Garden for Wildlife
As you’ve landscaped your yard and garden, have you kept birds and other critters in mind? That has been first and foremost on my mind over the years. I thought I would discuss how to garden for wildlife today. In this post, I’ll explain what we’ve done in our own landscape. You’ll also learn how to get your garden listed as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
I recently listened to a podcast on this topic, produced by my friend and colleague Joe Lamp’l. It really resonated with me. In it, he interviews David Mizijewski of the National Wildlife Federation. He must be such a godsend to their Garden for Wildlife program!
David spoke about the keys to attracting wildlife to our gardens. They are all concepts Bill and I have known about and felt were important. Those concepts include providing food, water, shelter and places for them to raise their young.
How we implemented the Garden for Wildlife program in our garden
As you know, Bill and I are very big into bird watching. We set out bird feeders filled with black oil sunflower seeds or nyjer thistle, hummingbird feeders, and blocks of suet. But we did more than that, which I’ll go into in a moment.
We installed two ponds. One is 11′ x 15′, holds 3,000 gallons of water and has a waterfall. That’s a great attractant for birds. The other pond holds just 50 gallons. It’s still popular with the birds and a nice place for me to grow a few aquatic plants. Water is so important to birds because they need it for drinking and bathing.
Providing shelter was our biggest project. When we moved to our 5 acre property 28 years ago, it was a blank slate. There were only one or two native Ponderosa pines on it. That is definitely not enough to attract birds and make them feel safe! We quickly set about planting trees and shrubs so they have places to hide from predators. They also help them stay out of nasty weather. Even more importantly, they give them a place to sleep at night and to build nests to raise their young.
The Garden for Wildlife program: plant natives!
OK, back to the concept of providing food. Bill and I feel it’s really important to plant native plants. We’ve done that in many areas of our property. It’s true they provide shelter and places to raise young. Native plants are the KEY to attracting and helping out wildlife that have been displaced by land development.
This was an important part of Joe’s discussion with David and it really hit home with me. As David pointed out, a lot of folks think native plants are ugly and not worth adding to our landscapes. But let me give you some examples of why this is so erroneous.
Bill and I have planted vine maples, snowberries, serviceberries, oceanspray, golden currants, American cranberry bushes, ninebark, chokecherries, red-twig dogwoods. All of these plants make such an important contribution to our landscape. (note: you can see our landscape by watching our episode on Joe Lamp’l’s program, “Growing a Greener World”)
At this very moment, our yard has been lit up with fall colors. The foliage on the vine maples, golden currants, American cranberry bushes, ninebark, oceanspray and serviceberries is amazing. In the spring, the currants, cranberry bushes, snowberries, chokecherries, red-twig dogwoods and serviceberries have beautiful flowers. Oceanspray blooms in the summer and what a magnet those flowers are for pollinators! And the woods’ roses have lovely single pink blossoms.
The currants, cranberry bushes, snowberries, chokecherries, dogwoods and serviceberries have berries from summer into winter. Those berries are an important nutrition source for the birds and critters that visit our garden.
I cannot imagine our garden without these wonderful plants. And there are so many more than the ones I’ve mentioned here.
The Garden for Wildlife program: how to certify your garden
The National Wildlife Federation has been a champion for encouraging homeowners to landscape with native plants for wildlife. I’ve known about their Garden for Wildlife program for years. I just had never taken the time to get my garden listed as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
After all, why bother? The birds and other wildlife in the area know about our garden. And Bill and I know what we’ve done in our garden. Mizijewski mentioned how the NWF is a non-profit agency that has been the source for a lot of positive change. I immediately decided it was high time I did it. And I’d like to encourage you to do it, too!
The process is very simple. Just go to their information page on how to list your garden as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Click on the “Certify Your Habitat” button, and follow the steps. It costs $20 to certify your garden (this includes a certificate and subscription to the NWF’s magazine). You can also pay an additional fee for a yard sign or plaque, which gives you the opportunity to show your commitment to your neighbors and friends. I purchased the sign and am excited for it to arrive so we can install it.
But most of all, you’ll be lending your support to the National Wildlife Federation and their valuable programs. I hope you’ll join me in adding native plants to your landscape and providing wildlife with their basic needs. This is a win-win situation!