Welcoming Reptiles and Amphibians to Your Yard

As mentioned many times, I am working on improving my yard as a wildlife habitat.  I came across some resources today you may enjoy. North Carolina recently published an 8-page booklet on encouraging Reptiles and Amphibians in your backyard habitat. There is also a nice 2-page document previously published. Although focused on North Carolina, where they get a lot more rain than we do, the hints are applicable everywhere.

Garden Taking Shape

I don't intend to do a lot with the garden this fall, although I am planting a little. Hubby unloaded 2 pick up loads of compost into my 8' x 20' space Saturday. I got to spread the compost about 3 - 4 inches deep.

Today I actually put in some plants and seeds--you can see there is still a lot of room. I put perennials (herbs mostly--apple mint, rosemary, lavendar) at the end near the trash bins and annuals at the opposite end. Then I put some rotted leaves down around the plants for mulch.

Thanks to the cooler temperatures, the plants are still looking pretty good tonight. They should have at least this week of 80-degree weather to get acclimated. I also planted some seeds (radishes, carrots, etc.) We'll see what comes up. It would be nice to get some rain.
Although not in this picture, I did also add some more butterfly and bird friendly plants to the area around my bird bath. It will probably be overplanted next year, but if so, I'll move some things around. I haven't prepared the other beds in the yard yet.

Hubby is starting a grape arbor in my potting area for shade and also a garden arbor at the entrance to that area. Yes, grapes for the arbor and probably coral honeysuckle (not the invasive Japanese honeysuckle) for the entryway. If I don't change my mind.

Article on "Ecosystem Gardening"

This is really a follow on to my post a few days ago about working to make our new yard more wildlife-friendly. If homeowners can do it, why not businesses, cemeteries, schools and churches?

I came across a website I think will be of interest to readers. Why not talk to your employer, pastor, etc. about making the empty lawns around most public buildings more ecofriendly? After the intial planting, I'm willing to bet that for most organizations, the maintenance costs would be less than the regular mowing, trimming, watering and fertilizing of the typical lawn, and would have the added benefit of attracting wildlife.

Note the 5 pillars:

• Sustainable gardening


• Soil health


• Water conservation


• Remove invasive plants


• Plant native plants

It's a Start

When we moved into our new house, I was a little bummed because the yard just wasn't the best for birds and butterflies. So, one of the first things my husband did for me was to set out the bird bath. With water and a feeder, the birds have been coming to the yard--white winged doves, mostly, but also house finches, blue jays, robins, western kingbirds, cardinals, Inca doves (once) and red-bellied woodpeckers. So not a huge variety, but it's a start.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband dug up the area for me to put flowers around the birdbath. I am trying to stick with natives that are drought/heat tolerant and preferably plants that attract birds and butterflies. My hummingbird feeder has seen no hummers--there just aren't enough flowering plants around to bring them into the neighborhood. Anyway, I planted some lantana, blue mist flower, turks cap, pigeonberry, and red ruellia. Some are perennials; others annuals that will self-seed.

So we begin. It will be a multi-year project to make the yard as pretty and as wildlife friendly as I would like, but you have to start somewhere.

What are you doing to improve the habitat in your yard?

Webinar on How to Create Wildlife-Friendly Backyard

Interested in improving the habitat in your backyard (or on your business property) for wildlife? The National Wildlife Federation is hosting a webinar Thursday night to help you do just that. An RSVP is required, so register. There is no charge for this webinar.