Gardening for Wildlife

Introducing native plants into our garden was important for our goals. Not only are they more accustomed to our climate, but our local pollinators and critters rely on them! We have devoted substantial energy to filling our garden with native plants, and every day we learn more about them. We have nearly 100 species of native plants in our habitat ~ see our full list here!

Having insects is essential to reaching a balanced ecosystem. Our garden is an insect oasis and outside of water conditioners for our pond, we don’t use any chemicals, even those advertised as organic. Any chemical has the potential to harm beneficial insects and the thriving ecosystem we lovingly support in our garden.

If something isn’t eating your plants, then your garden isn’t a part of the ecosystem. :) Aphids on your roses? Their presence will attract lady beetles. Caterpillars on your nasturtium? They are the top food source for baby birds. If you eradicate a part of the chain, your habitat will struggle to put checks in place. Have trust and patience that Nature knows what it’s doing. It may take a few seasons, but if you leave it be, your habitat will reach balance.

Where appropriate, we leave the leaves in our habitat and let our native plants naturalize, spreading and winding through the naturescape. Leaf matter and depleted plant stalks are critical for many species of insects. Sometimes I do prune to prevent an unhealthy situation, but where possible I let nature be.

When we first moved into our home, the traditional lawn scape and ornamental plants were not interesting to wildlife, and we counted maybe 15 species of birds in the first year. We have now spotted over 50 species of birds in our habitat, which sky-rocketed after we added water features. The addition of all of our native fruiting plants and nesting habitat has only strengthened our avian diversity.

We lovingly support insect habitat in our garden and I’m always on the look out for new visitors, especially native species. We have resident native beetle species, such as the Convergent and Western Polished Lady Beetle, but most excitedly was after a couple years of accepting powdery mildew on our gourds, it attracted the native Twenty-spotted Lady Beetle (Psyllobora vigintimaculata). A tiny species that seeks out and feeds on powdery mildew, it is thought they could be used in place of fungicides as a biological control, because of their natural tendency. It was such a delight to see them - nature finds a way!

I’m thrilled to have taken photos of at least 7 species of bumble bees in our garden so far! We have countless attractions for our local bees, from native blooms, annual veggies and flowers, and nesting-habitat. Our mason bee houses are very popular and fill up quickly, with close access to all the pollen and mud needed for their efforts. Local leaf cutter bees love to cut out circles from the soft leaves of our native plants. And all animals love the water features - I’ve seen some very colorful sweat bees stop for a drink.