Is Your Backyard

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Is Your Backyard

• WILDLIFE FRIENDLY?

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What would you like in your yard?

• Singing birds

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Splashing fish
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Fluttering butterflies
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Butterflies, birds, fish, and more

• All these add sensory sparkle to any size garden
  be it your back yard, front yard, or even a
  balcony.

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Wildlife quickly arrives when

• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• are available.
• Youve heard, Build it and they will come

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When you keep wildlife in mind

• Even
• balcony/patio gardens
• raised beds or containers just outside the door
• curbside beds
• will lure local critters when they are
  designed with wildlife in mind.
• You dont have to have a large area!!

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Checklist according to

• National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife
  Habitat
• Food
• Water
• Cover
• Places To Raise Young

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Certified Wildlife Habitat

• By 2006, more than 74,000 yards, schools, and
  communities had been certified, including more
  than 12,000 in the last six months. Each of them
  can feel good that they have done something
  special for wildlife by providing the four
  elements animals need to survive food, water,
  cover, and places to raise young.

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How to certify

• Go to
• http//www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/
• You can print out a form to certify a wildlife
  friendly space in your yard or anywhere in your
  community.
• NWF will make suggestions to help you fill out
  the forms or to help you meet the requirements.

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• If your habitat meets the requirements, you'll
  receive a personalized certificate suitable for
  framing and become a member of the National
  Wildlife Federation (a 15 value), receiving our
  award-winning National Wildlife magazine. For
  questions call 1-800-822-9919.

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Why apply for certification?

• Although, there is a 15.00 application and
  processing fee, you become a member of National
  Wildlife Federation and receive their magazine
  National Wildlife and a quarterly newsletter
  called Habitats, providing you with a steady
  supply of tips and projects to maintain your
  Backyard Wildlife Habitat site year after year.

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Other reasonsIts fun

• You'll attract beautiful songbirds, cheerful
  butterflies and other interesting wildlife to
  your yard. Watching wildlife can be fun for the
  whole family.

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Its relaxing

• The natural environment of your habitat will
  provide a peaceful place to relieve stress and
  unwind, day or night.

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It makes your yard more attractive.

• Replacing barren lawns with beautiful
  wildflowers and other native plants will increase
  the appeal of your property and will provide a
  nurturing place for wildlife.

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It nurtures and supports wildlife

• ALL YEAR!!
• Habitat restoration is critical for wildlife
  where commercial and residential development has
  eliminated most natural areas. Wildlife
  especially need your help during the cold winter
  months.

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And It benefits the environment!

• Gardening practices that help wildlife, like
  reducing chemicals and conserving water, also
  help to improve air, water and soil quality
  throughout your neighborhood.

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History of the Wildlife Habitat Program

• This is not a new program!! It has just become
  more and more popular and accepted.

This was the American Dream having a huge lawn
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• By the middle of the last century, human
  population booms and economic prosperity led to
  the spread of suburban development into once
  rural or wild areas. At the same time that the
  trend in landscaping began to favor close-cropped
  lawns, exotic ornamental specimen plants, and a
  desire for neatness and uniformity, new chemical
  fertilizers and pesticides were rapidly becoming
  available that made an insect-free, perpetually
  green yard an obtainable goal.

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Unfortunately we still have that
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It started back in 1973!!

• the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) ran an
  article in the April 1973 issue of National
  Wildlife magazine encouraging people to landscape
  and garden in a more sustainable, natural way,
  with wildlife in mind. Response to the article
  was so overwhelming that NWF began the Backyard
  Wildlife Habitat program that same year to
  educate people about the benefits, for both
  people and wildlife, of creating and restoring
  natural landscapes. Since that time, the practice
  of natural landscaping has grown in popularity.

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Food??

• What do you do to provide food for wildlife?

