Feathers, fur and flights of fancy – May is Garden for Wildlife Month

“Green” gardening and wildlife habitats go hand in hand. Some people learn the pleasures of sharing their gardens with wildlife after they have begun to create a more eco-friendly landscape and the birds, butterflies and other critters just start showing up in the native plants and chemical free, critter safe zone.
Other gardeners make a concerted effort to create habitat for wildlife, which by its nature and definition, results in a more environmentally friendly landscape.
Since May has been designated as Garden for Wildlife Month, now is the perfect time to learn how to make your own landscape more wildlife friendly.
To create a wildlife friendly landscape, a property should provide wildlife with food, water, shelter and places to raise their young. Other sustainable gardening practices which help to create a more environmentally friendly habitat are:

• the use of rain barrels
  
• water-wise landscaping
  
• mulch
  
• rain gardens
  
• integrated pest management
  
• removal of non-native plants
  
• use of native plants
  
• reduced lawn areas
  
• elimination of chemicals
  
• composting

You can learn more about creating wildlife friendly landscapes by visiting some of the links at the bottom of this post.
I would also like to thank Donna Williamson, a fellow wildlife lover who contacted me about the photo I used  of hornworms in a bowl of soapy water as a form of eco-friendly pest control. Donna, author of the book The Virginia Gardener’s Companion, pointed out that hornworms are the caterpillars of the sphinx moth, and instead of disposing of them, another option is just to grow enough plants to share with them! Donna said:

“I wanted to share some info about the sphinx moths/tobacco hornworms - it was disconcerting to see them drowning in a bowl on your blog which I usually enjoy so much and I applaud your effort to get folks to realize the danger of homemade pesticides! I grow lots of tomatoes so the hornworms and I can share, and I also support the wasp predators that lay their eggs in some of the caterpillars.”

Thanks Donna. I really appreciate it when our readers share what they have learned to do around their own eco-friendly gardens.
Now, for more information about creating eco friendly landscapes:
May is Garden for Wildlife Month (NWF website)
10 Tips for Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden
The Proof is in the Planting

Butterflies help remind us to be good environmental stewards

Eco-friendly gardeners say "Let me tell you about my garden critters"
Gardening for Hummingbirds

I love Cats, Just Not in my Yard

Many  gardeners don’t like cats in their yards. I have to admit, it isn’t one of my favorite things to be digging through my soil and come up with a hand-full of cat poop.

But the main reason I don’t like cats in my yard is because of the wildlife. Since I garden to attract wildlife,  I take my responsibility to protect that wildlife pretty seriously. So I don’t use chemicals in my yard AND I don’t tolerate free-roaming felines.

According to the American Bird Conservancy website:

• Scientists estimate that every year in the United States alone, cats kill hundreds of millions of birds, and more than a billion small mammals, including rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks.
• Life for outdoor cats is risky. They can get hit by cars; attacked by dogs, other cats, coyotes or wildlife; contract fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline distemper, or feline immunodeficiency virus; get lost, stolen, or poisoned; or suffer during severe weather conditions.
• Free-roaming and feral cats also pose a health hazard to humans from the spread of diseases such as rabies and toxoplasmosis.

If I see a cat in my yard and I know who owns it, I’ll talk to the owner first, before I take any other steps. After that, I feel okay doing whatever is necessary to keep the cats away. The problem, of course, is that once a cat decides it likes your yard, it is pretty difficult to deter them. 

Here are some of the methods I found online for keeping the cats away, so that the birds, and other little critters, can continue to play:

• Let your neighbors know how you feel about their roaming cat. The American Birds Conservancy website has materials you can download and share.
• Squirt them (the cats, not the neighbors) with a blast of water from a garden hose or spray bottle. 
• Get a dog (not always a good option if you like to attract wildlife).
• Scatter orange or lemon peels or spray with citrus-scented spray around the area; cats generally dislike citrus.
• Coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, or oil of lavender, lemongrass, citronella, or eucalyptus also deter cats.
• Sprinkle bloodmeal in your garden. Not only will it repel wildlife, but it is also a natural fertilizer.
• Mix water and vinegar and spray at the base of trees and plants around the house.
• Spray cat repellent (available at pet supply stores) around the edges of the yard,  top of fences and on any favorite digging areas or plants
• Try growing rue or scattering dry rue (an herb)- cats dislike the smell.
• Soak strips of old towels or rags in perfume or cologne and keep near target plants.
• *** It is NOT advised to Place moth balls around the garden. Please see comment from Alison for more info. 
• Arrange branches in a lattice-type pattern or wooden or plastic lattice fencing material over soil. You can disguise these by planting flowers and seeds in the openings. You can also try embedding wooden chopsticks, pinecones, or sticks with dull points deep into the soil with the tops exposed eight inches apart.
• Use plastic carpet runners spike-side up, covered lightly in soil.
• Set chicken wire firmly into the dirt with sharp edges rolled under.
• Keep garbage cans covered to control rodents that may be a food source for feral cats.
• Cover your child's sandbox when it's not in use.
• Try an ultrasonic animal repellent that are available in lawn and garden stores
• Use a motion-activated sprinkler so that a cat will be sprayed, but unharmed (I don’t really recommend this, since it seems like it would waste a lot of water)
• Cover exposed ground in flower beds with large, attractive river rocks to prevent cats from digging. (They have the added benefit of deterring weed growth.)

