Planning your garden with wildlife in mind

Planning your garden with wildlife in mind

Native habitat gives birds, bees and other pollinators a place to live, eat and nest

March 15, 2006

By JUDY BRINKERHOFF
FOR THE ARGUS-COURIER

Why garden for wildlife? Further, why bother with native California plants? What's wrong with a green lawn, some junipers around the house foundation, some rocks in the front yard and a privet hedge between you and your neighbor?

What's wrong is that wildlife is quickly losing its native habitat, the spaces where mammals, reptiles, insects, birds, bees and other pollinators live and eat and nest. Their historic territories are being swallowed up by malls, roads, parking lots, and houses, with asphalt and concrete in every direction.

Our communities would be much more wildlife-friendly if homeowners would replace some of their lawns, junipers and privets with plants that sustain wildlife. A small green lawn is wonderful for kids and adults to play on, but a huge expanse of lawn offers no food, nesting spots or living quarters for anything that lives. And a huge lawn is a maintenance nightmare, adding noise pollution with lawnmowers, sucking up precious water, mixing fertilizers and pesticides into rain and watering runoff, and creating household hassles over "someone has to mow the lawn this weekend" issues.

A yard planted with wildlife in mind is just as easy to maintain as any other kind of yard. You don't need to provide for moose, kangaroos, deer, skunks or raccoons. But putting in plants for birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinators, of which there are hundreds, is fun, satisfying, colorful, easy on maintenance, and teaches kids the value of wildlife in our lives.

Native California plants are especially great for wildlife because the insects and birds have evolved over thousands of years with these particular plants. And these plants have evolved in our climate and can survive with six months of rain, six months of dry.

Many people are put off by the term "native." This is probably because many natives go dormant in the summer after their spring bloom and the soil dries out. They sit looking like half-dead sticks until the fall rains begin. But not every native does that and not every plant you put in has to be "native." Penstemons, salvias and zinnias are not necessarily native, but they attract wildlife, they are drought-resistant, easy to grow and beautiful to behold. You can choose from a huge variety of colorful annuals, long-blooming perennials, grasses, shrubs, vines and trees, both native and non-native, that will feed and house wildlife.

Certain native shrubs and perennials are evergreen, blossom beautifully and don't need any summer water, pruning or fertilizing. Manzanitas, ceanothus (our California wild lilac), and the Cleveland and purple sages are wonderful examples. Many, especially manzanitas, bloom in February, serving up nectar for the Anna's hummingbirds, which stay with us all year.

Herbs are perfect wildlife attractors. A hedge of rosemary is evergreen, blooms off and on all winter, and the nectar provides for the bees and hummingbirds. Later, their seeds bring in sparrows, finches and towhees.

In mixing natives and non-natives, group plants that have similar water needs. Lawns need to be frequently watered; this is not compatible with many native shrubs, as the summer water will kill them. Most native shrubs need to be watered their first summer or two; being on a drip system is not necessary. Hand-held hose watering works fine. Even though penstemons and other perennials are drought-resistant, they need a fair amount of water. Put them on a drip or other irrigation system that can manually be turned on and off. Timers are great when you're away on vacation; however, not every summer week is hot. Some are cool and foggy and the plants don't need the same amount of precious water each week as when the sun blazes.

Information is abundant on how to set up a wildlife yard. National Wildlife Federation has a great Web site. Adding hedgerows, small meadows, a wildflower area, compost, brush, and rock piles, nest boxes, feeders, flower borders, berry vines a dead tree or stump; these are all part of a whole that will bring in wildlife. Don't hurry; take your time and add them as you can. One of the first tasks of a rural homeowner might be to start removing as many invasive non-natives as is possible. These include ivies, Himalayan blackberries, Scotch broom, acacias; trees-of-heaven, which are showing up in the west county and looks so innocently pretty; thistles; privet; licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare), and so many others. They need to be pulled, cut, and destroyed. California's wonderful climate creates a fertile breeding ground for invasives.

If you are in a suburban development, there are ways to kill off a lawn or part of a lawn easily and over time with sheet-mulching. This spring you can get started by digging a small area for annuals and plant zinnias, sunflowers, bachelor's buttons, spider plants, love-in-a-mist, delphiniums, California poppies and so many others. The flat-top, single-blossomed, old-fashioned flower types work better than the multi-petaled, overly hybridized blossoms. The singles give a flat surface on which the pollinators can land and feed. You can slowly replace the shrubs you don't want with the new, wildlife-friendly plants you've chosen. There are several nurseries that specialize in native and wildlife plants that can help you with your decisions. Sunset's Western Garden Book, the newest version, has a whole section on this subject.

For more help and information on habitat gardening, join the California Native Plant Society. Our local chapter is the Milo Baker Chapter; they have monthly meetings, field trips, a newsletter and a quarterly magazine. Email to Wendy Born at spores@excite.com or call 829-7519 for info on how to join. It's cheap too, only $25 to $45 annually.

(Contact Judy Brinkerhoff at joodbrink2@aol.com)

<<<<More CNPS News Articles