Part one of Nature Rules- Creating an Oasis at your house.
I am asked often how I have such a variety of birds and butterflies in the gardens. Quick answer "plant it and they will come". The long answer takes a bit longer, read down through this blog and hopefully you will see it isn't rocket science and you will enjoy it while you are creating it to boot!
Let's start with providing a place for birds, bees and butterflies in our garden. They all need food, water, shelter and a safe place to raise their young. Optimally you will have trees, shrubs and plants for nectar/seed producers. Also, let a patch go wild- be sure to go to the website and look for insectary plantings or click here to go to directly to the link http://beagleridgeherbfarm.com/706/23301.html to learn how to plant a weed patch. Yes, purposely plant a weed patch! After all, a weed is a plant in the wrong place. Every plant has a niche, which is its purpose in its environment. The plants which many of us hate are important plants in another part of the world and that will be addressed in another post. Getting back to my “weed patch” … this will produce a habitat for beneficial insects and a place for insect eaters to find lunch. In a future post I will address some of these insects we all love to hate and you may be surprised what you have living in your yard.
Regardless of where you live apartment, condo, estate, urban area or a small suburban lot- you can create your own oasis for wildlife. Many states have their own version of a Backyard Habitat program; here in VA we have Habitat Partners which is handled by Carol Heiser from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF). Here is the link to Carol’s program http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/ lots of VA info and yes the same info will work in any of our neighboring states. Nationally there is the National Wildlife Federation, I have this link on the website under links and yes Canada even has a program for you folks up north. So wherever you are, there are local resources which can guide you, and if you can’t find someone local let us know and we should be able to help from this end.
If any of you plan on attending the Garden Faire in Abingdon in April be sure to stop by the Habitat Partners Booth which our Beagle Ridge Master Naturalist Chapters will be manning for VDGIF. So stop by and pick up info and be sure to bring your questions.
Alright you are ready to go so where so how do you start? You need to ASSESS what you have so you can make yourself a blueprint. Assess your property- print off a Habitat Checklist ( I will be uploading this to the website shortly under the Gardening tips link and look for gardening/wildlife). Take an honest look at your yard. Remember those of you who are apartment or condo dwellers don’t despair, you can participate too. Once you see what you need you can make changes, addition and deletions as part of a road map to your Backyard Habitat project.
See what you have, and see what you are missing. Do you have a water source, a bird bath, a saucer of water or even just a small dripper, a pond, anything will suffice. Water is a basic need and will attract a wide variety of visitors to your gardens. One thing to keep in mind is it needs to be clean water. Birdbaths should be cleaned ( after all would you want to drink where someone took a bath), if you have a pond do not use any chemicals, and if you have a dripper be sure to refill when necessary. Yes, these are all common sense moves but when we get busy we tend to forget these small but important steps.
Let me be a bit more specific about Food – how many food sources do you have? Feeders are good but what types of plants, shrubs, trees and grain producers have you found? Berry bearing shrubs are a huge plus; everything from holly bushes- great because it is also an evergreen and will provide shelter (2 uses from one plant). Viburnums, an another amazing berry producer, seed providers- Echinacea are a great source of winter food if you aren’t a neat freak and allow them to stand over the winter. Coreopsis, Anise Hyssop even Ornamental grasses are a great source of seed for your over wintering guests.
Shelter-evergreens are vital to the bird’s survival in the winter, local birds will use cedars, as well as the wide variety of needled and broadleaved evergreens and even though bird houses are fun; the right evergreen can be shelter as well as a nesting site. Cardinals like thorny deciduous shrubs to nest in but they will live in an evergreen all winter for protection from the winds. Butterflies need protection from wind, a fence can be a perfect windbreak for birds and butterflies too.
Birds use nests when they lay eggs and raise their young, they seldom use a nest the rest of the year. Wrens nest anywhere they want. Yes, we have had wrens nest on the ground in the southernwood as well as in a wreath on the front door- Gregg was not amused. We also have had a phoebe which will nest over our front steps, and during the time she is waiting to fledge we go in the back door- again Gregg is not amused. The fact that this is repeated every spring leads me to realize her progeny have decided this is their space!! Blue birds, Swallows and Purple Martins among others will need a house/nest in the spring, but they will need shelter year round.
One thing that may be news to homeowners who are landscaping for wildlife is to stop spraying. No Pesticides! Yes many birds are seed eaters but lots are also insect eaters. So pesticides can be very detrimental to the whole food web. By poisoning insects not only do you eliminate their food sources but some birds may still eat them and become poisoned themselves. Not what you are hoping for you I am sure.
Well that should keep you busy for a bit. Hope you enjoying these first vestiges of spring as much as we are. I am going out to clean up the areas which are no longer snow covered- yes we do finally have visible ground.
Part 2 will follow next week and we will finish up the requirements for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your garden.
Enjoy spring, I sure am!
Ellen
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