And here is one of the most ingenious solutions I found:

• Put some boogie bass in your yard. Remember those old motion activated singing fish (Don’t worry, be happy). I read online where one gardener put a boogie bass in her yard and it scared the cats away!

What about you? Have you come up with any good solutions for keeping the cats away?

Related posts : Pets and Pesticides
10 Tips for Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden

Create a birding adventure in your own backyard

I stopped by my friend Leslie’s house the other day to drop off some native plants for her. I meant to just leave the plants and continue on with my chores but, as usual, her yard made me linger. The second I stepped out of my car and heard the lovely musical tweets, chirps and twitters coming from her wildlife friendly landscape, I just HAD to stay and soak it all in for awhile.

Leslie and her husband epitomize what it means to share a landscape with wildlife. Although my husband and I have left our yard natural for the wildlife, Leslie and her husband have taken a typical suburban lot and made it into the perfect bird sanctuary by planting the entire property with native plants, installing rain barrels and water features, eliminating chemicals and hanging multiple feeders throughout their property. They even special order seed that they know the birds love and hang pieces of fruit in the trees for woodpeckers and squirrels.

My thought as I was driving away that day was “Wow, they sure get a lot more birds than I do.”
And then when I got home, I stopped and listened for awhile and realized that my yard was filled with almost as much birdsong as hers was. It’s just that I was taking the time to listen while I was visiting Leslie, while sometimes at my house I get too busy with my chores and indoor activities to pay enough attention to what’s going on outside.

That is one of the great things about the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) that starts tomorrow, February 17th, and runs through February 20th. Now in its 15th year, the GBBC is an annual 4 day event that encourages participants to count the various bird species that visit their own backyard and record their findings online. Not only does the GBBC provide data that helps scientists track bird populations and trends, but it provides a great opportunity for anyone to get better acquainted with the wildlife that visits their own yard.

I encourage you to visit the Great Backyard Bird Count website and find out more. You even have the opportunity to win great prizes, just for participating!

To get an idea of the birds you might see,  enter your zip code on the website to get a list of some of the birds  in your area. Here is a link to the list for Washington, DC.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run!! I hear the birds calling.
Related post: Does eco-friendly gardening help local wildlife populations?

Tomorrow’s Landscapes: More Birds, Bees & Butterflies for your Garden

Here’s an upcoming, full-day conference that some of you might be interested in. It is on April 14, 2012 from 7:30am – 4:30pm at the Brandt Student Union at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA.

The Piedmont-Blue Ridge Horticulture Society & Shenandoah University have teamed up to present “Tomorrow’s Landscapes: More Birds, Bees & Butterflies for your Garden” with six nationally acclaimed speakers.

• Doug Tallamy - Author of Bringing Nature Home
• Janet Scott Davis - Owner of Hill House Nursery
• Vincent Simeone - Director of Planting Fields Arboretum
• Jeff Lowenfels - Author of Teaming with Microbes
• Jim McCormac - Wildlife Expert
• Stephen Orr - Author of Tomorrow's Garden

Space is limited and registration is $99 until March 1st. Here is a link for more information.

How I became a bird nerd

February is National Bird Feeding Month, so I thought I would write a post about how I got interested in bird watching.

I’ve always liked nature and wildlife but my interest really took off back in the early 1970’s.

My mother came home from a trip to Oklahoma and told me that my Aunt Fran (aka Miss Fran from Story Land if you grew up out there) had her yard certified as a National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Backyard Wildlife Habitat . Knowing my Aunt Fran (she’s one of my idols), she may have been one of the first people in the country to do so. I thought it was so cool, that I wanted to have my yard certified too. So I learned, from the NWF, what I needed to do to help attract wildlife. I made my yard wildlife friendly by adding elements that provided food, water, shelter and places to raise young and by eliminating the many dangers that could harm the wildlife.