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Food

• Serve up a smorgasbord of wildlife-minded
  plants. Berry- laden trees or shrubs, such
  Barbados Cherry or Duranta, supply a juicy feast
  for songbirds. Also supply a mix of seed bearing
  flowers in plantings. Nectar laden blooms
  romance bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

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Bringing life to your garden
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http//www.abnativeplants.com/

• The American Beauties collection of native
  plants makes it easy to use trees, shrubs, vines,
  grasses and wildflowers that are beautiful and
  good for wildlife. Native plant experts and
  wildlife experts have teamed up to create four
  gardens guaranteed to bring life to your
  landscape by providing food and habitat for a
  variety of desirable critters.

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Why Choose Native Plants?

• Native plants provide the best source of food
  and cover for wildlife and are ideally suited to
  the soils and climate they evolved in. Because of
  this, they generally require minimal fertilizer,
  little supplemental water after they are
  established and no pest control.
• Please check out Andy and Sally Wasowskis
  information
• http//www.botanicalmissionaries.com/index.htm

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The Bird Garden

• The plants in this collection provide seeds,
  berries, nesting places and cover for all kinds
  of songbirds. Plus, there are lots of plants in
  this collection that provide interest four
  seasons of the year.

Great web site for birding in TEXAS http//www.pa
ssporttotexas.com/birds/links.html
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Switchgrass Panicum virgatum
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Sisyrinchium angustifolium

• Blue-eyed Grass
• Cardinals, song sparrows, house finches and
  other songbirds eat the seed.

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Aster oblongifolius

• Fall Aster
• Not only is the Aster beautiful, wild turkey and
  other game birds eat the seeds and foliage in the
  winter. It is also a nectar source for
  butterflies and bees.

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Aquilegia Blazing Star Columbine

• Cross between native A. canadensis and A.
  chrysantha hinckleyana. Attracts hummingbirds.

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Echinachea purpurea-Cone Flower
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Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower
Grows easily in wet soil Plant in sun to
moderate shade
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Lonicera sempervirens
Trumpet Honeysuckle Coral Honeysuckle
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Birdhouse with Coral Honeysuckle
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The butterfly garden

• Many of these plants supply nectar as well as
  serving as the host plant for butterfly and
  insect visitors.

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Aristolochia macrophylla

• Dutchmans Pipe

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Pipevine Swallowtail
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Asclepias tuberosa

• Butterfly
• weed

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Not native to Texasbut?
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Asclepias currassivica
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Tropical Milkweed
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Another tropical milkweed
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Selecting hosts plants will bring
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Monarch on Mexican Flame Vine
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Asclepias incarnata
Swamp Milkweed Smells like vanilla
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Others to mention

• Eupatorium greggii Greggs MIST

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• Buddleja davidii (Buddleia)
• Plant alongside pentas (Pentas lanceolata),
  lantana (Lantana camara) and zinnias Zinnia
  elegans) for non-stop butterfly activity, and
  find a place nearby for parsley (Petroselinum
  crispum), passion vine (Passiflora incarnata) and
  other butterfly larval food plants.

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Nice photo of pentas
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New Gold Lantana is a great
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Native Lantana
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Check out the caterpillar on vine
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And one of my favorites
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Recipe for a Butterfly Banquet

• Plant a window box or raised bed and cram it
  full of these winner!
• Lantana camara
• Verbena
• Pentas
• Creeeping zinnia Sanvitalia
• Bachelors Buttons Gomphrena
• Zinnia profusion white
• Marigold
• Calibrachoa-Million Bells
• Gaura lindheimeri
• Extra triple curled parsley

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Window box
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Water

• A steady water supply rolls out the welcome mat.
  Consider a large pond, or simply install a
  fountain or birdbath. The sound of trickling
  water proves irresistible to birds and will draw
  more species to your yard.

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Birdbaths

• Recommended that you change the water every other
  day to keep fresh and keep mosquitos away.
• Clean thoroughly with wire brush when and vinegar
  in water. Using bleach can harm the environment.

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Ponds and Water Gardens

• Ponds can bring in the birds, frogs, fish,
  dragonflies, and YES, snakes.

