Each year several Rebate Programs are available for residents of Long Island to reimburse you for implementing native plant gardens!
See below for more details
The Long Island Garden Rewards Program offers a $500 maximum reimbursement for making your yard more water friendly. Property owners in Suffolk and Nassau County, New York* are eligible. Capturing rainwater and keeping it on your property with rain barrels and rain gardens, or by slowing down runoff with native plant gardens, reduces the amount of water flowing across your yard. These actions reduce nitrogen pollution entering local waterways and help conserve water.
*Residents within the Peconic Estuary Partnership’s watershed should apply to the Peconic Estuary Program’s Homeowner Rewards Program. Residents in the Town of North Hempstead should apply to the Town of North Hempstead Native Plant Residential Rebate Program.
Peconic Estuary Partnership Homeowner Rewards Program
"The Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP) is providing a unique opportunity for people who live within the Peconic Estuary watershed. The PEP will provide financial rewards for homeowners who remove turf and pavement, and add green alternatives to their properties that benefit the environment.
Overview of 2024
We’re excited to share the incredible milestones we’ve achieved together in 2024. Your support has helped us grow—quite literally! Here’s a snapshot of what we accomplished this year:
Growing for Impact
Produced over 12,000 plants from seed.
Distributed 9,477 plants (through sales and donations), including grasses, forbs, and woodies.
Volunteer Power
Welcomed 219 volunteers who dedicated 777 hours to our mission, with special thanks to AYLUS for their continued support.
Infrastructure Upgrades
Enhanced our hoop house with updated mist irrigation for greater consistency and durability.
Success in the Founder Plots
Record-breaking milkweed harvest: 81 grams of Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed).
Added two new species: Andropogon virginicus (Broomsedge) and Eragrostis spectabilis (Purple Lovegrass).
Seed Collection
Collected seeds from Bethpage State Park, Betty Allen Pond Park, Carmans River, Coindre Hall Park, Edgewood, Fuchs Pond Preserve, Gardiner County Park, Hempstead Plains, Mashomack Nature Conservancy, Massapequa Preserve, Meroke Preserve, NY State Conservation Area, PJS Southards Pond, Sans Souci Nature Preserve, and Sunken Meadow SP.
Community Plant Grants
Awarded grants to support garden projects at Inlet Pond County Park, Farmingdale State College Giving Garden, Rachel Hicks Seed Exchange at Bryant Library, Native Plant Gardens at Copiague Library, Stony Brook Train Station Pollinator Garden, Three Village Historical Society Wetland Stabilization, Caumsett State Park Bio-swales, The Garden Ministry at Sts. Peter and Paul, National Junior Honor Society School Beautification (Smithtown), Isabella & Robert Hawkins House Memorial Native Plant Shade Garden, Comsewogue Community Garden, and Friends of Cedarmere Estate (Roslyn).
Outreach & Events
This year, LINPI connected with the community through media coverage, including a News 12 visit to our greenhouse in the Spring. We participated in events like Arbor Day at Planting Fields Arboretum, SUNY Farmingdale plant sale, Quogue Wildlife Refuge Earth Day, CEED Summer Solstice Festival, and Plantstock. Presentations were delivered at the LI Leader’s Forum for Horticulture, Spring Garden School at Suffolk CCE, LI Horticultural Society at Planting Fields, and SUNY Farmingdale’s Horticulture programs.
Key Partnerships
Collaborated with ReWild Long Island, Suffolk County CCE Master Gardener Program, Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) with the Garden Rewards Program, North Shore Land Alliance, Quogue Wildlife Refuge, KMS Native Plants, Northport Native Garden Initiative (NNGI), Bethpage State Park, and The Nature Conservancy (Mashomack Preserve).
New Marketing Initiatives
Introduced bumper sticker magnets, branded table covers and sashes, and an updated brochure.
Organizational Growth
Welcomed our first full-time staff member and new board members.
Launched our first-ever consulting engagement.
Moved into our new office space.
Enhanced employee benefits and updated the Employee Handbook.
Investing in the Future
We’re setting the stage for 2025 with exciting plans: redesigning our nursery yard, installing new irrigation systems, expanding internship opportunities with LINPI and LIISMA, improving seed storage with the Life Sciences Greenhouses at Stony Brook University, and delivering more speaking engagements, including talks for the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County and the Long Island Maritime Museum.
Special Projects
Began work on a large-scale native plant project on Shelter Island, with garden designs led by our board member and staff contributions.
We couldn’t have achieved all this without your generous support, passion, and commitment. Thank you for helping us grow native plants and community resilience across Long Island. Here’s to a thriving 2025!
Warm regards,
The LINPI Team
In the News
The Case for Native Plants (Northforker, April 2023)
Less lawn chemical, more native plants, healthier Earth (Long Island Advance, March 2023)
A Beeline for Spring: Gardening School, Groups Can Help You Help Pollinators (03/18/2022)
A Growing Education: Islip Students find ‘Joy’ in Planting Native Garden (07/09/2021)
Newsletters
WINTER 2022
Covers the goings on in the past several months! This includes our Ribbon Cutting ceremony, Fall Plant Sale 2021, Winter Species importance, Invasives, and our seed collecting.
SPRING 2021
This edition covers spring ephemerals, plant spotlights include Lesser Celandine (invasive) and Beach Plum as well as information on the Spotted Lanternfly