A Brief History

The Leon Levy Native Habitat Garden at Bedford Audubon is the cornerstone of our Bird Friendly Communities efforts. The garden and its programs educate, empower, and engage landowners to utilize native plants and natural landscaping practices to create buffets for migrating birds, backyard wildlife oases, and inspire neighborhood-level conservation.

The Garden is named for Leon Levy (1925-2003), a financier and philanthropist. The Leon Levy Foundation provided a grant that allowed us to hire the award-winning Larry Weaner Landscape Associates to design an expansion and renovation plan for the Native Garden in 2012.

The garden has since been expanded and re-imagined as a Native Habitat Garden, using regionally native species chosen for their roles as host plants, nectar sources, seed producers, and structural habitat for local wildlife. Seasonal processes are allowed to play out: stems and leaf litter remain to provide overwintering sites, seed heads are left to feed birds, and plant succession is actively observed and guided rather than suppressed.

While prioritizing benefits to birds and other wildlife, the Leon Levy Native Habitat Garden is also carefully maintained for visual appeal, offering visitors a clear example of how ecological function, measurable environmental benefit, and aesthetic beauty can coexist in deliberate balance. As part of Bedford Audubon’s conservation and education mission, the garden serves as a living laboratory where visitors can study pollinator dynamics, bird–plant relationships, and the ecological value of native vegetation in a human-managed landscape.

Garden Bloom Gallery

Why go native?

Native plants provide the right food, at the right time for birds. And, over time, native plants reduce the amount of extra water, fertilizer, pesticides, and maintenance compared to non-native landscaping.