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Frogs

• If you want to attract frogs, leave fish out of
  your pond because they eat frog eggs and
  tadpoles. You might be able to have fish and
  frogs if you make lots of hiding places for frogs
  using leafy branches. These provide cover as well
  as nutrients. Piles of rocks, emerging as
  islands, and vegetation also give frogs and
  dragonflies a place to perch. Don't make the
  sides too steep. Make sure you provide a sloped
  or stepped escape route for frogs or other
  animals if they fall in.

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Toad Abode Anyone?
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Toad Abodes provide cover

• To make one, get a medium-size clay pot and
  saucer. Put the saucer on the ground and keep it
  filled with water. Nearby, put the pot
  upside-down with an edge resting on a rock. That
  makes room for a toad to fit through and hide
  inside. (If you have a broken pot with a chunk
  missing at the rim, you have an abode with an
  instant doorway - no need to prop it up.)

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Fancy Toad Abode
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Cover

• Hedgerows and dense plants such as Trumpet Vine
  (Campsis radicans) and Hawthorn, provide shelter
  from predators and the elements. Native plants,
  which thrive without much attention, offer
  excellent cover for birds, insects, and other
  critters.

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Brush piles could be a NO NO?

• Consider creating a brush pile in a corner of
  your yard to give creatures a safe retreat.

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Head for cover

• Wildlife need a place to hide in order to feel
  safe in your yard. They also need a more
  long-term shelter to raise their young.

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Easiest way to provide cover

• Use existing vegetation, dead and alive. Many
  shrubs provide great hiding places within their
  bushy leaves, and dead trees are home to lots of
  different wildlife. You can also construct hiding
  places using logs, brush or rocks.

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Ponds are the perfect cover

• If you have a pond you are providing cover for
  many water dwellers.

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Places to Raise Young

• Shrubs and trees offer suitable spots for tending
  and raising young. Even the thick tangles of a
  perennial pea vine carefully conceal nesting
  birds. Include bird houses to entice nesting
  pairs to raise a brood under your watchful eye.

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Nesting boxes for birds

• Another popular way to provide cover is to put
  up a nesting box for birds to raise their young.
• Depending on what types of birds come to your
  area, you would provide the right kind of nesting
  box.

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Basic features of nesting boxes

• Constructed of natural untreated wood (pine,
  cedar, or fir)
• Lumber for walls that is at least ¾ of an inch
  thick to provide insulation
• An entrance hole of the appropriate size to allow
  desired birds to enter but keep larger birds
  out
• An entrance that is the correct distance from the
  floor to accommodate the nest
• An extended and sloped roof to keep the rain out

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Basic features continued

• A recessed floor and drainage holes to keep the
  interior dry
• Rough or grooved interior walls to help
  fledglings exit
• Ventilation holes to allow the interior to remain
  cool
• A side or top panel that opens to allow easy
  access for monitoring and cleaning
• No outside perches, which aid predators and other
  harassing birds

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Where to place nesting boxes

• Do some research for the kind of bird
• Placing the box on a pole with a predator baffle
  to protect the birds is often more successful.
  Make sure that the box is attached securely
  enough to withstand severe weather and winds.

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Remember

• Also take into consideration the direction your
  box is facing and how much direct sun it
  receives. Many birds will reject boxes that face
  due west, for example, because the box may stay
  too hot.
• Before placing your box, research habitat, nest
  height and direction preferences for the species.
  

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Monitor your nesting boxes

• If an invasive bird moves in, you may want to
  move him out
• If the birds have already left, remove the old
  nest and you may get 2 or 3 broods per season

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Condos for Purple Martins
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Gourds for Purple Martins
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Homes for Blue Birds
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Arbors with vines

• Often arbors with vines will provide safe havens
  for doves to nest.

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Dove nest in jasmine arbor
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Best protection for birds nesting

• KEEP THE CAT IN THE HOME!
• If you cant do that, prevent the bird from
  ambushing the bird
• HERE ARE 3 ways!

