Wildlife Gardening: Desert yard (in progress), 0 by oldmudhouse

oldmudhouse wrote:
Oh, no good pics yet. I hope to add some native shrubs when the weather cools a tad (have my eye on 'em at the native plant nursery.) I've been learning which agaves and cacti are cold hardy here, but most of those are babies that will winter in the house before I set them out to fare for themselves.

Added a border to an existing rose garden, reworked the soil, mulched, fertilized, and discovered I'm terrible with roses. Still, they were Dad's roses, so they are staying and I'm determined to learn.

I'm learning that our local Thrashers are a challenge. I think we have Crissal Thrashers and Curved-Bill Thrashers here. Boisterous birds with an attitude and wicked beaks. They stomp around and flip the gravel out of my cactus pots, fly off with unrooted offsets of hens and chicks, and poke big holes in my succulents. I build hardware cloth cages for the small plants they love to harrass. We're learning to co-exist with each other. The quail are much easier to live with. The ground squirrels are happy guys too, especially when I put out orange halves and watermelon rinds.

I have started "grooming" some of the native prickly pears and yuccas; I have a handy long-handled grabber tool that's great for removing diseased opuntia pads. Also good for pulling off the old yucca bloom stalks without leaning a ladder against the yucca. I'm still learning which tools work for best for the prickery housekeeping I need to do. Lots of big old Agave americana century plants that need pruning or removing, too. As I clear out some of the dead or stressed plants I'll have more room for the new native shrubs I want to add. I don't want to remove too much brushy cover for the quail as I go...so most of the old brush will stay in place as we slowly make changes. Remove a little, add a little. Don't want to ruffle any feathers.

I put together a small area area under a Honey Locust tree to house my growing cactus collection. I need more dappled shade but this is a start. Of course the Thrashers think I've built them a feeding station. This shows one of the cages to protect my Echeverias from those ice-pick beaks.

What's new at your house?