Landscaping for Birds and Other Wildlife- Sally Manifold, MS

Some of our most popular and lively garden visitors are native birds.  You can create a home landscape that is inviting to birds, butterflies and other wildlife that inhabit our local forests and meadows.  Attracting various kinds of wildlife can be fun and educational for the gardener, and restores valuable habitat that is often lost in residential neighborhoods.

Native birds are adapted to their home ecosystems. For most, only native plants are sources of cover, nesting sites and food.  Besides providing fruit and seeds, these plants are hosts to the insects that all birds need, especially when feeding young.  Diverse species of trees and shrubs growing in multi-layered plant communities create the places where birds nest, feed and sleep.  By adding native vegetation of many different heights, you greatly increase the variety of birds that will visit your yard. See lists in the attached Easy Native Plants for Wildlife Gardens.

DESIGN FOR PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE

As you plan to devote some of your property to native plants for wildlife, first look at how you yourself want to use your yard.  You don’t have to replace the non-native ornamental plants you already enjoy, but mixing them with native plants and filling empty patches with natives will reap the most benefits for wildlife.  Places you use a lot for sitting, playing or vegetable gardening are in the “people zone.”  Areas where you seldom visit, such as back corners, or shady side yards, can be “wild zones” and planted densely with native plants.  You can attract birds close to the people zone with well-placed native vegetation, feeders and water.   Don’t forget to leave paths so that you can access all parts of the yard for easy maintenance and enjoyment. Paths in the “wild” areas can be very narrow and mulched with wood chips to build up the soil and prevent weeds.   

HOW TO START

Place a bird feeder where you can see it from a window.  Fill it with black oil sunflower seeds; most native songbirds relish them, and they do not attract non-native pest species such as English sparrows or starlings.  If these aggressive birds are not a problem in your area, you can add mixed seed for ground-feeding birds: white millet, milo and cracked corn are readily eaten.  Clean and disinfect feeders regularly to prevent moldy seeds, and remove feeders if you see any birds that look sick.  Add a branchy native deciduous shrub, small tree or a teepee of sticks nearby as a staging site for chickadees waiting in line to fly away with a seed. 

Protect ground-feeding birds from cat ambushes by leaving an open clearing at ground level 6 ft. in radius from the feeder, or by placing a low hoop of 2”X4” fencing (2 ft. tall) around the area where seed falls.  Your whole fenced yard can be a bird haven if it is secured against roaming cats with small-mesh wire at ground level. Cats can be discouraged with a squirt gun.

Connect your feeding area to other patches of shelter with “islands” of cover or a continuous corridor of mixed native shrubs. Towhees, juncoes and song sparrows will not fly far without shelter, and they prefer to run among shrub stems.  A brush pile of cut branches with lots of spaces inside will also shelter birds from cats and hawks.  Place several loose piles wherever you have room, especially while new plants are still small, and enjoy the action.

Add a simple bird bath, which can be a large plant-pot saucer on the ground in the open space near a feeder, on a slope so the water has shallow and deep areas, only 1-2” deep.  Keep it clean and filled year-round.

INVITE BUTTERFLIES AND HUMMINGBIRDS

In a sunny flower bed, plant native flowers that offer nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds.  Add host plants that caterpillars need to eat.  Some of these plants also have seeds for birds, if you let them mature and stand over the winter. See lists and photos of butterfly nectar and food plants at www.naba.org/Chapters/Nabaws/. Feeders for hummingbirds can be used year-round, filled with a solution of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water (no red coloring). Keep feeder clean (scrub with vinegar to prevent molds) and nectar fresh. In hot weather, you may need to replace nectar every 2 days. Use a small feeder to prevent waste of sugar-water.

REMOVE INVASIVE PLANTS

Invasive plant species crowd out native habitats and the wildlife that depend on them for survival, and the damage they do to ecosystems ranks just behind outright habitat destruction. Many invasive plants like English ivy, holly and Scotch broom have escaped from home gardens and now infest thousands of acres of natural areas across Washington.  Their seeds travel in bird guts and tire treads far from their domestic sources. Many aggressive weeds are listed by the Kitsap County Noxious Weed Board at http://county.wsu.edu/kitsap/nrs/noxious/Pages/Weeds.aspx . Please avoid planting any of the species on the list in your yard, and work to remove any you already have, replacing them with local native plants. 

SHRINK THE LAWN

Birds will be quick to use your “wild” corners and bird feeders.  If you want to enjoy even more wildlife, you can convert some areas of lawn under your trees.   Lawns don’t grow well in deep shade under trees anyway, and they use up a lot of water, fertilizer and time.  Changing to native plants under trees has many benefits:  the trees’ roots will stay cooler and moister; leaves can remain where they fall; and tree trunks are buffered from mowers and weed whips.

