Last year I removed an ecologically useless boxwood which left a bare patch. I threw seeds and compost there over a period. In the spring when things started to grow there I made a very crude stick fence to keep the deer out which mostly worked. There will be some Helianthus tuberosa in there to harvest after everything dies.
My neighbor thinks this looks like a coyote. Looks more like a gray fox to me. What do you folks think? It was a wonderful sight on my backyard cam from last night.
This plant is a butterfly magnet and also considered an aggressive spreader. It started out small about 2-3 years ago and has taken hold. I'm happy for it to spread its heart out!
This is wild bergamot (mornada fistulosa ) , I live in a big city and i am surprised to see this moth
Found this southern leopard frog while doing some garden clean up today. I don't think he appreciated being disturbed lol
I just need to vent a little bit. I got into native plant gardening but my husband still mostly likes traditional plants and I still like some of them too. Thing is, he was out gardening for 5 years due to medical reasons and I took over everything during that time & then I also started planting a lot of native plants. Well, he’s finally now able to do some gardening again. Which is great! But when he weeds, he clears everything out, there is not a leaf or pinecone in sight, the soil is completely bare. I just disagree with that, and he doesn’t like my “critiques”. He knows my native garden areas are off limits. I tend to “chop & drop” & let things decompose over time. A completely bare soil bed freaks me out a little. Anyway, I know we’ll reach some sort of compromise. But it’s been really hard for me feeling helpless as he does a “clean sweep” and I just said “but nature isn’t like that” but then he says “everyone does it”. It’s just driving me nuts right now and I know it’s silly to argue about it.
Stopped putting seed out and just kept the suet blocks as per RSPB guidelines due to disease this year. However nature finds its way of providing. Always try to leave an overgrown area if possible …
EDIT. I didn’t put the music on it was just playing through my phone at the time.
One of my pair of resident song sparrows. I know they are one of N. America most common songbirds but I just love them so much. I catch glimpses of them foraging on the ground all day long. They are extremely territorial so I know I am seeing the same two mated individuals. I added these little habitat features throughout the garden and they seem to be a hit.
I have feeders full of other little birds but these American Goldfinch prefer to harvest their own seeds. I’ve seen them scoping out my common evening primrose for weeks. Glad some of the pods have finally ripened for them.
Just some photos I’ve taken of little visitors in my garden from today. 1) robber flies mating 2) common eastern bumblebee 3) silver-spotted skipper and 4) monarch butterfly
We just moved into a home with a couple big brambles on the property. One runs down the length of the property, so a couple hundred feet long. It's designated as a wildlife corridor, I believe, per the neighbor I talked to on the other side.
This summer I've observed deer, rabbits, mice, voles, and a ton of different birds and pollinators, presumably plenty of bugs in there as well.
The brambly hedge is probably 20-ish feet wide. The Himalayan blackberries are running riot, completely dominating most of the space between the trees. There are plenty of other native species in there, but they are overrun by / intertwined with the blackberries now.
Beaked hazelnut
Nootka rose
Sword ferns
Big Leaf maple
Multiple red cedar
Madrone
Evergreen huckleberry
Western serviceberry
etc
We're picking blackberries now (yum). Only about a foot (into the width) of the hedge is on our property, the rest belongs to the HOA for the cul-de-sac on the other side, but they are OK if I replant some of it as long as I don't hack in there and leave it bare.
What I would like to do is pick a 5-ft section, dig out the blackberries / remove old woody vines, and plant other natives in it's spot, then next fall pick another section, and so forth. I'm sure I'll be battling the blackberries forever, so I have no illusions that they go away that easily.
I'm just concerned with the wildlife in the meantime. If I go in and clear a section of all the vines (esp the old ones that have accumulated over years) and replant, it interrupts their corridor & their cover until those new plants grow.
Am I doing more harm than good? Should I just leave the dang blackberries and hack them back each year? (birds, deer, and rabbits all seem to munch on them, but I'm sure they could just as well eat evergreen huckleberries, red elderberries, oregon grapes, etc. that I'll be planting -- I'm planning on ensuring I plant with natives that provide cover and food.
WA state peninsula, zone 8b
The secret is mulch, umbellifers, asteraceae, fabaceae, and don't clean up too much.
3 year progression: year 3, year 0, year 1, year 2. I guess there's some merit to sleep, creep, leap.
Side yard, so just letting it get a little wild and loving the transformation, even without ostentatious blooms right now. Most of the biomass in the first photo is scorpion tail (the little guys love this one), dune sunflower (serious legs on that), muhly grass (struggled this year) and spotted bee balm (should bloom in a week or 2, can't wait). Scattered throughout are Scarlet sage, bes, coreopsis and rosinweed. Love how much the fire bush and Buttonwood in the rear have grown but the wild tamarind in the way back is the star in that regard.
This year I've seen so many more animals. So much activity around the flowers, I need to work on my bug identification. Snakes everywhere. Tons more birds and much greater diversity (thanks Merlin!), including 2 endangered species and regular visits by swallowtail kites(my favorite). Bats and dragonflies feast after a good rain (need to make a bat house). Saw a bobcat for the first time in the 6 years I've lived here.
I'm proud of the little enclave of wild I've created but no one else in my life shares my gardening enthusiasm, so I'm sharing with you guys. I'd love to see anyone else's progress pics.
For the last three years we have been supporting a woodchuck, it started with our lettuce plants being eaten, as they are on the edge of the garden and accessible if your a limber woodchuck.
Rather than be outraged that we had a guest, we planted him a little garden of his own, with a variety of lettuces, some carrots, radishes, and celery. (Extra seeds) this little garden boarders in end of our vegetable garden, and is fully sacrificial.
Our woodchuck had babies and we now have three. They are adorable and pretty respectful, only enjoying what we have planted for them or given them. We also give them the occasional buggy cabbage, or overly bruised tomato etc.
We figure since we are in a super urban spot, it’s our responsibility to share the resources we have with our furry friends.
First pic is one of the babies, the other pics are of a very pregnant momma.
Found this guy crawling around among the weeds in a corner of the garden