One of the first things I learned to do, of course, was to eliminate chemicals from my landscape. Chemicals in the landscape can harm birds, bees, hummingbirds, beneficial insects and even human critters and once I cut them out, a lot more wildlife species began hanging around. I also learned the benefits of adding native plants, which are usually great sources for feeding local wildlife.

My yard began attracting birds and butterflies and life was good.

A few years later, I was writing for the home & garden section of a local newspaper and I suggested that the editor let me write about the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program. I got to visit many certified Backyard Wildlife Habitats in the area and seeing what those very eco-minded people had done with their yards just added fuel to the wildlife-loving fire in my heart.

That was the beginning of a whole new relationship with nature and the environment for me. Once I got up close and personal with wildlife, I started learning more and more ways to protect the critters, which meant learning how to protect the environment. I gave workshops to teach other people how to create environmentally friendly landscapes. And some of those people went on to train others.

I guess you can say that the seed that the NWF planted in me, to protect the environment, took root and has had a far-reaching effect.

Many people have heard of the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program (which is now called the Certified Wildlife Habitat Program), but most of them probably don’t know that the program started from an article that they had in the April 1973 issue of National Wildlife Magazine. The article encouraged people to landscape and garden in a more sustainable, natural way, with wildlife in mind, to help restore the ecological balance of the planet.

Response to the article was so overwhelming that NWF began the Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program (originally known as Backyard Wildlife Habitat program) that same year to educate people about the benefits, for both people and wildlife, of creating and restoring natural landscapes.

There are currently over 140,000 NWF Certified Wildlife Habitats in the country and just from my own experience, I would guess that a good percentage of those property owners have made major changes to their gardening practices that have ended up having a significant positive impact on the planet.

So in honor of National Bird Feeding Month, I encourage you to take a closer look at nature. Cut down on the chemicals in your landscape. Plant some native plants. And learn to share your yard with the critters that were here before you!

10 Tips for Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden

Why there will be trees in Heaven

Oh course, none of us really knows what happens after we die. But I have this theory about Heaven. I think that if there is a Heaven, then it will be filled with everything that we took the time to love and appreciation in this lifetime. If you love something, then you get to spend eternity with it.

So when I die, if there is a Heaven, it will be filled with trees.


Here are ten reasons that I would love to spend eternity surrounded by trees.

1. Trees gather together to create forests – I am just completely at peace in a forest. When I die, if there is a Heaven, mine will be wooded.
2. Hummingbirds like trees – There is something magical about seeing a tiny hummingbird sitting in the branches of a huge, giant oak. Both hummingbirds and huge oak trees fill me with wonder.


3. Trees Provide habitat for other wildlife- I’ve seen a LOT of creatures hanging out in the trees of our little wooded forest. Owls, woodpeckers, hawks, squirrels….even swarms of bees. If I ever need to get back in touch with nature, all I have to do is look up.
4. Trees play with the sunlight – I absolutely love to start the day with the sun shining down through the branches of the trees, creating big rays of light. It’s like the trees and the sun are working together to say “Behold! A new day is here!”
5. Trees whisper – If you don’t know what I mean, go stand in the woods for a while when there is a gentle breeze blowing. Listen quietly until you hear their whisper.
6. I love wood grain – I know you can’t really appreciate the grain of wood without chopping down a tree and making something out of it, but I just love wood grain. Hickory and oak are some of my favorites.


7. Candy bars grow on trees – Who doesn’t love chocolate bars filled with nuts.


8. Books grow on trees – Forget the internet, Kindles and books on tape. I’ll take a good old fashion book, that I can hold in my hands and turn the pages, any day, both for reading and for writing. And paper, of course, comes from trees.


9. Trees smell beautiful – Both the flowers and even some of the wood itself (think cedar) provides wonderful fragrance.


10. Trees make perfect memorials to people I love – I can plant a tree in memory of someone I’ve loved, and take comfort in the thought that when I get to Heaven, they will be right there waiting for me, under our tree.

And so I plant trees.

Number one reason to plant trees: Hummingbirds Love Them

I’ve been running a poll on this blog and on our Facebook page, asking why people plant trees. To go along with it, I started a post this morning listing the benefits of trees. Well, the list just kept growing and growing and growing so I haven’t gotten it finished just yet.

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of the main reasons I love trees – they attract hummingbirds!

People sometimes ask me how they can attract hummingbirds to their property and I often mention that they should plant a tree. Yes, hummingbirds are attracted to certain tree species that have nectar flowers, but they also love having trees that provide them with a place that they can sit and keep an eye on their “domain”. Hummingbirds are very territorial and they love to sit in a tree and overlook the other hummingbird plants in your garden or the feeders that you place out for them. As soon as they see a rival hummingbird appear, they will immediately swoop down and chase them away, and then return to their perch in the tree.