To remove lawn grass, spread several layers of newspaper or a single layer of cardboard (remove the tape) as a light barrier on top of the grass out to the edge of the tree’s canopy.  Cover with a layer of mulch – 6” of leaves or 3” of chipped branches.  The lack of light will kill the grass, worms will till the moist soil, the paper will break down over the winter, and the mulch will remain to prevent weeds. 

During the rainy season, plant native shrubs and ground covers in these areas.  Pull back the woody mulch (do not mix wood chips with the soil - it stays on top), plant into the soil (fitting plants in between tree roots), and then restore the mulch around the new plants.  If the grass isn’t dead yet, do not include any grass roots in the planting hole.  Keep mulch 2” away from stems to prevent rot.

Wherever you need a clear sight-line, use plants and ground covers that will remain low.  Otherwise, use plants that grow to different heights in order to offer many layers of cover for wildlife. 

SOME NATIVE PLANTS NEED LITTLE WATER

One of the advantages of native plants in your garden is that they do not require irrigation after establishment.  All are adapted to our long dry summers.  Match native plants to your garden’s moisture conditions.   Pacific madrones especially need dry soil in summer, and irrigation will cause root damage and eventual death. 

Use native, dry habitat plants under madrones and other large trees to keep them healthy and give your yard a special, natural look.  All new plants need to be mulched, and will need to be watered for their first summer, but afterward will thrive without irrigation. 

For really wet places (with standing water in winter) where lawn and regular garden plants would suffer, you can substitute many wonderful wetland shrubs, sedges and rushes, to create a thriving plant community.

LOCAL SOURCES FOR NATIVE PLANTS

To sustain locally-adapted ecosystems, it is best to use plants and seeds from sources as close as possible to your site. Please purchase native plants from reputable nurseries who can provide information about where they obtained their plant material.  A list of local and regional native plant nurseries is available at https://green/kingcounty.gov/GoNative/.

SOURCES FOR MULCH

Chipped up branches and fallen leaves make ideal, nutritious mulch for native plantings and paths.  If you have any trees removed or trimmed, be sure to have the chips left at your property in a pile, where they remain useful for years.  If you don’t have tree work done, some tree-service professionals will drop off loads of chips if you ask. The PSE utility forester can put you on a waiting list for chips produced by right-of-way tree trimming, at 360-265-3170.

WILDLIFE IN YOUR GARDEN

Besides the desirable native songbirds and butterflies, your improved native habitat may attract other kinds of creatures, some welcome, some not.  

Deer will enjoy many native plants, but if you don’t want deer to eat them all, temporary hoops of 2”X4” wire 5 feet tall will let the plant grow large enough to sustain browsing or rise over the heads of the deer.  Inexpensive plastic deer mesh 7-8 feet high can be used to fence off larger areas.  Solid fencing 6’ high may prevent deer from seeing (and jumping) into your yard, but wire fencing needs to be 8’ tall where there is room for deer to leap and land.  Smaller enclosures don’t need to be tall, especially if they have some added branches arrayed to fill any landing sites. Deer leave alone such plants as salal, snowberries, evergreen huckleberry and sword ferns, so these can provide a fine beginning for habitat improvement.  Many plants on various lists of “deer-proof” species will be eaten by hungry young deer who evidently don’t read.

Squirrels, both our native Douglas squirrel and introduced Eastern gray, will enjoy your bird feeders.  Careful placement can prevent squirrels from leaping onto feeders, as does attaching a baffle on the feeder post (such as an upside down plastic plant pot).  Many folks don’t mind squirrels and chipmunks feeding on the ground, and these lively rodents will also benefit from the cat protections placed for the birds.

Night visitors such as raccoons, skunks, and opossums may dig worms from your mulched planted areas (just replace the mulch) or raid the fish from your garden pond. Covering water features and compost piles with wire mesh keeps them out.

Moles will enjoy the worms under your mulched areas, and their work loosens the soil without damaging the plants.  If they wander into your remaining lawn, you can rake out the earth hills or shovel the soil up and use it elsewhere in your garden.

If you are lucky, garter snakes, lizards, salamanders and toads will help keep slugs in check.  Enjoy their free pest-control services and leave them alone.  Old logs on the ground, piles of rock, and brush piles offer good shelter.

TO LEARN MORE

The Pacific Northwest is home to a wonderful variety of beautiful native plants that make handsome gardens and valuable habitat.  The following books teach us more about our regional species and how to design a wildlife garden:

Link, Russell. 1999. Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. U. of Washington Press, Seattle.  Great information on planning a wilder yard, including plant profiles, planting designs, and specs for bird boxes (with proper hole sizes to discourage “weed” birds).

Kruckeberg, Arthur. 1982. Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest. U. of Washington Press, Seattle.  A classic guide, with details on growing and propagating native plants, and plant lists in the back for various soil and sun conditions.

