There is sack of candy in my driveway!

Gardening with Nature 

No doubt about it – we are in the dog days of summer. Your garden may be full and lush and that is the point of contention. All our wonderful native neighbors see your garden as an oasis. Unless they taste from that garden of eden it only must only be a mirage. Here are some tips and pointers on how to make sure your hard work will be viewed as fortress not a convenience store. Please remember this quaint image – if you were to toss a sack full of candy in your driveway would you be upset if the neighborhood children came around to collect? Your plants are often like candy to the wild animals that share their habitat with you.

Fencing is the primary method of reducing the unwanted terrestrial visitors but what about the “tunnel runners” – the native neighbors that reside underground? For most it is not a realistic expectation to construct a concrete wall surrounding our garden and the labor involved to create raised beds is daunting. The resolution may be found by implementing a few of the many humane methods and techniques. Examples include soap shavings, dog hair, rotten eggs, certain plants, etc. Human scent (sweat, urine) is often a simple solution.

Many folks install electric fences but are discouraged when the animals seemingly ignore the jolt to get to the joy. One solution is to place a bit of aluminum foil with peanut butter onto the wire. The animal smells the food, touches the food and is discouraged to enter the space. This negative rewarded is effective with deer especially. The key is to rotate and keep the deterrents fresh! A terrific device on the market is a ‘scarecrow’ – a motion sensor water spraying deterrent mechanism.

If the birds are eating all the berries – make the decision to share. Let one plant be theirs, and then use the products on the market to cover the one you chose keep. Flashing ribbon or old cd’s suspended are often sufficient deterrents. Decoys have also been used successfully. The thing to remember is to keep unfamiliar sights, sounds and scents new - rotating the items and changing locations. 

  

Live traps are not a humane way to evict a native neighbor. By catching the animal then moving it into a new territory where it has no idea of food, shelter, water, or predators it is often a death sentence. There are many ways by which you can create your space as an unwanted area to visit to the he furry and feathered. Techniques can be found in a number of books at our public library, the extension office or at the ahwf.org website, click on the native neighbor tab or call the volunteers at American Heritage Wildlife Foundation.

           LANDSCAPING with NATURE

  

Here are a few tips and pointers to help you create a wildlife & human friendly yard. Placing seed feeders that are away from windows and clean will prompt many songbirds to come and feast. By placing a barrier such as a child’s pool in the yard with seeds scattered in the bottom will not only attract the birds that prefer to eat on the ground it will provide them a few seconds more time to escape the domestic cat that is trying to sneak up on them. The pool lip is a barrier that the cat will have to jump over, this action allows the birds to see the predator and fly away before the cat can attack.

There are also natural ways provide food and shelter for the Feathered Native Neighbors. With appropriate landscaping design, attracting wildlife is easy. Birds use shrubs and trees for food sources and places to nest or hide. Holly & Roses provide Winter sustenance, Serviceberry & Chokecherry in Summer, Honeysuckle & Blueberry Fall. Additionally many flowers provide seedheads which are readily consumed by Towhees, Nuthatches, Goldfinch, Chickadees, Sparrows and Finch species. Consider planting Aster, Rudbeckia, Zinnia, Echinacea, Marigold, Cosmo, Goldenrod, Phlox, Salvia and Sunflowers.

Fruit trees are favorites for Jays, Catbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Finch, Goldfinch, Flickers, Grosbeaks, Orioles, American Robins, Sparrows, Tanagers, Towhees, Warblers and Woodpeckers. Junipers and Privet provide safety for Wrens, Towhees, Juncos, Waxwings, Larks, and Sparrows. For those little Hummingbird species don’t just hang sugar water. These amazingly tiny birds also consume bugs and nectar. Planting Beebalm, Geraniums, Veronica, Delphinium and Penstemons will help them find a balanced diet in your yard.

Keep noxious or invasive plants at by without chemical warfare – just be consistent and breaking off the seedheads. The plant cannot make more plants if it cannot scatter seeds. This simple act ensures the ecosystem does not have unnecessary chemicals introduced into the water table or our wild native neighbors systems. Allowing tall grasses keeps the water table high, which is conducive to earthworms. Have sections of grass that are very tall – some native grasses reach astounding heights and are beautiful as well as produce seed heads to feed the wildlife. Put out water bowl(s) or create a shallow pond in your yard.

Become a superhero for every species from Leopard Frogs to Alligator Lizards, Chickadees to Merlins, Deer mice to Deer.