They also eat gnats and other small insects that fly around trees and certain species have been known to eat sap that oozes  from holes created in trees by woodpeckers and sapsuckers. Hummingbirds also typically nest in trees.

The first time I saw a hummingbird sitting in one of our oak trees, I was in complete awe. And I have to admit that I spent a good part of that summer moving a ten foot ladder around my yard and taking thousands of photos of those little guys.

So, the number one reason that I will ALWAYS recommend that people plant trees is, hummingbirds love them!

Gardening for Hummingbirds

Plants to Attract Hummingbirds

Christmas Bird Count Starts December 14th

I've often written about the fun and important function of Citizen Science Programs. What I call Citizen Science programs are any programs that encourage people to go out and monitor various forms of wildlife and report their statistics so that scientists can study the habits and habitats of local wildlife. 

There are wildlife monitoring programs for birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs and other forms of wildlife. These programs are open to anyone with an interest in wildlife. In most cases, the only skill required is the ability to count! They are a great opportunity to get outside with your family and explore the creatures that live around us.

The best known of these counts are the various bird counts conducted, in part, by the National Audubon Society.   Starting on Wednesday, December 14th, you can participate in one of the more popular of these counts: The Christmas Bird Count.

The National Audubon Society website describes the Christmas bird count in this way:

 From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission - often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season.

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations - and to help guide conservation action.

If you would like to get more information about a bird count in your area, use this search tool to find the count nearest you.

Nightmares for Nature Nerds

I woke up in the middle of the night the other evening having a nightmare. In it, someone was chasing a hummingbird around my yard with a can of bug spray, trying to kill it. I was yelling and screaming at the person, trying to get them to realize the horrible thing they were doing.

The dream was a pretty good reflection of my life. I spend a lot of time trying to encourage people to be a little more aware of how their actions impact all of the living things in their gardens.

But like most dreams, there was something that had put the thought of dead hummingbirds into my mind, where it found its way into my dreams.

Last week, I found some photos on someone's blog of a hummingbird flying to a feeder where a large praying mantis was sitting. It was on the Birds 'N Such Blog, created by Alan Pulley of Norfolk Virginia.

I began reading the post, about how he was watching the hummingbird fly up towards the mantis, and already my mind was screaming "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Well, you all probably know how much I love hummingbirds. They are like tiny little flying miracles to me. They bring me joy every time I see one. AND, I knew that praying mantises can eat hummingbirds.

I know it seems hard to believe, but its true. After first reading that statement, years ago, I did some online research and found both photos and videos of praying mantises killing hummingbirds.

That is one reason I never mention Praying Mantises as  beneficial insects, even though they are great at devouring a lot of bad insects in our yards. The unpleasant truth is, they don't stop with insects and will be happy to kill a beautiful little hummingbird if given the opportunity.

The whole thought of it is so sad to me, that I'm not  going to provide any links to  the many gory photos you can on-line. Feel free to search for praying mantis and hummingbirds if you want. But some of the photos are bad enough to cause nightmares for real nature nerds.

It's just another reminder  that you really have to be careful of everything you do in your yard and garden. Alan  made the choice of relocating his feeder. The last time I found a praying mantis, I made the choice of moving the mantis. In any case, no matter how you do it, I encourage you to watch out for the critters! As an eco-friendly gardener, the responsibility comes with the territory.

Now I need to figure out what the nightmare I had about hawks being trapped in my attic was all about. At least it wasn't bats in my belfry.

Related Post: Gardening for Hummingbirds

Beautyberry Plants help beat the skeeters

I've always loved the American Beautyberry plant (Callicarpa americana), not just because it produces beautiful purple berries in the fall, but because every bird and critter that moves through my yard love to munch on those berries. Being a wildlife lover, I appreciate any plant that attracts more wildlife.

Wildlife: The fruit is high in moisture content and is an important food source for more than forty species of songbirds including the American Robin, Brown Thrasher, Purple Finch, and Eastern Towhee. The drupes or clusters are eaten by armadillo, foxes, opossum, raccoon and squirrels. White tailed deer consume the fruit in the fall after leaf drop. They also browse the leaves in summer when highly preferred foods are not available. Protein content of the leaves ranges from 18 percent in spring to 8 percent in fall. (Source)

Beautyberry is a native plant that requires absolutely no additional care in my yard.

BUT, I'm starting to appreciate the beautyberry plant for a whole new reason....it's ability to help repel mosquitoes.

I had heard about the mosquito repelling qualities of beautyberry long before I finally gave it a try. But for the last week or so, I've been using it when I go outside in the evenings.