Pettinger, April. 2002. Native Plants in the Coastal Garden. Timber Press, Portland OR.  A very thorough book, covering beginning steps and advanced planting schemes. Especially good for creating shoreline plantings and wildflower meadows like those found around Garry oaks in Victoria, BC.

Web Sources

King County offers information about using native plants at https://green.kingcounty.gov/gonative/. Their Native Plant Guide will help you match plants to your garden’s conditions, and its how-to articles and landscaping plans can give you lots of good ideas.

Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife - Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/backyard/. Great regional information.

National Wildlife Federation – www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/  - Many tips; also: Backyard Habitat Certification application, with yard sign available.

PLANT SALES

Kitsap County Conservation District: www.kitsapcd.org. Orders taken in January for March pickup. Also, help with planning and funding native plant rain gardens for filtering storm water.

Jefferson County Conservation District: www.jeffersoncd.org. 2014 orders start Jan. 2, pickup Feb. 22.

            

Sally Manifold (B.S. Zoology, M.S. Environmental Science) has worked as an environmental educator, planner, and restoration ecologist.  For 12 years, she built and ran the Greenway Volunteer Program for Bellingham (WA) Parks, which replaced invasive plants with native plant habitat along urban trails and natural areas. She and her husband have lived outside Poulsbo since January, 2013. 

___________________________________________

The Wetland Garden- Sally Manifold, MS

Choose a place you know to be wet already.

Observe your property/restoration area during all seasons, watching for standing water in winter.  Mark the high-water line. Decide how large your planting will be.

An alternate way to determine a wetland boundary in even a dry season is to dig soil test holes (~12-18” deep).  Look for black organic soil/peat, or gray soils interspersed with red mottling.  These are indicators of saturated soil conditions where wetland plants thrive.

Order wetland plants, bare root or potted, for delivery in fall. Match species to your conditions: emergent plants for sites with year round standing water, or species tolerant of summer drought for seasonal wetlands. Sun and shade also affect species choices.

To remove existing undesired vegetation, spray with Roundup (Glyphosate) during the dry season when grasses and weeds are actively growing. Use Rodeo, the formulation for use near water, for sites with permanent standing water. For small just-soggy areas, sheet mulching with cardboard and wood chips can kill lawn plants.  This will take a longer time, for instance over a fall-winter-spring, for the cardboard to rot. 

After the grass has died, you may see regrowth of mosses (as rains begin), and taprooted weeds like dandelions. Dig deep to remove weed roots.  Be glad for surviving moss, as it creates a ground cover and prevents weed seed germination.

Plan your plantings, creating blocks of the same species, rather than a scattering of different plants.  Make a network of paths to access the area, marked with wood chips or straw.  These will help in maintenance and enjoyment.

In the fall, plant new plants into the dead vegetation and moss, or through the wood chip mulch. Space generously, as wetland plants will spread via clump enlargement or runners. Tall plants can have lower groundcovers planted underneath.

Mark very small or dormant plants with flags, as they can be easily walked on or planted on top of.

During the winter, frost may heave small new plants out of the ground - gently replant them after each thaw.

In spring, begin watching and weeding.  The seedbank from previous vegetation can be infinite.  Choose your battles.  Perhaps remove only the larger weeds that threaten desired plants.  Depends on the time and energy you can devote, and your goals. Adding wood chip mulch can suppress many weeds. Annual weed seedlings can be knocked back with a spray of white vinegar, but roots of more vigorous plants will not be killed this way.  Hand weeding is often the best method.

Observe the new plant community, as it sorts out which species will dominate.  “Edit” the species to suit your goals.  Aggressive species can be dug out, or sprayed in the dry season with Roundup, protecting surrounding vegetation with a shield of cardboard, etc.

Add new species among your plantings, especially shade tolerant herbaceous plants, such as lady ferns, under shrubs.  Watch for interesting volunteers, appearing from dormant seeds from historical wetland communities on site, or from water transport from upstream.  If unsure what something is, allow it to grow until you can ID it and decide if you want it.  Cattails will appear!  Probably not a good idea in a small wetland planting, as they will take over everything. Dig them when small, as they quickly start spreading by rhizomes. Willows also arrive by air and grow fast.

As the wetland fills in with plants, your paths may be overrun.  You can either dig and move plants crowding the path, or relocate or abandon that path.  Weeding maintenance sometimes requires wading through thick plants anyway, “off-trail” so to speak, and this is not that hard.

Enjoy your new ecosystem, especially as it changes over the year and with the passage of time. As it (hopefully) requires less work, you can think about an upland native plant buffer to enlarge your natural area.

