A Love of Untidy Wildlife Gardens and Why!

Tiger Swallowtail nectaring on Purple Coneflower

The typical garden may be “neat as a pin” but, to some, “ugly as sin” and pretty darned unfriendly to wildlife. I’m not saying that a garden has to be untidy, but so many of our maintenance tasks are just plain fussy and have the potential to be highly detrimental to the very critters we’ve invited into the garden. The ultimate maintenance task that really irks me, is when pond owners feel compelled to clean out their pond for winter. What are they thinking? Does anyone clean out a pond in the wild? Are there little woodland elves in green berets that scamper about the woods, raking leaves and pond gunk out of the bottom and literally scrubbing the sides of a natural pond? If so, I’ve never seen one! And thank goodness. Such tasks would eliminate next year’s dragonflies. Why? Because their nymphs survive the winter safely in the muck at the bottom of a pond. Frogs too sleep (hibernate) safely in the gunk at the bottom of a pond, below where the water freezes.

So, before grabbing pencil and paper to complete one more “to do” list for your garden, stop and ask yourself: (1) Is this truly necessary? (2) In a wild area like this (a pond, meadow, etc.) is there any way this would be done naturally? (3) Could this task harm wildlife in any way? So many garden tasks are driven by attempts to achieve a certain “look” in the garden and often at the expense of the very wildlife a gardener has gone to great lengths to attract.

Tall Sunflowers and New England Asters laid down by Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene (August 28, 2011) flattened our wildlife garden here in Cape May County, New Jersey, while we were away on vacation. But, guess what? Despite the garden literally laying down due to strong winds and heavy rain, we came home to find it still blooming strong and still full of butterflies, bossy and hungry hummingbirds, Garden Spiders, wasps, bees, Soldier Beetles . . . These garden visitors not only didn’t mind the chaos Hurricane Irene had dealt, they didn’t seem to notice.

Hidden Monarch chrysalis that miraculously survived my tidying up

It’s kind of fun to stop in your tracks and think long and hard before brutally pulling back and tying up a snapped, bent over, and just about touching the ground Tall Sunflower. After the hurricane, I walked through our garden, stepping over countless fallen, but still blooming, plants. Alas I had to tidy up a bit, didn’t I? A group was coming to tour the garden. How could I expect them to navigate or even get from the front gate to the back garden gate? So, I began to snip back, tie up, cut off, and rudely prop up garden plants that lay across the path to make the garden accessible.
The group came and strolled through, and the first thing they found was a Monarch chrysalis less than one inch from one of my newly placed plant supports. How I hadn’t fatally damaged the chrysalis was beyond me. I hope that my tidy-up efforts didn’t harm any others, but I’ll bet they did.

Goldfinch eating Purple Conefl Seeds-8-23-07(4)-w-sig

American Goldfinch feeding on Purple Coneflower seed heads

I stopped deadheading Purple Coneflower, Anise Hyssop, Black-eyed Susan, and Tall Sunflower years ago when I noticed American Goldfinch feasting on their spent seed heads all summer and fall.
I leave the garden standing in the fall and savor it all winter long. Birds benefit from the cover and spend lots of time in the winter garden finding both seeds and insects in the still-standing stalks.

I can’t imagine preferring a tidy, bare area to this bounty.
Next year’s butterflies are in the winter garden as eggs, partially grown caterpillars in curled up leaves, or as chrysalises attached to still-standing perennial stalks. Heaven forbid I should cut all that down in the fall and send it off to a compost pile or the dump. That would be like sending next year’s butterflies away forever.

Luna Moth

Rake leaves? Never! Once I learned that so many of our butterflies (and moths) winter in leaf litter as partially grown caterpillars or as a chrysalis, I abandoned even the thought of raking. For example, the Luna Moth lays it’s eggs on Sweet Gum leaves. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves until it is full size, then wraps a leaf around itself and silks the leaf shut creating a cocoon with the pupa inside. The caterpillar has not silked the leaf to the tree, like some of the other silk moths. And when the leaves fall to the ground in the late fall, so does the Luna Moth cocoon. It winters safely in under all the accumulated leaves. In the spring the adult Luna Moth emerges from this cocoon. So, bagging up leaves in the fall, again, is effectively like sending next year’s butterflies and moths away . . . forever.

© 2011, Pat Sutton. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. We have received many requests to reprint our work. Our policy is that you are free to use a short excerpt which must give proper credit to the author, and must include a link back to the original post on our site. Please use the contact form above if you have any questions.

