Dr. Grow: Landscaping for wildlife

Before I start this column I want to print a disclaimer.

CAUTION:::: ATTRACTING WILDLIFE TO YOUR HOME LANDSCAPE CAN ALTER YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE!

This alteration can be good or bad, depending upon your perspective.

I have a friend who has to shoo the deer and squirrels off of her patio and back deck several times a day. No longer can Jill (I've changed the name) put pots of impatiens on her deck or plant hostas in her perennial garden. Deer and rabbits think her flowers, hostas and azaleas are culinary delicacies. Through the years, they have destroyed hundreds of dollars of landscape plants. Jill is so disgusted with the damage in her landscape caused by wildlife that she is considering selling her home.

On the other hand, I have a friend who places his recliner near a picture window. Close by are the binoculars and a bird identification book. His bird feeders draw cardinals, hummers, squirrels and an occasional rabbit. Because he can identify the markings and mannerisms of each regular partaker of the smorgasbord, he has given each a name. Conversations I have with Fred almost always center round the latest shenanigans pulled by members of his backyard menagerie.

If, after reading any disclaimer, you still want to attract wildlife to your back yard, then continue to read.

Your back yard will teem with all kinds of furry and feathery friends if you provide them with their basic needs of food, shelter and water. Of these needs, plants satisfy most of the requirements for food and shelter.

If you are in the construction phase of a new house, survey the existing landscape and determine if any of the vegetation might be suitable for wildlife habitat. If so, ask your builder to leave it on the lot. Small trees surrounded by low vegetation make up thickets that attract wildlife. Birds constantly fly to the small trees, squirrels bury their finds among the roots, and rabbits tend to sit in clumps of leaves and tall grasses that are present.

I have found that animals like a variety of plant material within which to reside. Let me explain. When I hike through a stand of mature timber that has very little vegetation living under the canopy, I usually find very few birds and mammals. On the other hand when I hike through an area of transition where there are large trees, small trees, fence line borders, thickets and open fields, I find the area teeming with birds, mammals, butterflies, etc.

Each species of wildlife has a different environmental condition, or niche, within which it likes to live. By providing an abundance of different niches, a small area can become a home to a lot of different species.

If you live in a new home without landscaping, consider planting a variety of plants that will attract wildlife. The variety should include plants with different textures. Fine textured plants such as boxwood and yews when pruned provide very dense vegetation within which small birds can make nests and provide concealment and protection for their young. Coarse textured plants such as trees with large leaves provide open areas within which cardinals and robins usually build nests.

Variation in plant size also plays a role in providing different animals with different habitats within which to live. Large, tall shade trees provide nesting sites for squirrels and birds. Smaller shrubs, especially ones that have vegetation all the way to the ground, provide shade and concealment for small mammals.

Not only can plants provide for shelter by differences in form and texture, but they can also provide the structural materials for bird nests and other shelters. I have found small twigs, mud and leaves from all sorts of plants intertwined into nests of both birds and squirrels.

When you select a large variety of plants for your landscape, you also provide food for birds and mammals. Berries, acorns, hickory nuts and flowers all act as magnets to draw wildlife to your landscape.

Some of the plants that you may want to consider planting in your landscape are boxwood, holly, deciduous holly, juniper, pyracantha, butterfly bush, annual flowers, cardinal vine and privet, to name a few. Go to your local garden center and ask them which plants attract wildlife. They will be glad to help you.

In my next article I will discuss feeders, baths, houses and other structures that you can purchase to attract wildlife to your landscape. I've got to quit typing now because I want to watch the deer, cardinals, squirrels and woodpeckers in my front yard.