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Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

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Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#61

Post by bmitc »

LegitShady wrote: post #58
frereubu wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you haven't already, you might enjoy learning about permaculture. This is a short and easily-accessibile introduction - two of its originators, David Holmgren and Su Dennett, talking about how they designed their house according to its principles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1BjW2kSNs The part of your comment which prompted the comparison was "... native plant species are easy. If you plant them in the right…

I had a neighbour who did a permaculture front yard that was ridiculously beautiful, but unfortunately the tall grasses etc became a haven for rodents which caused problems for multiple neighbours. Sometimes there are good reasons why a regular grass yard might be ok.

That's an example of part of the problem though. By originally cutting everything down and destroying the ecosystem, it pushed out the predators that would keep the rodents in check. We have rodents here for sure, but there are also foxes, coyotes, fisher cats, hawks, raccoons, bobcats, and owls.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#62

Post by taeric »

xyzzyz wrote: post #45
taeric wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Native plants may be easy; but by that measure, invasives are where its at. :D That said, bringing down trees is always odd to me. Definitely bring down any that pose a risk to your house. But otherwise, seems more effort than it is worth. I should probably be a lot better at pruning, as that is a ton of work. And, while intellectually I know the answer is that you are unlikely to kill the tree, I am always worried a…

Depends on your goals. I’d love to have some big towering trees around me, but I also love gardening and laying in the sun. One big tree in an inopportune could shade my entire yard.

Note that posing a risk doesn't just mean "if giant tree were to fall toward house it would be a problem." Obviously, you should monitor the health of any giant tree nearby, but by and large healthy trees growing tall is not an immediate concern. Moreover, some of those trees would be perfectly healthy if you kept them pruned to a safer height.

So, posing a risk is more on trees that are likely to fall over and do major damage. Or those that have root systems that are too close to your foundation and going to cause issue in that way.

All of this is said as someone that loves giant trees nearby. Seeing eagles and such nest at the top of trees that are hundreds of feet tall is very cool.

Edit: Also consider fire hazard to the house, depending on where you live.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#63

Post by seatac76 »

I don’t have the privilege of a backyard but I’ve been doing square foot gardening on my balcony for about 3 years.

Have been using Merlin Bird ID to track birds that have visited the garden + bird feeder. I have so far logged 23 species which took me by surprise. The number of insects and birds visiting regularly is truly humbling, anecdotal but the premise of the article certainly rings true to me.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#64

Post by onos »

bmitc wrote: post #53
onos wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really understand the logic behind native only, beyond the desire not to introduce a plant or creature that would monopolize their environment.

What do you not understand about it? Just trying to address any specific questions you might have. Here's some bullet points I've collected in my head. I'm not an expert and am still learning. See the links below. Planting native plants: - reduces watering and fertilization needs, if not removing them, because native plants are built for the area they're planted in - attracts native insects, which further attracts na…

Thanks for your response. I’ll think on your points.

FWIW, In my area of the world I hear about non natives being bad but they often seem to grow very well, eg in the wild. So it seems to me that they are often well suited to the local environment. The concern then seems to me to be an implicit preference for what was already here over new comers. To me, seems a bit “anti immigrant” and I just can’t relate.

I definitely appreciate the point that we should avoid catastrophic decrease in diversity, and bringing in foreign plants could raise risk of that.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#65

Post by ilamont »

This is more about community urban gardens than backyard habitats, which are different on several dimensions, such as tree cover, water access, and sunlight. Nevertheless it dovetails nicely with a discussion late last year, "I built a wildlife pond" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33952437).

Even man-made habitats which incorporate plants and features that are amenable to plant and animal life will flourish, and attract animals that its creators never envisioned whether it's bees looking for flowers or mammals drinking at the pond.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#66

Post by taeric »

bmitc wrote: post #59
taeric wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Native plants may be easy; but by that measure, invasives are where its at. :D That said, bringing down trees is always odd to me. Definitely bring down any that pose a risk to your house. But otherwise, seems more effort than it is worth. I should probably be a lot better at pruning, as that is a ton of work. And, while intellectually I know the answer is that you are unlikely to kill the tree, I am always worried a…

I'm still not totally certain how to "manage" the trees in our yard. We are in a quite woody area with huge trees. I contacted an arborist place last year and plan on paying them to come out and teach me about the trees on my property. The previous owners cutdown some huge trees, but luckily mainly concentrated on the trees that were super close to the house. It's possible remaining trees could hit the house, and the…

What was the reasoning to cut down 50+ trees? That feels excessive in any world.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#67

Post by MR_Bulldops »

revx wrote: post #7

We replaced our front yard with native plants and I love it. Plan to do this with my back yard as soon as I can afford it. I specifically chose a house in a part of our city with no HOA because I don't ever want to go back to monoculture of grass. Such a waste of space.

I did this last year and it was incredibly satisfying. If I amrunning errands and near a nursery I'll stop by and get a new plant or two. Slowly filling it in and watching all the nature is nice.

Our back yard is about 4x bigger, but I'll be tackling that shortly too! Our neighborhood is a mix of lawns, manicured landscaping, and natural gardens. Lawns are slowly becoming less frequent.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#68

Post by LegitShady »

bmitc wrote: post #61
LegitShady wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a neighbour who did a permaculture front yard that was ridiculously beautiful, but unfortunately the tall grasses etc became a haven for rodents which caused problems for multiple neighbours. Sometimes there are good reasons why a regular grass yard might be ok.

That's an example of part of the problem though. By originally cutting everything down and destroying the ecosystem, it pushed out the predators that would keep the rodents in check. We have rodents here for sure, but there are also foxes, coyotes, fisher cats, hawks, raccoons, bobcats, and owls.

I dont want coyotes and bobcats around my house. neither does anyone who has pets or livestock. There's a reason they were pushed out. We still have owls and other birds of prey. We have raccoons and they are annoying and can damage property.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#69

Post by jlglover »

is_true wrote: post #31
jlglover wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with most of your points. I have a spot in my garden where I want to plant a large native tree, probably an oak. I would love to plant all natives, except that they quickly get eaten by deer in my neighborhood. Even many "deer resistant" varieties like coneflower and beebalm. Of course, this make no sense, since deer and native plants should have evolved to survive beside one another. I think this…

You could buy a bow and do some management. It's really interesting. There's a YouTube channel, seek one.

I live on a medium-sized lot within the limits of a city, so bow hunting is not allowed in my yard.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#70

Post by dahfizz »

MR_Bulldops wrote: post #56
onos wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t really understand the logic behind native only, beyond the desire not to introduce a plant or creature that would monopolize their environment.

"beyond the desire not to introduce a plant or creature that would monopolize their environment" That is reason enough to avoid non-natives and invasive species. They reduce biodiversity making a habitat more brittle and boring. And they may spread beyond the bounds of your property, negatively affecting others.

Not every single non-native species is invasive and would take over your whole property.
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