Biodiversity Gardening: A Documentary
Introduction
Biodiversity Gardening is about the conservation of nature, something we can all help with. It's easy to increase biodiversity -- the living part of the natural world -- in your backyard. Get rid of some of your lawn, and plant native plants. It's that simple.
We've embarked on a biodiversity gardening project on our property and we're documenting the ups and downs, successes and failures. Ultimately, we want to encourage you to create a biodiversity garden in your own yard.
As research scientists and teachers, we specialize in biodiversity in our professional lives. This is our educational website.
We think of our front and back yards as "habitat". Habitat loss is the primary cause of declining biodiversity worldwide. A biodiversity garden full of a diversity of locally sourced native plants creates much needed habitat for hundreds of species.
There are fringe benefits, too.
Once established, a biodiversity garden will require less water, chemicals and care than a lawn or even a flower garden of non-native plants. It's incredibly satisfying to go for a walk in our garden and find an animal species living there, because of the habitat we provided.
One of our particular goals is to create habitat for native butterflies and moths, including their caterpillars.
Caterpillars, the immature or larval form of butterflies and moths, are amazing little creatures unto themselves, quite apart from the fact that they turn into beautiful winged creatures that few among us dislike. Most caterpillars are leaf-feeders, so we're planting the native food plants that caterpillars require. And we're planting ample wildflowers of all sorts to provide nectar and pollen for native pollinators.
We've been biodiversity gardeners for nearly 20 years; our current garden is 9 years old. We've planted ~120 species of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. We purchase plants from local native plant nurseries that can identify the source of their stock. Never collect plants from the wild!
Yes, challenges abound! Our property had been neglected previously, so we have serious problems with non-native weeds such as dandelion, sow thistle, green and yellow foxtail, quackgrass, black medic, etc. and invasive non-native ornamental plants such as periwinkle (Vinca minor), English ivy, Pachysandra, garden mint, Ajuga, etc. Our property is also part of the home range of a healthy white-tailed deer population. As innocent and beautiful as they are, deer love to eat our native plants.
Our entire property is not a biodiversity garden -- yet. Currently, about 2/3 is devoted to biodiversity. The rest is a "people-play area" with grass, sandbox, patio etc. We also have an edible garden. One non-native tree, a native of the west coast, was here when we bought the property. It's a non-invasive species, and a large, healthy tree so we decided to keep it.
If you're considering a biodiversity garden for your property, consider this. Even if you devote only a small patch of your yard to biodiversity, you'll be making a difference. Of course the larger the garden, the more habitat for biodiversity, but start small, rather than not starting at all.
We've embarked on a biodiversity gardening project on our property and we're documenting the ups and downs, successes and failures. Ultimately, we want to encourage you to create a biodiversity garden in your own yard.
As research scientists and teachers, we specialize in biodiversity in our professional lives. This is our educational website.
We think of our front and back yards as "habitat". Habitat loss is the primary cause of declining biodiversity worldwide. A biodiversity garden full of a diversity of locally sourced native plants creates much needed habitat for hundreds of species.
There are fringe benefits, too.
Once established, a biodiversity garden will require less water, chemicals and care than a lawn or even a flower garden of non-native plants. It's incredibly satisfying to go for a walk in our garden and find an animal species living there, because of the habitat we provided.
One of our particular goals is to create habitat for native butterflies and moths, including their caterpillars.
Caterpillars, the immature or larval form of butterflies and moths, are amazing little creatures unto themselves, quite apart from the fact that they turn into beautiful winged creatures that few among us dislike. Most caterpillars are leaf-feeders, so we're planting the native food plants that caterpillars require. And we're planting ample wildflowers of all sorts to provide nectar and pollen for native pollinators.
We've been biodiversity gardeners for nearly 20 years; our current garden is 9 years old. We've planted ~120 species of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. We purchase plants from local native plant nurseries that can identify the source of their stock. Never collect plants from the wild!
Yes, challenges abound! Our property had been neglected previously, so we have serious problems with non-native weeds such as dandelion, sow thistle, green and yellow foxtail, quackgrass, black medic, etc. and invasive non-native ornamental plants such as periwinkle (Vinca minor), English ivy, Pachysandra, garden mint, Ajuga, etc. Our property is also part of the home range of a healthy white-tailed deer population. As innocent and beautiful as they are, deer love to eat our native plants.
Our entire property is not a biodiversity garden -- yet. Currently, about 2/3 is devoted to biodiversity. The rest is a "people-play area" with grass, sandbox, patio etc. We also have an edible garden. One non-native tree, a native of the west coast, was here when we bought the property. It's a non-invasive species, and a large, healthy tree so we decided to keep it.
If you're considering a biodiversity garden for your property, consider this. Even if you devote only a small patch of your yard to biodiversity, you'll be making a difference. Of course the larger the garden, the more habitat for biodiversity, but start small, rather than not starting at all.