Seven edible garden design ideas

Author and gardener Ivette Soler shares tips on growing the perfect kitchen garden in your front yard

Edibles in disguise

Vegetables and herbs want to grow where it's sunny. But often, the sunniest spot is the front yard--a place where most of us wouldn't want to install what is, basically, a working farm. "We still want our front yards to look like gardens," says Ivette Soler, a Los Angeles garden designer, blogger (thegerminatrix.com), and author of The Edible Front Yard (Timber Press, 2011, $20). In her own garden, Ivette proves that kitchen gardens can be both pretty and productive.

Edibles that blend in

Ivette recommend these herbs that will blend beautifully in your front yard garden:Basil (Ocimum basilicum): This annual and attractive culinary herb is used in many cuisines. Each variety has a slightly different flavor, so you have an excuse to grow several. Purple-leafed varities like 'Red Rubin' are particularly decorative.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare): A perennial edible with licorice-flavored seeds and young leaves. Wispy and tall, the plant's fronds sway in the wind, adding movement to the garden.

More edibles that blend in

Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus): Grow this "superstar of front-yard food," as Ivette describes it, even if you don't like eating its big flower buds. Its architectural structure, downy leaves, and softball-size purple flowers are all highly ornamental.Sage (Salvia officinalis): The mounding shape and gray leaves of this perennial Mediterranean herb make it a great front-row ornamental. Pink tinges in 'Tricolor' play off the burgundy flax, and the large leaves of 'Berggarten' echo the blue-green edging of the agave behind.

Sage + succulents

Plant sage and succulents together for maximum impact. Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor,' a variegated culinary sage, surrounds a rosy Echeveria 'Afterglow'.

Thyme + phormium

Thyme and phormium make a perfect pair. A mound of gray-green culinary thyme (Thymus vulgaris) softens a stiffer, upright form of 'Tom Thumb' New Zealand flax (Phormium).

Basil + thyme

Basil and thyme grow great together. 'Golden Lemon' thyme (Thymus x citriodorus), a low-growing thyme with bright gold leaves, edges 'Red Rubin' and 'Siam Queen' basil.

Great front yard idea

Ivette loves to make free-form beds of corrugated galvanized steel, scattered throughout her garden. For tips on making your own, visit sunset.com/raised-bed.

Ivette's secrets

We asked Ivette her top tips for an edible front-yard garden:What's the one thing to remember when planting edibles out front? Choose crops that have good foliage all season. Save mildew-prone crops for the backyard.
What are your foliage favorites? Leafy crops. I use lettuces to edge shaded borders, kale in sunny spots. Red mustard, purple mizuna, and arugula come up wherever they want.
What about the ever-popular but foliage-challenged tomato? I like small-fruited tomatoes because their fruit clusters are extra-ornamental and their foliage doesn't deteriorate too rapidly.
You have a lot of herbs in your garden. Why? Low plants knit everything together, making a garden look like a garden. Plus, you can let some of it flower to lure in bees.

Eat Your Yard! How to Design an Edible Landscape

Convert a resource-guzzling lawn into a lovely, money-saving edible landscape.

By Rosalind Creasy September/October 2011

Many of us are lucky enough to have at least a small plot of land surrounding our homes. Yet we often choose to occupy that land with grass, marigold and azalea beds, wisteria, and the occasional privet or maple—plants that look nice, but don’t give us anything in the way of food or value. Edible plants are equally beautiful, and nearly any homeowner could grow a meaningful amount of food in her yard—a much more noble use of the soil. Consider replacing the typical landscape with decorative borders of herbs, rainbow chard and striking paprika peppers. Instead of the fleeting color of spring azaleas, try the year-round beauty of blueberries—or pear and plum trees, which put on a spring show of flowers, have colorful summer fruits and produce yellow fall foliage. These plants aren’t just pretty—they provide healthy food and save money and resources.

In addition to being a viable design option, an edible landscape (if maintained organically) is the most compelling landscape concept for the future.

Edible landscapes offer these incredible benefits:

Energy Savings: Food from your yard requires no shipping and little refrigeration. Plus, conventional farms use a large amount of energy to plow, plant, spray and harvest produce—planting and picking tomatoes in your front yard requires a miniscule amount by comparison.

Food Safety: You know which chemicals (if any) you use.

Water Savings: Tests show that most home gardeners use less than half the water to produce the same crop compared with large-scale agricultural production. Drip irrigation saves even more.

Money Savings: You can grow an unbelievable amount of food in a small, beautiful space. When I meticulously calculated the value of a 100-square-foot edible landscape I grew a couple of summers ago, I was amazed to find it had saved me more than $700! (Visit rosalindcreasy.com for exact figures for some popular crops.)