I pull a few leaves off of a plant and crush the leaf and roll it on my arms and legs. I can honestly say that I have seen a drastic reduction in the number of mosquito bites.

Studies by the USDA Agriculture Research Service have concluded that the compound found in these plants - "callicarpenal" - may be as effective as DEET in warding off moquitoes.

If you don't have any beautyberry plants on your property, I encourage you to get one or two. Do it for the critters that love them (birds and more), the critters that hate them (mosquitoes!), or just for yourself. Every garden can use a little more purple!

For more information: Folk Remedy Yields Mosquito-Thwarting Compound

Eco-friendly gardeners say "Let me tell you about my garden critters"

While some people our age are walking around saying "Let me tell you about my grandchildren", my hubby and I are just as proud to brag about our cute "grand critters".

Since we began creating our eco-friendly landscape ten years ago, the critters are just as anxious to visit us as kids are to visit their super generous, gift-giving grandparents.

But rather than spoiling "the kids" with cell phones, new clothes and multi-media devices, our "babies" are content with a little food and a roof over their heads.

We built and hung this new nest box when we saw a screech owl hanging out in a larger nestbox we have on our property.

It only took THREE days before the little screecher found the box and moved right in.

We saw him (or her) hanging out at the box on and off for a few days and then didn't see him (or her) again for awhile.

So we were really surprised when, exactly two months after hanging the box, we saw two screech owl babies.

"The grand kids" only hung around a few days, and then they were gone, but it is SO much fun to hear them out there at night, calling to each other, and know that we played a part in helping to "raise them".

You don't really have to work that hard to attract wildlife to your eco-friendly landscape. Once you begin adding native plants and eliminating chemicals, the wildlife will find you. But below are ten tips to keep in mind if you want to share your landscape with the local wildlife. You can read the full post about creating wildlife friendly landscapes by following this link.

1) Choose plants that provide food for birds and wildlife.

2) Choose native plants.

3) Provide supplemental feeders.

4) Provide a water supply.

5) Provide shelter for wildlife.

6) Avoid chemicals in your landscape! Chemicals can harm wildlife as well as the insects that they eat.

7) Garden with care. Many birds and other creatures raise their young in low bushes and shrubs. Butterflies raise their young (caterpillars) on some of our favorite garden plants. Mow, prune and trim with caution to avoid critter catastrophes.

8 ) Keep wandering pets out of wildlife areas.

9) Provide Places to Raise Young.

10) Practice eco-friendly gardening. Everything you do in your landscape can have an effect on the overall health of the soil, air, water and habitat for native wildlife. Visit the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog often to learn how to create a landscape that is healthy for you and for local wildlife.

Enjoying the Birds and the Bees in Your Own Backyard - Attracting Pollinators

What do flowers, fine chocolates and flavorful coffee have to do with the birds and the bees?

Both chocolate and coffee are two of the 1000+ plants that depend on visits from the birds and the bees, and other pollinators, to help spread the love, or in their case, pollen, from flower to flower. In fact, it is estimated that about 90% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollination (as opposed to wind pollination) and over 200,000 species of animals participate in the pollinating. Without pollinators, many plants would never produce fruit or set seed and many of the foods we eat would no longer be available. As if a world lacking chocolate and coffee wouldn’t be bad enough, wild creatures that rely on pollinated plants for food and shelter could also disappear.

Like so many other species, some pollinators are showing steady population declines. Although the declines in honeybee populations are mainly due to diseases, declines in wild pollinator populations are attributed to habitat loss, competition from invasive species and exposure to pesticides.

Fortunately, we can do our part to correct the problem by inviting the birds and the bees to our own backyards. Simply choosing the right plants and eliminating chemicals in our landscapes will invite more pollinators, which in turn will bring more flowers, more fruit and a new level of enjoyment to a garden filled with colorful, winged wonders.

The most popular pollinators are already some of our favorite garden visitors – butterflies and hummingbirds. Other pollinators include beetles, bees, ants, wasps, moths and even small mammals.

So how do we attract these pollinators? Plant what they love!

To attract more pollinators to your yard, keep these things in mind:

• Choose plants with overlapping bloom times to provide flowers throughout the year
• Select plants with a variety of colors and shapes to attract different pollinators
• Plant in clumps, rather than single plants
• Whenever possible, choose native plants.  Avoid modern hybrids, especially those with “doubled” flowers, as the pollen, nectar, and fragrance is sometimes unwittingly bred out of these plants in exchange for “perfect” blooms
• Include night-blooming flowers for moths and bats.
• Avoid pesticides, even so-called "natural" ones such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). If you must use them, use the most selective and least toxic ones and apply them at night when most pollinators aren't active.

