“But there is one place where a person can make choices that will lead in a small way toward greater sanity in dealing with the natural order. That place is the private garden.”
— Allen Lacy in ‘The Inviting Garden’
Way back in time (2009), I went through the very simple process of certifying my garden as a National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Habitat. (Really. It’s simple. If you’re a gardener and you care about attracting wildlife to your space, you might want to do it, too!) I take that certification Very Seriously, and I constantly work to create a garden space that is welcoming and inviting to wildlife. (Which means . . . growing native plants, providing adequate cover and water and food, not using pesticides, providing nesting places, etc.)
It seems to be working out really well. My gardens are filled with wildlife.
I’ve got So. Many Birds. So many! (I used to have a Bird Buddy feeder/camera for a while, but it met its demise last fall. . . It was fun while it lasted. ) Every year, we attract more birds. We feed them year-round (with extra sources of food through the winter months), have water available all year long (for both drinking and bathing), and our garden provides excellent cover for their nesting and hiding needs.
We have frogs in our pond and toads in our soil. (And shy garter snakes a plenty, too!)
Just last week we had a painted turtle laying eggs in our back lawn . . . and a snapping turtle laying eggs in our front garden bed. (We have covered their nesting sites with garden cloches to keep the eggs safe from predators . . . and our mowing crew.)
We host squirrels and chipmunks and opposums and raccoons and rabbits. And, of course . . . a Labrador retriever. (Who manages to scare off ZERO of our wildlife friends!)
You know what I don’t have this year, though?
DEER!
I’m not sure where they are . . . but they haven’t been hanging around my garden this year, and I haven’t even seen many out in my neighborhood.
And for that . . . I’m a Happy (Wildlife) Camper!
How about YOU? Do you invite critters into your garden space?
Oh, Kym… this is just magnificent! Most especially those turtles! What an absolute treat!! A raccoon tried …very hard… to destroy our Bird Buddy, but Steve managed to salvage it. We have seen deer… but they have not done much nibbling since they mowed down all the tulips. My newest visitor are some Baltimore Orioles that have been visiting! They are such a delight to see!
I also encourage wildlife in my yard. I feed the birds (and squirrels!) year round, and the birdsong is so loud some mornings it sounds like a really loud bird choir. I love that, it’s delightful. I have lots of chipmunks, an occasional armadillo, too many possums, hawks, chipmunks, and a mixed breed terrier that spends a lot of time chasing wildlife. I don’t encourage or discourage snakes, I just don’t see too many, and that is fine with me. This is water moccasin and copperhead country. I don’t use pesticides unless there is a prolonged takeover, and then I use the safest ones sparingly. Unfortunately, most of my neighbors spray their yards heavily with pesticides, spray the air for mosquitoes, and generally pollute the area.
Oh, I hit the send button too soon! I wanted to say that I wish my garden was as pretty and benevolent as yours, Kym.
All of that wildlife is wonderful, but the lab is the cutest. Baby turtles will be something special to see. I’ve got lots of birds and lots of deer. We live in town and this spring I have two does that like to lie in different places in the yard and a total of three fawns that are getting a little more adventurous.
After two summers of not being able to garden, I am back with a renewed drive this year. We also have lots of birds, so many bees, two types of squirrels, bunnies, and deer. I remember looking at that garden certification and thinking it felt do-able so I may need to revisit. Next up for me is reviving my compost pile.
Well, that’s cool. Your yard & gardens are so lovely. Turtles! We found a baby snapper on our street last year (so cute). I took the quiz & we’re doing OK except for the water part, though there’s a creek 300′ away & the Fox River is just a couple hundred feet further. We’ve been talking about a bird bath or something but I can’t find one I really love. (Maybe it’s not so important that *I* love it.) We have a big assist from an untamed ravine on two sides, which includes several 200+ yo oak trees, along with some fallen branches & snags.
Yes, I certified our yard about five years ago. It did work to diversify and expand the number of creatures that visit us, especially the birds. How is your insect population? Currently, supporting insect life is the most important environmental goal for me.
I’m so glad the deer haven’t visited you this year! It sure is discouraging when critters take advantage of our generosity by eating and destroying our gardens. We’ve got squirrels and chipmunks in large numbers, more woodchucks than I want to think about, and loads of birds – more than ever, actually. I don’t have toads but we do see turtles now and again. And Dale just bought a black hose that I think is a snake every time I see it. Does that count? LOL
We have a ton of birds. (Bluebirds and wrens currently nesting in boxes in our yard.). Years ago we found a turtle in our yard which was fun, but I have not seen one since. We do have raccoons, opossums (yay – they eat ticks), deer, woodchucks (though we have not seen Steve the Bee in some time) and foxes. I’m sure there are snakes too, but I don’t want to see them! We usually have both frogs and toads.
We do and the bird varieties have been extra special this year. There is food and water available all year here and we’ve plenty of trees. There is an opossum that travels through on occasion and a woodchuck moving between three or four yards right now. We don’t have anything he wants…we’re just on the route! So happy your deer are out of the neighborhood!
Not in a gardening way, but just sorta…around our yard: baby lizards, hawks, foxes, bunnies, raccoons, a great big buck (never a female deer), a family of ducks once, birds, squirrels, opossums…the suburbs are teeming. Much more than in my childhood.
You know you have a welcoming garden when you have not only birds and turtles and chipmunks but Labs! 😉 I would not be so happy about the snakes (I know they’re harmless, but they still give me the willies), but it’s pretty amazing how many different animals feel comfortable in your garden. My husband just mentioned something about chipmunks the other day, and since then I’ve seen several of them in our backyard — not unheard of, but rare. We’ve got tons of birds and squirrels and of course those pesky bunnies, who thankfully do not seem to be eating my impatiens this year but are pooping all over the place.
What a beautiful space for you and all the critters. I’m glad the deer are not devastating your garden this year. I have a pollinator garden and have seen bees already this year. We do have plenty of birds, bunnies, and squirrels. I feel about squirrels almost the way you feel about deer. They do a lot of damage to the deck and the plants and beds but live and let live. They just don’t have many predators in the neighborhood. Occasionally a fox rambles through but I don’t know that he is after squirrels.