lots of easy plants for your rental garden paradise. Reblooming day lilies are one good choice. They're easy to grow, and they bloom off and on all summer: The small plants you set out this year will double in size -- and in the number of blooms -- by next year. If you move, you can divide the plants, leaving some as your horticultural legacy to the next tenant.

Flowerpots and planters are the renter's natural allies. A pot on the front porch adds a cheerful note and doesn't require digging. Pots can be planted with cheerful annual flowers, or you could try shrubs in pots. A potted rose or hydrangea will look beautiful the moment you finish planting, and these shrubs are easy to take care of. For extra color, you could find space for a six-pack of annual flowers around the edge of the pot. Simple plantings, with just one or two plants in a pot, aren't a compromise; they're streamlined and stylish.

When you're designing your rental property garden, think of the garden spaces as you would a comfortable room in the house. You need a place to sit, a table, some lighting, and perhaps some colorful accents. If you can, invest in great garden furniture. You can take it with you, and it will look good wherever you go. A pleasing coffee table can be put together with a large, beautiful fieldstone raised on cinder blocks. The raw materials are available at building and garden supply stores.

Being outside in the evening is one of the great pleasures of a garden, and lighting the garden is a snap with classic bistro lights. The lights can be strung along the eaves, wound around tree limbs or hung on a trellis or an arbor from a garden shop. Support the structure with patio blocks (available at builder's supply stores) or in big flowerpots filled with cement.

Habitat for Humanity's ReStores sell gently used building materials and accessories, and you never know what you'll find when you stop by. If you keep an eye on your local ReStore, you might find kitchen counters or cupboards with the potential to serve as a potting station, an outdoor kitchen or a backyard bar. An old door makes a great tabletop. A pair of shutters, given a fresh coat of paint, has all kinds of potential: Use them to make handy shelves, or put several shutters together to create a privacy screen. If you need inspiration, borrow ideas from Pinterest and make them your own. Salvaged materials can lend great style and comfort to an otherwise uninspired garden space.

Embrace the space. Plant it with flowers and vegetables, either in the ground or in pots, and give it style with great-looking furniture and subtle lighting. We all may be moving on someday, but that's no reason to postpone having a good time outside in a pretty garden setting right now.

(For editorial questions, please contact Clint Hooker at chooker@amuniversal.com.)