Habitat Gardening

My native plant gardening has morphed slightly into habitat building.

My initial attraction to native plant gardening was the lack of continued work needed. In theory you plant something according to its needs and you're done. Almost all native plants are perennials so they only get stronger. After that I liked the idea of using local products, local retailers for those products and I liked having plants that were different than what you buy at your regular garden store. A lesser point of interest was that by planting the right mix of items you will build a naturalistic, native habitat in your yard. But what does that mean? It means animals! You add sun-loving wildflowers to get bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. You add shrubby plants to provide shelter for small birds, mammals & reptiles. You add water elements (rain garden) with appropriate plants because everything needs water. You add fruit bearing shrubs and trees so the animals have something to harvest in the colder seasons.

Granted, gardening brings its own beauty with the flowers and foliage and shaded areas and benefits but to think that you are giving sustenance and shelter to creatures who used to have an abundance, right where you live, is an amazing concept and a wonderful benefit of good natural landscaping. Its also a teaching tool; as a new parent I can see that having this type garden I can show Julia the cycle of life and death, the efficiency of nature, and the harmony within nature. Shoot, I can even teach her colors, shapes, numbers and Latin...pretty much the only Latin I know is related to the plants I've been buying.

I have been intrigued and excited about this habitat stuff recently b/c I have seen some cardinals in abundance (or maybe I am seeing the same two over and over) in my yard. There is something between my house and backyard that they seem to love, I see them perched or flying through the same spot every day. I don't remember seeing them this often in years past. Of course, there are rabbits and snakes and squirrels (who have been planting black walnuts all over my yard) too, who are all showing up with minimal help from me.

My goal is to bring more animals by way of proper habitat building gardening. My front yard gets sun all day which means its great for bee attracting plants and flowers. I started with a little square where I planted rose verbenas, penstemon digitalis and butterfly weed (2 each) last summer. This year they have all exploded. The verbenas have spread more than I imagined, the penstemons are taller than I imagined and the butterfly weeds are bolder in color than I remembered. My goal is to have those flowers repeating throughout my wildflower garden with the addition of some herbs, other wildflowers, shrubs and grasses mixed in. I don't know how I am actually going to put it all together but the ideas are coming. I also anticipate adding some more trees and a rain garden. I don't want it to be too overgrown with plants but I want to replace as a lot of the sod.

The west side is almost all shade and would be a great starting point for the rain garden. There is a strip near the garage that someone suggested as an edible garden (blueberries, serviceberries, etc). The back yard is for Johnders and will remain the same (grass, natural groundcover like wild ginger and common strawberry) but I also will let trees that sprout grow as 2 or 3 already have. Lastly, there is the fence line, a space about 15' wide that runs then entire north/south length of the yard. The grassy portion has underground cables so I have to be careful what I plant. This is not my property even though I, like my Dad before me, keep it mowed. If I can plant the right things I can block the view of my neighbors unhappy yard and house as well as eliminate the need to mow.

As all gardens it is a work in progress but I am excited about the potential.

Ten Commandments of Eco Gardening

I still don't consider myself a gardener but I am trying to landscaping in a sustainable way and many of the commandments listed below work for me too.

Ten Commandments of Eco Gardening

1. Thou shalt conserve water: gardeners have to conserve as much water as possible. Use a rain barrel to collect run-off rainwater throughout the year and recycle household “grey” water from baths. Watering deeply is better than little and often, as it encourages deep rooting. Only do it in the evening or early morning and direct the water at the soil rather than the leaves. 
   
2. Thou shalt put the right plant in the right place: accept that what doesn’t survive without extra help is unsuitable anyway. 
   
3. Thou shalt not use peat: peat bogs are an essential part of the ecosystem and once they have been harvested, they are gone for ever. There are now so many excellent alternatives to peat that it has become impossible to justify its use in domestic gardens.
   
4. Thou shalt recycle garden waste: composting is the key to successful garden management. 
   
5. Thou shalt reuse non-biodegradable products: re-use those plastic containers.
   
6. Thou shalt minimise the use of chemicals.
   
7. Thou shalt leave a messy bit: a pile of logs, long grass and fallen leaves are an ideal habitat for wildlife, providing bugs and animals somewhere to shelter, hibernate and reproduce.
   
8. Thou shalt use hard landscaping with sensitivity: it is worth considering where materials such as stone, timber and gravel have been sourced and looking at their impact on the environment. 
   
9. Thou shalt use lighting responsibly: light pollution is irritating for neighbours, confuses birds and is a waste of electricity. 
   
10. Thou shalt teach thy children where food comes from: If we are really going to change habits in the future, we have to tempt children away from their computers and televisions and inspire in them a genuine love of nature and respect for their planet. 

