Wildlife Gardening: Functional, useful and attractive?, 1 by grampapa

grampapa wrote:
I expect this thread to have a very long life. I know that I will be following it. One of the advantages I have is that I don't have a very established garden. I started with a new build home 4 years ago. I mentioned in another thread that I planted buddleia davidii before I knew it was invasive. It died over the winter. After joining DG and reading I decided not to replace it. I haven't inherited any of the old Bradford pears or other common trees so I can make better choices going in.

So thanks for starting this, terry. I am interested in aesthetics, because I live in a 'no-fence' community on a man-made lake. I think you can garden for wildlife and have a 'pretty' garden, too. I hope so. There are restrictions on blocking others view of the lake. But also a lot of possibilities.

The numbers & types of birds have increased dramatically as people have put in more trees and shrubs. There are fish in the lake and the numbers are increasing, so we get Great blue heron and have seen a Great egret here for lunch. We have been able to encourage Mallards by providing cover near the edge of the lake. There were 2 broods this year on the lake for the first time since we moved in, and they have been decreasing in this area due to the increase in predators. when they nest under shrubs away from the water the eggs are almost always eaten by something. the attached pic is of a nest in the front of my house...the eggs disappeared 3 days later (hope I can get them to nest here next year). we also had robins & killdeer fledge this year in our yard, and lots of hummingbirds feeding. I have plans for bluebird nestboxes and purple martin housing, but I want to make sure I do my homework first. I joined the PMCA and think I have an ideal location to be a landlord.

I came home from work one day and found my landscaper spraying the weeds around my pool and gave him 'what for'. Tried to explain why I don't use chemicals. We have landscape fabric and river rock around the pool and it's not that big a deal to hand pull the weeds. I know he thinks I'm nuts, but I pay the bill.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this thread goes. it will be interesting for sure

gram ~a girl~