Include some  favorite plant choices for pollinators in your garden (see lists below). And then pull up a lawn chair and treat yourself to a little coffee and chocolate while you enjoy the birds and bees in your own back yard.

For more information:

Creating a Wild Backyard – Hummingbirds, Butterflies & Bees – Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Creating a Wild Backyard – Bees – Maryland Department of Natural Resources

U.S. Forest Service – Celebrating Wildflowers: Pollinators – http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/index.shtml

Pollinator Partnership – http://www.pollinator.org/

Pollinator Conservation Resources – Mid-Atlantic Region

Learn More About Pollinators – Chesterfield County, Virginia Cooperative Extension

Wildlife Moves Me! - LET'S MOVE Butterflies to the White House Garden

Wildlife Moves Me!  

The idea for this  post sprouted from many fertile seeds:

1) Mrs. Obama recently replanted the White House Garden for 2011. The White House garden is a part of Mrs. Obama’s "Let’s Move!" campaign to get kids outdoors to help combat childhood obesity.

2) March 14th – 20th is National Wildlife Week - a week designated by the National Wildlife Federation to teach kids about wildlife.

3) Sunday, March 20th, is the first Day of Spring

4) My fellow garden blogger Jan Huston Doble is running a campaign called the Gardener's Sustainable Living Project to encourage people to post what they are doing for Earth Day, which is April 22.

5) Marc Daniels is encouraging kids to email the president about a White House Peace Seed Planting to help Weed Out Hate

6) America's Great Outdoors Campaign , an effort of the Council on Environmental Quality, is looking for ideas to get kids to interact with and appreciate nature

7) The Children and Nature Network is kicking off their Let's G.O. Campaign in the month of April, to get more kids to Go Outside!

8) I believe that butterflies can help save the planet.

That's right. I said butterflies.

So I decided to create my own post called Wildlife Moves Me to help combine all of these efforts.

I believe that encouraging kids to create an eco-friendly garden to attract wildlife is one of the simplest and, by far, the most fun way to inspire them to take care of the environment. It is also an excellent way to combine the efforts of many organizations into one goal:  getting kids outside to move them, inspire them, educate them and encourage them to protect the planet.

There is just something magical about the process of learning how easy it is to attract such small, beautiful wonders as the iridescent hummingbird or how awe-inspiring it is to watch the transformation of caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly and to know that the steps that you took are what brought those wondrous creatures to your yard.

I think that the process is so transforming, that I would  LOVE to see Mrs. Obama create a special garden at the White House to provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies and hummingbirds. It would be a great way to get kids outside in nature and help to educate and inspire our next generation of environmental stewards.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend to get your kids outside in nature, why not help them to create their own wildlife or butterfly garden? The change it will bring to your children, your life and your landscape will be magical!

The lessons one can learn and teach in a wildlife friendly landscape are too numerous to list, but here are just a few:

1) Taking care of the planet begins in our own backyards. Everything we do in our yards affects the rest of the planet. The benefits of conserving water and being aware of stormwater runoff are two of the easiest lessons to teach.

2) Gardens can feed people and wildlife too! Choose plants to  provide food sources for local wildlife. Adding parsley and dill to the White House Gardens will attract some beautiful butterflies!

3)  Eliminating chemicals in your organic garden is good for the food and for the local wildlife.

4) Some insects and garden creatures, such as worms and ladybugs, are very good in the garden

5) Counting birds and other species can help citizens  make important discoveries to help scientists

Here are some previous posts to help you get started on your wildlife-friendly garden.

10 Tips for Creating a Wildlife Friendly Landscape

Gardening for Hummingbirds

Plants to Attract Hummingbirds

Create a Butterfly Garden, Easy as 1-2-3

Great Backyard Birdcount Starts Feb 18th

Put out the birdseed and grab your binoculars. The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) starts tomorrow!

Once I started gardening for wildlife, I was quick to go from casual birdwatcher to full-fledged critter loving nature nerd. In fact, right now I have my thrift-store baby monitor turned on and placed outside my window so I can enjoy the sound of the robins on my birdbath.

I also have my bird guide and binoculars ready so that I can start counting birds tomorrow for the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count.

What is the Great Backyard Bird Count?

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that encourages bird watchers to count their backyard birds and report their findings on-line. This year, the GBBC runs from February 18th – 21st.

Although it may sound silly to count your backyard birds, these counts are very useful in helping scientists learn where birds are across the continent and to see how populations compare with previous years. This helps to determine how things like development, pollution and weather may be affecting various species.

Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts and you can count for as long as you want each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds.

