Responsibility ion the Backyard

RESPONSIBILITY IN THE BACKYARD  

June/July, 2012 issue  
Last  year, I had the pleasure of speaking to a horticultural conference on   backyard naturalization at Peterborough’s Trent University. It is a  subject that  I have groomed and nurtured over the years and is also one  which has evolved  into a popular six-week course that I teach each  winter.  It was an exhilarating  experience to share the enthusiasm of  this group in maintaining their properties  the natural way, and listen  to the thoughts and experiences of the over 70 in  attendance. 
  
 When  my wife and I first moved to our lot 35 years ago, there was not a   tree or a shrub anywhere on the property. It was, in fact, the corner  where two  agricultural fields met – one with timothy hay, the other a  field of oats, both  yet to be harvested. We wanted birds and other  wildlife, just like we had when  we lived at the original farmstead –  stately trees, conifers, shrubs and bushes,  and all the associated  wildlife we had come to enjoy. We needed to get started  right away with  an intense planting program as we were not getting any younger.  
  
 The  fellow at the nursery told me the tree I was now staring at was a   native red maple. It seemed like a good place to start.  It shouldn’t  take much  to guess what that thing evolved into! Our little red maple  became a Norway  maple, a non-native tree species frowned upon these  days due to its invasive  nature. 
  
 A  few years later, I went to another nursery and determined to have only   native trees and shrubs on our property, inquired about locusts as I  knew they  grew fast, and fast growing trees were what we were seeking.  We were advised to  get honey locusts. We purchased not one, but three,  honey locusts. Honey  locusts, while native to southwestern Ontario, are  not native to here. Their  more familiar cousins, black locusts, are  even further removed, native only to  mid-eastern United States. To add  insult to injury, in the 20 years we have had  these “native” locusts,  they have attracted virtually nothing except occasional  perching birds,  and the autumn crop of 12-inch long seed pods allegedly consumed  by  rabbits and deer, although I have yet to see either under its branches.   Mostly, it attracts me, every autumn, as I rake up wheelbarrow loads of  seed  pods. However, we decided that while honey locusts were as  useless as……well, you  know the rest of the phrase…., they did add to  the overall effect of what we  were attempting to create.
  
 We  learned right away quick that “native” was often just a generic term   used by growers – a current buzz word that could be put to use as a  marketing  tool, much the same as “green” or “natural” or “organic”. We  learned to believe  nothing until we researched. 
  
 From  those two oversights, we did more research on native plants,   comfortable in the knowledge that the only real mistake in life is the  one from  which we learn nothing.  Today, most of our two acres is a  forest of native  trees and shrubs, including silver maple, white ash,  white spruce,  serviceberries, honeysuckles, currents, gooseberries, and  grey dogwood. We still  throw in a few non-native shrubs now and again  to justify why we have a clump of  lilacs (I heard that catbirds love to  nest in them). 
  
 From  the days when our lot was so open that killdeers even appeared nervous   to remain on our property, we now have a list of over 100 species that  have  visited our yard, 23 of which decided that our efforts were worthy  enough of  nesting. Among the nesters have been brown thrashers,  catbirds, chickadees,  eastern bluebirds, yellow warblers, and our first  warbling vireos nested in the  now stately silver maples just last  year. 
  
 We  learned from our experience that non-native trees and ornamentals are   okay when planted sparingly. Not only to they contribute to the overall  effect,  but they provide a haven for insects which, of course, provide a  food source for  birds. I remember spending many an hour on our  farmstead, with my binoculars  aimed into the foliage of our three  weeping willows as migrating warblers  feasted on the emerging insect  larvae. And the lowly red cedar that grew like so  many weeds on our  farm, was actually capable of attracting birds too, cedar  waxwings and  robins feeding on the berries, while chipping sparrows and mourning   doves nested in its boughs.
  
 And  the Norway maple on our lot? We now sit in our lawn chairs under it,   gazing in wonderment on our success in attracting wildlife to our  premises.  Above us, robins nest in the branches, and on winter days,  the tree provides the  necessary limbs to hang our feeders, while above  both downy and hairy  woodpeckers probe for overwintering insect larvae.  What a treat now to spend any  free time we have, watching these trees  and shrubs, and decades of hard work,  finally pay off.
  
 However,  the Naturalization course I teach each November is perhaps a  misnomer,  because we look at so many other things we can do to become more   responsible, and making use of what our property produces. For example,  our  garbage (one bag every six weeks) contains no compostable items,  and certainly  no recyclable items. It was always a no-brainer to  compost peelings, coffee  grounds, even paper napkins and facial  tissues, as discarding them seemed like  such a waste of resources that  could be composted and used in our garden. Three  composters are usually  going full tilt all the time, accepting any kind of  refuse that will  break down, including shredded paper, all of which can be  turned into  black gold for the garden. And while we are at it, let’s dispel that   persistent myth that composters smell. Composters do not smell, if  composting is  done correctly.  
  
 We  have even extended this philosophy of retaining as much of our waste as   possible, to include our backyard trees. All broken and pruned  branches are  stock piled, and one of the very last jobs we do in the  fall, is fire up the  wood chipper and covert this woody material to a  fine mulch. The new mulch works  well around shrubs, and if left to  decay for a year, will add nutrients to the  vegetable garden and flower  beds. Leaves are also mulched with our recycler lawn  mower and forced  back into the ground to serve as fertilizer. We find that the  leaves  mulch better if left until they are dry and crisp causing the leaves to   break down into almost a fine dust. It just makes sense to make use of  this free  material. Why bag it and put it at the curb?
  
 However,  we do leave a few branches to add each year to our brush pile in  the  back corner of our lot. A brush pile is ideal habitat for a wide variety  of  wildlife, and really – that is the Number One reason most people  take this  course. They wish to attract wildlife to their  premises…….and, also learn how to  manage the wildlife they do  encourage, if over population should happen by using  the four basic  requirements of wildlife – food, water, shelter and space – and  working  within their system – not ours – to either encourage or dissuade  species  of wildlife.  We also look at nest boxes, bird feeders,  butterfly shelters, bat  boxes, mason bee boxes, nesting shelters, even  holders that dispense nesting  material. 
  
 At  the end of the day, there is a feeling of peace, tranquillity and   wellbeing to sit back and watch the biodiversity on a property come to  life.  
  
 For more information on birding and nature and guided hikes, check out the  NatureStuff website at www.naturestuff.net 
  
 Terry Sprague lives in Prince Edward County and is self-employed as a  professional interpretive naturalist.