More hints here.
Supplies here and here.

I use native plants exclusively and I am contemplating a rain garden (helps with water runoff and becomes a self watering landscaped area).

Native Plants are hard to find

Last weekend I decided to look around for a few more plants (this really is becoming an obsession).

I heard a lot about Gardens of Babylon which is located at Farmer's Market and I know of at least a couple of garden shops on Dickerson Rd. I trotted over to Farmer's Market and boy was I disappointed?!!? They had a much larger variety of plants than Home Depot or Lowes but it was the same old stuff. There were VERY few natives, I did see a few Growild supplied plants but for the most part is was the same old stuff. Very Sad. Next I drove to Dickerson Road Farmers Market and it was the same story. They have a lot more herbs, food plants and they have a bunch of sedums but their perennials were more or less the same as everywhere else. I did find some tiny pint sized natives.

In the front yard there is a small planter that my Dad used for roses (one of his plants of choice). It gets sun all day and the few perennials I found were all sun lovers so I bought a few to fill this little square. I bought 2 of each of the following:

Verbena Canadensis "Homestead Purple"
Penstemon Digitalis "Husker's Red"
Asclepias Tuberosa aka Butterfly Weed (THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS BUTTERFLY BUSH, which is very popular and very invasive)

Johnders hung out (really, he laid there while I planted) with me while I planted them at 9pm day before yesterday. Its amazing how late you can stay outside before it gets dark.

As usual we'll see what happens. These plants are next to a holly bush that some mockingbirds or chickadees have made a home in for years. I read somewhere recently that you should make plant butterfly larval food, which makes sense. Larva feed birds, birds spread seeds and feed larger predators and the cycle of life continues. Hopefully these plants will do their job by attracting the butterflies and I have something in the yard that would be larva food.

It seems I've turned this into a gardening blog. I would say that gardening, especially native plant gardening is a very eco-friendly thing to do. I am doing by best to 1. restore the native beauty to my neighborhood, 2. restore the ecological balance to the soil and the landscape by inviting beneficial critters back onto the land, 3. planting more items that eat carbon dioxide thus reducing my carbon footprint, 4. my goal is to plant so much that I will reduce the need of a gas powered lawnmower and electric powered trimmers.

It all fits.

Obsession

We have had a crapload of rain since winter and the plants are loving in. Late last spring I plants some new plants (alumroot, ninebark, and eco-lacquered spider) and they struggled through the summer drought and didn't impress during fall but this spring they are going nuts, especially the goldenstar/eco-lacquered spider. I bought four or five and one didn't make it through the summer at all, another struggled and is still a drawf but it is green and healthy. The other 2 or 3 are spreading like mad and yesterday their gold flowers started to pop. These things have, at least double, if not tripled in size. They are creepers, or as some website called them, leapers. They spread out and some of the new feelers root down and so on. Its fun to watch. Last weekend I weeded and put down some mulch which makes them pop that much more.

Near them I have some alumroots (one green and 2 purple). The green one is in front and it has exploded in size. Some of its leaves are the size of my hand and, of course, this is making it difficult for the ones behind it to get the sunshine they need but they are getting there. Tonight I will trim the hedge behind them to give room for more light.

The ninebarks are moving slowly. A couple of years ago I tore down the wood fence on one side of the yard and we replaced it with some shrubs. I went to Home Depot and picked up some butterfly bushes, crape myrtles and burning bushes...OOPS. I didn't know all three are considered no-no plants. We went to Growild and were told - if memory serves me right - that the butterfly bush is in the same category as japanese honeysuckle which is a step below kudzu on the "we hate this plant" list. Burning bush was a step below that and crapes weren't invasive they were non-native. They suggested ninebarks. We bought 3 and one did not survive. The other two are popping with leaves. I like these shrubs, they are bold and unique. We are going to Growild in a couple of weeks and I plan on getting at least one more.

Because of all this plant life I have become obsessed with native plants. I don't know where I first heard about native plant gardening but now that I have some I don't know why this isn't more popular. This is no brainer gardening, especially in the South. You buy plants native to the area and you don't have to do much more than put them in the ground. They are made to grow in our climate, they react naturally to the problems like drought and cold.

So what does this mean environmentally? It means no pesticides. It means less weeds, native plants used properly will win the competition with weeds. It means natural predators and prey (insects, mammals, birds, and reptiles). It means supporting local businesses (you shouldn't have to mailorder plants native to your area, you should be able to drive no more than an hour or so). Its cool to be able to say everything you grow is from your area.

Please check out your local nurseries. If you live in the Southeast I know there are some great books but please go to a nursery instead of Home Depot and Lowes, who rarely have any decent selection of native plants.