If you want to participate, here are the quick and easy steps from the GBBC website:  

1. Plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. You can count for longer than that if you wish! Count birds in as many places and on as many days as you like—one day, two days, or all four days. Submit a separate checklist for each new day. You can also submit more than one checklist per day if you count in other locations on that day.  

2. Count the greatest number of individuals of each species that you see together at any one time. You may find it helpful to print out your regional bird checklist to get an idea of the kinds of birds you're likely to see in your area in February. You could take note of the highest number of each species you see on this checklist.  

3. When you're finished, enter your results through GBBC's web page. You'll see a button marked "Enter Your Checklists!" on the website home page beginning on the first day of the count. It will remain active until the deadline for data submission on March 1st.

As the count progresses, anyone with Internet access can explore the results from their own towns or anywhere in the United States and Canada. They can also see how this year's numbers compare with those from previous years. Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see. A selection of images is posted in the online photo gallery.

I always think its fun to go back and read the results of previous counts.

You can search by state. Here are the five highest counted species from 2010 for DC, Maryland and Virginia

DC: American Robin – 737; House Sparrow – 396; European Starling – 317

Maryland: Canada Goose – 38,118; Snow Goose – 20,317; Common Grackle – 18,240

Virginia: Common Grackle – 25,421; Dark-eyed Junco – 20,005; Red-winged Blackbird – 19,446

Or you can search by species

American Robin – 737 in DC; 5,489 in Maryland and 13,311 in Virginia

For more detailed information, visit the GBBC website or download this pdf file of instructions.

This grant money is for the birds

If you've followed this blog, you know that I feel that eco-friendly gardening goes hand-in-hand with appreciating the birds and the bees . When you "garden green", you eliminate chemicals and use more native plants, and both of these steps have a natural tendency to attract more birds, bees and butterflies.

But it works both ways. Sometimes the love of birding and wildlife comes first, encouraging a homeowner to create an eco-friendly garden to attract wildlife. And sometimes the eco-friendly garden comes first, and the visiting wildlife is just a welcome and wonderful surprise.

In any case, organizations such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology understand the importance of encouraging people to appreciate birds. With that in mind, they are offering mini-grants to help fund neighborhood bird appreciation events in urban areas.

The grants can be used for any creative program using the arts, science, community service and greening to encourage an understanding of birds and to get people to become involved in conservation.

In 2010, Miriam's Kitchen, a soup kitchen in Washington, D.C., used a grant for a month-long program for their homeless clients, which included: bird yoga, origami, poetry, art, as well as learning about 16 bird species and collecting data.

In 2009, Garland Hayward Youth Center in Princess Anne, MD used a mini-grant to plant raised beds and install bird houses and bird feeding stations to enhance wildlife habitat around their Center.

Also in 2009, Queen City Creamery in Cumberland, MD had a community greening and bird program with the local public libraries.

What is a Celebrate Urban Birds event? These are neighborhood events featuring activities involving birds, community service, art, greening, and science. Celebrate Urban Birds mini-grants could be used to support a bird-activity day at a local museum, after school program, library, or community center, or fund art and gardening activities at your club, business, school, senior center, or neighborhood. 

Organizations working with underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more information on the grants, go to celebrateurbanbirds.org.

Also from their website, Urban Gardening for Birds

Eco-friendly gardening: It's a Wonderful Life

Taking care of the planet, by practicing eco-friendly gardening techniques, is a great way to help local birds, butterflies and other garden wildlife. It is also a way to create a WONDER-full life.

Every time you garden green, you are helping to protect and preserve habitat for local wildlife. The process is so magical and mystical that it reminds me of the classic line from one of my favorite Christmas movies, It's a Wonderful Life. At the end of this happily-ever-after movie, George Bailey and his friends and family are singing Christmas carols when a bell on their Christmas tree rings, reminding young daughter Zuzu that "every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings."

In widlife gardens, the surprises are just as magical. Eliminating chemicals, using native plants and conserving water are all great for the planet and for local wildlife.

So to give your family a gift that lasts a lifetime, make plans to start (or continue) an eco-friendly garden this spring. You will soon feel the same way that I do: that being a green gardener IS a Wonderful Life. And every time you garden green, a butterfly gets its wings. 

Four tips for an eco-friendly garden:

1) Eliminate chemicals - spot treat weeds or pull them by hand

2) Choose native plants - they adapt better to local conditions

3) Conserve water- waterwise landscapes are a great start

4) Garden for wildlife - turn everyday gardening into a WONDER-FULL way of life

I hope you will join us on the Metro DC Lawn and Garden blog as we learn to create environmentally friendly landscapes together. You can subscribe (at right) and follow us on Facebook to join in the conversation. Be sure to add any suggestions or questions you'd like to learn more about!