Better Nutrition: Fully ripe, just-picked, homegrown fruits and vegetables provide more vitamins and nutrients than supermarket produce, which is usually picked under-ripe and is days or weeks old when you eat it.

Designing Your Edible Landscape

Any landscape design begins with establishing the “bones” of your garden—choosing the location of the paths, patios, fences, hedges, arbors and garden beds. This is critically important in an edible garden because the beds are more apt to have plants with a wide array of textures, sizes and shapes, such as curly carrot leaves, mounding peppers and climbing beans. Edible garden beds may be filled with young seedlings or even be empty at times. That’s when paths, arbors, fences, hedges and even a birdbath are vital for keeping things attractive.

After you’ve determined the setup of the landscape, it’s time to choose the plants. Herein lies the true subtlety of the landscaper’s art. First, make a list of edibles you like most. Find out which ones grow well in your climate, and note their cultural needs. Our sister publication Mother Earth News offers a searchable list of plant recommendations and planting times, organized by region.

Protect native pollinators

Great things come from small beginnings, even from the little foraging insects that help pollinate 75 percent of the world's major food crops. Commonly referred to as pollinators, bees, wasp, flies, butterflies, moths, beetles, hummingbirds and bats play a crucial role in transferring pollens between flowers to set fruit and seed development.

Without the help of these hardworking critters, many animal species could end up in starvation and there wouldn't be any apples, cherries, pumpkins, squash and other fruits and vegetables to eat. Every year, nearly $15 billion worth of food crops in the United States is dependent on these pollinators.
When people think about bees, they commonly refer to one species, the honeybee (Apis mellifera), a European species domesticated for pollination in the United States. But there are about 400 native species of bees in Wisconsin, including various species of mason bees, leaf cutter bees, miner bees, sweat bees, bumblebees and several others.

Like honeybees, these native bees are equally important for crop pollination and support other beneficial insects and wildlife in the ecosystem.

Some native species are much more effective than honeybees in pollination. Just 250 blue orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria) can pollinate an acre of apple trees as compared to 20,000 honeybees. However, an increase in urbanization has destroyed many natural habitats of the wild native bees and has resulted in population decline. These native bees need to be preserved to sustain future ecological process.

The majorities of our native species are solitary bees and are less aggressive in nature. They live in an individual underground nest, in cracks or crevices in walls, or in wood.

Typically, an adult female solitary bee lays up to 20 to 30 eggs in her life span of three to six weeks. She builds an individual cell for each egg and gathers sufficient food (pollen and nectar) for the eggs in the nest. After the eggs are laid, she leaves the nest, never to return.

Social bees like honeybees and bumblebees live in large colonies with one queen, numerous workers and a few males. They pose a stinging hazard if they sense any danger to their nest.
Gardeners and homeowners can help protect and promote the habitats of our native bees in their landscape by using the following practices.

Diversify your garden

Rather than a monotonous grass lawn and few tree species, cultivate a wide varieties of flowering native plants that bloom in different seasons. Studies show that native plants are four times more attractive to pollinators.

Common native plants for attracting pollinators are downy serviceberry, American basswood, pussy willow, wild lupine, common spiderwort, anise hyssop, wild indigo, purple coneflower, wild bergamot, prairie spiderwort, culver's root, butterfly milkweed, spotted joe-pye weed, woodland sunflower, prairie sunflower, prairie blazing star, great blue lobelia, spotted bee balm, rough blazing star, stiff goldenrod, smooth blue aster and New England aster.

In addition, fruit trees like plums, cherries, serviceberry, blueberries and apples provide good sources of pollen and nectar.

Help nesting habitat

Some solitary bees build their nest in an open sandy area (preferably dry site). Leaving few patches of bare ground in an isolated part of the landscape can provide nesting habitat for those bees.
Rock walls, wooden stumps, and leaf debris also attract the native bees. You can construct or purchase artificial bee nesting structures, but make sure to replace or disinfect those artificial structures every two years to prevent disease occurrence. For more information, visit www.xerces.org/.

Limit use of pesticides

Bees are highly sensitive to any contact pesticides and their residues. In general, pesticides should be used as the last resort for controlling any pest.
Some of the organic pesticides also are harmful to bees, and it is very important to read the pesticide label before applying the products.

Integrate a wide range of cultural and mechanical practices in controlling pests in the garden. If necessity arises, use the right pesticide at the appropriate rate listed on the product label. Preferably apply the product when the plants are in non-flowering stage or during late evening hours when the bees are less active in foraging.