Easy Native Plants for Wildlife Gardens, by Sally Manifold, MS

Easy Native Plants for

Wildlife Gardens

Sally Manifold

The plants listed in these tables are among the easiest to grow in suburban gardens.  If matched to their preferred soil moisture levels and sun/shade exposure, they will thrive.  Many can take more sun if soil moisture is higher; and conversely, plants from Medium and Wet soil lists may grow in drier soil with more shade.  Mulching with chipped branches or leaves will subdue weeds and preserve moisture.  All new plants will need summer irrigation for their first year.

Type codes: t,m,s = tall, medium, small ; T = tree, S = shrub; GC = ground cover; P = perennial; A = annual;

            e = evergreen, d = deciduous

Other codes (after Common name) # = Pacific Northwest native, but not in Puget lowlands;  + = will spread,

            ++ = will spread energetically

                              Sun                      DRY SOIL                           Shade

Common name	Botanical name	Type	Common name	Botanical name	Type
Calif. wax-myrtle #	Myrica californica	tSe	Calif. hazelnut	Corylus cornuta	tSd
Blue elderberry	Sambucus nigra ssp. caerulea	tSd	Pacific rhododendron	Rhododendron macrophyllum	tSe
Shore pine	Pinus contorta var. contorta	mTe	Baldhip rose +	Rosa gymnocarpa	mSd
Chokecherry +	Prunus virginiana	tSd	Tall Oregon grape	Mahonia aquifolium	mSe
Serviceberry	Amelanchier alnifolia	mSd	Ev. huckleberry	Vaccinium ovatum	mSe
Oceanspray	Holodiscus discolor	tSd	Salal ++	Gultheria shallon	sSe
Hairy manzanita	Arctostaphylos columbiana	mSe	Oregon boxwood	Paxistima myrsinites	sSe
Mock-orange	Philadelphus lewisii	mSd	Trailing blackberry ++	Rubus ursinus	GCe
Kinnikinnick +	Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	GCe	Pacific starflower +	Trientalis borealis	Pd
Wooly sunflower	Eriophyllum lanatum	Pd	Dull Oregon grape +	Mahonia nervosa	GCe
Stonecrop +	Sedum oreganum, S. spathulifolium	GCe	Woodland strawberry +	Fragaria vesca	GCe

                              Sun                MEDIUM SOIL                           Shade

Common name	Botanical name	Type	Common name	Botanical name	Type
West. white pine	Pinus monticola	tTe	Sitka spruce	Picea sichensis	tTe
Paper birch	Betula papyrifera	mTd	Cascara	Rhamnus purshiana	mTd
Shore pine	Pinus contorta var. contorta	mTe	Vine maple	Acer circinatum	sTd
Douglas maple #	Acer glabrum	mTd	Pacific yew	Taxus brevifolia	sTe
Scouler’s willow	Salix scouleriana	mTd	Osoberry	Oemleria cerasiformis	tSd
Calif. hazelnut	Corylus cornuta	tSd	Baldhip rose +	Rosa gymnocarpa	mSd
Red-flowering currant	Ribes sanguineum	mSd	Thimbleberry ++	Rubus parviflorus	sSd
Ever. huckleberry	Vaccinium ovatum	mSe	Snowberry ++	Symphoricarpos albus	sSd
Coast strawberry+	Fragaria chiloensis	GCe	Sword fern	Polystichum munitum	Pe
Oregon iris	Iris tenax	Pe	Twinflower +	Linnaea borealis	GCe
Calif. poppy +	Eschscholtzia californica	A	Bleeding heart +	Dicentra formosa	Pd
Yarrow +	Achillea millefolium	Pd	West. columbine	Aquilegia formosa	Pd

         
                     Sun                           WET SOIL                           Shade

Common name	Botanical name	Type	Common name	Botanical name	Type
Red alder	Alnus rubra	tTd	Western redcedar	Thuja plicata	tTe
Aspen ++	Populus tremuloides	mTd	Vine maple	Acer circinatum	sTd
Sitka willow	Salix sitchensis	tSd	Redtwig dogwood	Cornus sericea	tSd
Pacific crabapple	Malus fusca	sTd	Osoberry	Oemleria cerasiformis	mSd
Pacific ninebark	Physocarpus capitatus	tSd	Red elderberry	Sambucus racemosa	tSd
Black hawthorn	Crataegus douglasii	tSd	Twinberry	Lonicera involucrata	mSd
Nootka rose ++	Rosa nutkana	mSd	Salmonberry +	Rubus spectabilis	mSd
Douglas spirea ++	Spiraea douglasii	sSd	Deer fern	Blechnum spicant	Pe
Yellow monkeyflower ++	Mimulus guttatus	Pd	Slough sedge +	Carex obnupta	Pe
Henderson’s checkermallow	Sidalcea hendersonii	Pd	Fringecup +	Tellima grandiflora	Pe
Douglas’ aster +	Aster subspicatus	Pd	Lady fern	Athyrium filix-femina	Pd