Tips for helping chilly critters

Visiting birds and wildlife are a treat in the winter! Colorful cardinals and bright bluejays can add signs of life to an otherwise drab winter landscape. Chickadees, titmice, wrens and other small birds can provide plenty to see through the windows from the comfort of your own warm winter roost.

If you are one of the many gardeners who have discovered the joys of the birds and other wildlife that visits an eco-friendly yard, than you may be wondering if there are any special steps you can take in the winter for your birds and other garden visitors. I know its not really winter yet, but there is no doubt that baby, it's COLD outside.

Here are some tips to help our feathered and furred friends during the cold months ahead:

1) Provide fresh water: Wildlife may find their regular water supplies frozen. You can help by providing birdbaths and keeping the water ice-free.  

2.) Switch to high-protein foods: Suet and peanuts are great high-energy foods for winter bird feeding.

3) Keep their safety in mind: Although it is always important to provide shelter and keep pets away from visiting wildlife, it is more important in the winter when many species of birds and other wildlife are concentrating on surviving the cold and aren't as focused on evading predators.

4) Create Cozy Winter Roosts: In winter, some cavity dwelling birds will use nest boxes to stay warm.

5) Make your own feeders: Roll a pine-cone in peanut butter and then dip in birdseed for an attractive, inviting holiday feeder.

If you have not yet discovered the pleasures of gardening for wildlife, attracting these winter visitors can be as easy as hanging a suet feeder and putting out a birdbath.

Here are plenty of articles to help get you started:

Top 10 Foods for Winter Feeding, Birdwatcher's Digest
Top 10 Winter Feeder Mistakes to Avoid, Birdwatcher's Digest
Top 10 Things to Do in Winter, Birdwatcher's Digest
Backyard Wildlife Habitats, Virginia Cooperative Extension
Winter Bird Feeding, Wild Birds Unlimited
Maryland's Wild Acres Program
Virginia Habitat for Wildlife
Garden for Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation
Winter Ritual: Building the Brush Pile

Feeding the Birds makes their hearts sing!

I recently wrote a post about the importance of creating habitats for backyard birds during the fall months. Fall and spring are the months that you might see a lot more variety in the birds that visit your yard and garden as they migrate through to their winter and summer nesting places.

If you want to read a firsthand account of the pleasures of gardening for wildlife, there is a great one on Kathy Van Mullekom's Diggin' In Column.

It's a great article about the wonderful wildlife habitat that Tom and Gail Claydon have created on their Newport News property.

Here's the full article: Backyard Garden Offers Buffet for the Birds

Autumn in the garden - great time for backyard birds

It seems like only weeks ago that we were still enjoying summer in our gardens. But rather than spending time reminiscing about the sunshine and summer flowers, it is time to get busy getting the gardens ready for winter.

Here are some posts and articles I found for protecting your plants and lawns for the coming frosts and freezes:

• Get Your Garden Ready for Winter - (from Oprah.com)
• Getting Ready for Winter (written for Colorado but pretty generic)
• Winter Garden Checklist (pdf file)

But I also want to remind you that fall and winter are a great time to feed and observe the birds in your backyard.

Maryland, Virginia and DC are all important stops on the Atlantic Flyway, one of four major migratory flight routes in North America. So every fall, hundreds of thousands of birds of many different species make their way along the coast from their summer nesting places in the northern U.S., Canada and even the Arctic on the way to their winter homes.

These migratory flights are often long and exhausting for many bird species, so providing food, water and a friendly spot to rest will help the birds and add music and life to your garden that will make you soon forget about the colorful blossoms that are gone for the season.

You may be surprised to find out just how quickly simple steps like adding a birdbath and hanging a feeder will bring visiting birds to your yard. For more information about creating a wildlife friendly landscape, read this post: 10 Tips for Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden 

Wildlife Gardening Workshop November 6th

Learn to create backyard wildlife habitat - Oct. 13th & 15th

I love having wildlife in my garden! The birds, butterflies and other little garden visitors turn our yard into a private little wonderland for me and my husband to enjoy.

If you would like to learn how to create a wildlife habitat in your yard, why not plan on attending one of the FREE educational workshops put on by The District of Columbia Department of the Environment and Audubon Maryland-DC’s Audubon At Home. The next two workshops will be held on October 13th and 15th from 5pm - 8pm at Hearst Park, 3600 Tilden Street NW.

These hands-on workshops will help you learn about plant selection, conservation landscaping and will discuss the basic needs of wildlife.

Participants will receive a FREE habitat kit at the conclusion of the workshop. The kit will contain a native plant guide, an invasive plant booklet, a book on wildlife gardening, a birdhouse kit and live plants.

For more information or to register, visit the District Department of the Environment website.