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3 Ways to Prevent ATTACKS

• Eliminate the cats hiding spots in the yard,
  especially near bath and feeders
• Give the birds a good inspection perch to look
  for cats. A small tree works. Really special
  for ground feeders like doves.
• A fence can be a barrier between where the cat
  usually attacks from.

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Bat Houses

• Bats kill many, many mosquitos
• They like warm places up high, but near water
• Eliminating forests have eliminated bat habitats
• http//www.batcon.org/bhra/economyhouse.html
• http//www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/webcasts/cave
  s/battypes.phtml

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Bats in Texas
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Gardening in an environmentally

• friendly way!
• How you manage your garden or landscape can have
  an affect on the health of the soil, air, water
  and habitat for native wildlife - as well as the
  human community. Following are some sustainable
  gardening techniques that you can use to help
  conserve resources.

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Mulching

• Mulch helps keep water in the soil and available
  to the plant, rather than evaporating into the
  air. This can help you reduce your watering time.
  Also, as mulch breaks down, it provides nutrients
  to the soil. This can help reduce the need for
  fertilizer.

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Xeriscaping

• Xeriscaping is an approach to landscaping that
  minimizes outdoor water use while maintaining
  soil integrity through the use of native,
  drought-tolerant plants.

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Rain Barrels

• Rain barrels are used to collect rainwater for
  use during dry months. Besides helping the
  environment, an obvious reason for harvesting
  rainwater is to save money. Depending on the size
  of your house and the amount of rainfall in your
  area, you can collect a substantial amount of
  rainwater with a simple system.

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Rain Barrel at VEG
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Rain barrel with pump/recycled
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Whiskey Barrel Rain Barrel
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Reducing Lawn Areas

• Lawns often require chemicals and if you used a
  gas-powered lawnmower, the engines in these
  machines are often very polluting. Since lawns
  are often made of only a few types of plants,
  they do not provide a lot of value for wildlife
  who benefit in ecosystems with diverse plants.

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Removing Invasive Restoring Native Plants

• Native plants are better for the environment
  than exotic plants, generally requiring less
  fertilizer and other additives, less water, and
  less effort in pest control. They stabilize soil
  and reduce erosion they more effectively filter
  storm water than exotic plantings, thus improving
  water quality and they promote biodiversity.

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Tips and Projects for Sustainable Gardening

• Build a compost bin
• Organic gardening tips
• Cut your lawn in half
• Have a chemical-free lawn
• Friendly fertilizers
• Conserve water in your garden
• Cope with drought

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• Do NOT
• Use traps to kill moles. Moles don't eat plants,
  but rather earthworms - or beetle grubs that can
  damage lawns. Reduce your lawn instead.
• Do not worry about killing tent caterpillars in a
  habitat garden. These are native species that
  typically don't do long-term damage to their host
  plants, which are limited to cherry, apple and
  pear species.
• Do not put weeds or diseased plants in your
  compost pile because the temperature might not be
  high enough to kill them and then you'll spread
  them out again.
• Do not introduce ladybugs or other predator bugs.
  Doing this properly requires a keen knowledge of
  predator/prey relationships and most of the
  insects you purchase are non-native.
• Be wary of methods which suggest boiling plant
  parts or grinding them up in a water solution to
  use as a spray on vegetables. This spray solution
  can be very poisonous. For example, boiling
  rhubarb leaves or soaking tobacco stems in water
  is apparently practiced by some gardeners. Both
  of these plants contain extremely toxic poisons
  and should be dealt with carefully.

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Get your Community Involved

• It's exciting when you certify your own backyard
  and it's even more exciting when your whole
  community joins in!

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Play and Observe Outside

• Gardening for wildlife is a great way to spend
  time outside. Get more inspiring ideas for ways
  you and your family and friends can connect with
  nature.

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Enjoy yourself!
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And take time to smell the roses
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Presentation on Wildlife Habitat

• by Nancy Kramer
• Victoria County Master Gardener