Here's a checklist of things to do for
attracting Wildlife!
A small garden can support a variety of
wildlife, if you provide certain items.
1. A water source is important for wildlife
Water
is a driving factor for many animals, especially in more arid
areas of California. For large mammals a small trough is popular.
We have a lot of wildlife that comes to our horse troughs bears,
raccoons and deer. If you are near wild area where wildlife is
present they may come to your yard just for the water. Make sure
that whatever you use it stays full or else place a stick in it so
that small mammals that fall in can get out again drowned rats are
disgusting. Birdbaths,
of course, are for the birds.
2.
Cover
The Cover varies with the animal. Bushes,
trees, boulders, logs, snags, form places that provide nesting
sites, food, and hiding places for the
birds and other small wildlife. Large rocks make nice accent
points in a garden and logs can be used as boarders or benches.
Toads may live in the same hole for 30 yrs!
3. Open ground
Most
of the small creatures (like some
butterflies, lizards, horned
lizards, California
Quail, Mourning
Doves and others) do not like full cover. They need some areas
of bare ground, in the garden, usually with decomposed granite,
sand, or other semi-loose soil. This open area can be planted to
annual sun-loving wildflowers for example, Poppies,
Chia, and
lupines,
that will shrivel and disappear after flowering leaving a nice
scattering of seeds in open ground for the seed-loving wildlife.
4.
Mulch
Many species of the smaller wildlife live on/in
the mulch under the bushes and trees. Many birds
like the California
Thrasher, Hermit
thrush, and the California
Towhee live off the organisms in the mulch. The mulch also
helps your garden! Four to six inches of oak leaves, or shredded
redwood bark, holds in moisture and decomposes into great
nutrients.
No apples, oranges, and
avocados here, we’re talking small
bird/chipmunk bite-sized. The chipmunks prefer
manzanita berries and Ceanothus
fruits over plum pits. Mahonia
nevenii is a favorite of the Western
Bluebird. Elderberries are used by many birds,
from the Northern
Flicker to the Wrentit.
Poison Oak, Poison Oak??!! Yes, it is another favorite of many
birds,
including woodpeckers.
7.
Seeds
There is a wide diversity of shrub seeds
(Sages,
Lupines,Buckwheats
and Artemisias) and tree seeds (Pine and Oak
are tops) that wildlife utilize. Plant a few of the plants, and
you'll get pounds of seed.
8.
Annual wildflower seed
(There
are some dryland grasses that produce seed that may be used but
they are a minor (approximately ONE percent) component in the
southern half of the state) Poppies, Annual Lupines, Annual Sages,
Annual Buckwheats, are far more important for the desirable
wildlife, weeds and grasses are important for field mice and
gophers. How to make a wildlife garden
The
wildlife garden needs to be a mixture of trees, shrubs, perenials,
bare ground ( no weeds or debris between plants), mulched, wet and
dry. THIS IS IMPORTANT! The interface of this mix is where most of
the wildlife lives. That is why a small garden can attract a large
species list if you open it up into a series of
interfaces. Sand-gravel walks lined with perennials mixed with
boulders behind which there are mulched beds with shrubs and
trees. Every 30-50 ft., there should be a wet spot with a
birdbath under which there’s a mini-wetland with the
overflow into a shallow bowl or concave rock. Kill the weeds. The
weeds stress the system and will limit acorn and other native seed
product. Kill the weeds as the weeds do not support native
animals, nor native plants. Mow, spray or if it is a small area
(3X3 is my limit) hand weed. Do not till, disk, spade or
fertilize. Common garden management leads to common garden
sparrows, cabbage moths, earwigs (I know some are native, but
really!) rats and mice. Native systems didn't have European weeds
in them before we showed up. Make your site a better site for the
wildlife and you by excluding the weeds.
Killer Cats
The
wetland portion of the garden is surrounded by cat proof plants.
(Is there such a thing as a “cat-proof” plant??????)