Vijai Pandian column from February 2012 Green Bay Press Gazette

Backyard Habitat: Making Dollars and Sense In Your Yard

Recent studies demonstrate that eco-friendly gardening practices not only can reduce utility and maintenance costs but also increase property values

by Janet Marinelli at the National Wildlife Foundation
from July 2011

WHEN LAURA SAMPSON and her husband Chris moved into their Clermont, Florida, home in 1998, they wanted a beautiful lawn and curb appeal, just like everyone else. They filled their garden with the plants they wanted, but not the species best suited to their central Florida climate. To keep their garden alive, the couple used chemical weed killers and fertilizers. One day they sprayed herbicide in a large planting bed and a small rabbit came running out. Later that day they found a small rabbit dead in their yard. “This was the first time we visibly saw the repercussion of our actions,” says Laura. “We decided then and there to become a friend to our own ecosystem.”

Today the Sampsons’ garden is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat™ and Laura is a certified Habitat Steward, after being trained by Federation staff to teach her neighbors how they can nurture wildlife in their yards. As a certified green home stager, she also helps families “green market” their homes and helps businesses make eco-friendly improvements.

Sampson is among a new breed of real estate professionals. In a 2010 National Association of Realtors survey, 88 percent of buyers said environmentally friendly features were an important consideration when purchasing a home. As the interest in sustainability has grown, so have the number of green builders, certified eco-brokers and green home stagers like Sampson.

The greening of the real estate industry hopefully will be a boon for both the environment and the pocketbook. Recent studies demonstrate that eco-friendly practices not only can reduce home operation and maintenance costs but also increase property values. And nothing improves environmental performance and curb appeal more than a wildlife-friendly, sustainable home landscape.

In 2003 the city of Santa Monica created two demonstration gardens in the front yards of adjacent bungalows. One was landscaped in the traditional way, with nonnative plants inappropriate for Southern California’s semiarid climate. The other was filled with native plants such as hummingbird sage and showy penstemon that are adapted to local conditions and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Over the next two years, city authorities tracked each landscape’s water consumption, yard waste and maintenance costs. The native garden used 77 percent less water—a big bonus in the perennially drought-prone region. It produced 66 percent less yard waste than the conventional garden, and it cost 68 percent less to maintain.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average U.S. household uses about 30 percent of its water outdoors. In arid areas, the figure may be as high as 70 percent. Using native plants appropriate for a property can reduce outdoor water use by 20 to 50 percent, reports the agency. In addition, strategic planting of trees and shrubs to cast cooling shade in summer and insulate against cold winter winds can slash the amount a homeowner spends to heat and cool a home by as much as 40 percent.

Sustainable landscapes have more subtle economic benefits as well. By calculating how much money property owners save by avoiding flood damage, recent studies have demonstrated the value of rain gardens, bioswales and other “low-impact development” measures designed to reduce storm-water runoff. Other research has shown how sustainable landscaping strategies can help lower taxes by reducing the cost of storm water infrastructure. For example, a 2007 study of the 73-square-mile Blackberry Creek watershed west of Chicago projected that by the year 2020, municipalities would save between $3.3 million and $4.5 million by employing low-impact development measures rather than conventional storm-water construction. It also estimated that by avoiding or reducing flood damage, the low-impact measures would increase area property values by $4.6 million.

Sustainable landscapes also are growing the value of homes. In one study released four years ago, University of Michigan researchers reported that people are willing to pay more for well-designed yards with mostly native plants than for properties dominated by lawn. The Michigan residents surveyed preferred a front garden that was 75 percent prairie wildflowers and grasses to one that was 50 percent prairie. The least favorite landscape was a conventional lawn.

Realtors have long recognized that attractive landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values by as much as 20 percent. In Minneapolis, according to a U.S. Forest Service study, trees increase property values by $7.1 million while saving $6.8 million in energy and $9.1 million in storm-water treatment costs annually. In fact, in 20 cities where he and his colleagues have studied costs and benefits, says Greg McPherson of the U.S. Forest Service’s Center for Urban Forest Research, “trees provide $2 to $5 in benefits for each $1 spent maintaining them.” Given these impressive numbers, it’s not surprising that the number-one green home improvement recommended by realtors is planting native trees and flowers—the foundation of a healthy and beautiful backyard habitat.

In short, growing a green landscape is a win-win proposition. The old expression “money grows on trees” may not be literally true, but a sustainable landscape comes close.

Janet Marinelli’s most recent book is The Climate Conscious Gardener. To learn more, visit www.janetmarinelli.com.