We usually mix Ribes,
Juncus,
Carex,Acacia greggii,
Mahonia
nevinii, Snowberry,
Mimulus,
Satureja,
etc. Your little cuddly kitty turns into the neighborhood furry
terror as he/she wanders around the neighbor's yard eating their
birds
and visiting every flower bed leaving fragrant replicas of
himself. When he gets done marking the spot, he’ll roll for
a few minutes in the freshly planted flower/vegetable bed, digging
around just to check it out. Then it’s time to hunt for the
most beautiful, melodious bird
in the garden. Hey, there's a birdbath,
maybe a drink before dinner? Australia talked (briefly only as the
little old ladies showed up in herds to protest) about killing all
the kitties on the continent because of the impact on wildlife. (
They have an incredibly sensitive situation. Small marsupials
don't mix with killer mammals.) If you do let your cat out to roam
the garden, put a bell on it at least, a mask and cap would be
cool too.
** Note: For a cornerstone or key plant in the
wildlife garden you may want to know the top 10 ranked plants in
order of their value to wildlife. Many of these are trees or large
shrubs.
4. Poison oak. POISON OAK???? Yes, poison oak
is very important when it comes to attracting birds
especially. If you have a corner somewhere or you or your loved
ones are not allergic then it may be used.
Some
unusual people want to attract and support deer.
Here are the basics: 1. Kill the weeds. (I know but
some people are slow.) 2. Work at systematically reducing the
weed debris through mowing and long term weed control. 3. Put
water sources in next to cool, shady north slope locations along
with open spots with wide angles of vision. 4. Plant a few wet
spots with
sedges, rushes,
monkey flowers,
grasses and
other expendables that can be browsed nightly by the deer. Deer
have a normal range of only a mile or so. Give them at least 3-5,
200-300 sq. ft. ‘wetlands’ within that mile. 5.
They prefer nitrogen- fixing shrubs like Ceanothus
and Cercocarpus
(search our site for nitrogen -fixing and you’ll get a few.
A little extra summer water on these plants almost always means
they’re browsed heavily. 6. In large open areas (5-50
acres) there are native species of Vetch that you should be able
to get from S&S Seed in Carpenteneria. After you get your
weeds under control, Vetch, Lupines
and Poppies work well for a feed cover. Wildlife Gardens have
other benefits
There
are many benefits to having a wildlife garden, most of which we're
just beginning to understand! Terrified of ticks and Lyme disease?
The bacteria that causes the disease dies when it lives of a
western
fence lizard (Leopard lizards may also be helpful).
(Talleklint and Eisen, 1999; Lane and Anderson. 2001.) High
numbers of lizards and certain small mammals in the garden offer
near-perfect protection. Weeds favor mice (one major vector); oak
leaf and shredded redwood bark mulch and open paths favor lizards.
Small mammals (Shrews, Moles, Foxes, Bobcats, Weasels, Squirrels,
Gophers, and Rabbits) limit the populations of mice.(Ostfeld and
Keesing, 2000) Put in small open 'trails' of crushed rock or
decomposed granite with mulch and boulders in the planted areas,
throw in a log or bench and you have a western
fence lizard paradise.
Amphibians
like a pond or small marsh (under a birdbath;
it has to be water, not just moist soil) to reproduce in, and cool
moist areas in which to hunt insects. On good frog years we have
very few insects (10,000 fly suckers diminish the fly population).
There seems to be a correlation between native plants and
amphibians. We think it may be a combination of the lack of native
insects on non-native plants providing no food for the frogs, an
irritant on the weeds or non-natives that harms the frogs, and/or
pathogens associated with weeds and non-natives that the
amphibians cannot tolerate. Basically, the problem is that the
whole habitat is gone, from the microorganisms to the plants and
amphibians, when there is no native plant community in place. We
have thousands of frogs in the nursery; whole blocks in town have
not one frog. Why? We do not think it is a chemical issue alone;
that is, one herbicide nor one insecticide killing them all (some
insecticides, and Atrazine herbicide that is used primarily on
corn, are toxic, but these are not used by every homeowner, and
poor farmer in the world). Amphibians are not helped if you apply
chemicals on them. Many chemicals are absorbed readily through
their skin. (Do not do your weed control when the frogs are out.)
The removal of native habitats is happening worldwide, but the
restoration of at least partial habitats, even in a garden, brings
back the frogs.
2.
Cover
7.
Seeds
The
wetland portion of the garden is surrounded by cat proof plants.
(Is there such a thing as a “cat-proof” plant??????)
We usually mix 
The
shrubs in your wildlife garden need small fruits and seeds the
wildlife can use. These can be 
1.
