Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 214 posts

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#71

Post by voisin »

frereubu wrote: post #51
Decabytes wrote: post #10

I've always had a dream to buy a plot of land and homestead. But I have family that is getting older and needs my help more often. The though of being far away from essential services like Hospitals is not ideal. Also I'm still too early in my career to make that move. So, more recently I've been thinking of an idea I call "urban homesteading", which is just based off the idea of not waiting until the perfect circums…

I posted this on another comment, but you might be interested in permaculture, where ease of maintenance is key within a context of sustainable living. These are two of its originators talking about how they set up their plot, in a relatively built-up part of Victoria in Australia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1BjW2kSNs I find it incredibly inspiring.

Only tools a permaculturist needs are a shovel and a hammock :-)

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#72

Post by voisin »

lasermatts wrote: post #39
WaitWaitWha wrote: post #4

I suggest to add a bee home (bee house, bee hotel) to your garden. It is simple, last several years, it can be as small as a bird house, and can be a fun weekend project with the kids. (It can also be purchased.) Please, do not get honey bees, unless willing to take care of them - just like with any animal husbandry. I love them, I am a beek, but I find too many abandoned or swarms from people who bought into the ide…

+1 for adding in bee hotels to promote those solitary bees! equally easy (but a little uglier) is to always remember not to cut back your native plants over winter! Native solitary bees love to lay their eggs in hollowed out plant stems!

And to leave leaves and needles on the ground where they fall over winter and spring.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#73

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

quercusa wrote: post #55
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…

Deer densities are much higher than historical averages and, when hungry enough, they'll eat just about anything. You can see this in wild areas with lots of deer - there's almost nothing growing less than about 7 feet off the ground.

You can see this if you don't get eaten by deer.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#74

Post by gateorade »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #4

I suggest to add a bee home (bee house, bee hotel) to your garden. It is simple, last several years, it can be as small as a bird house, and can be a fun weekend project with the kids. (It can also be purchased.) Please, do not get honey bees, unless willing to take care of them - just like with any animal husbandry. I love them, I am a beek, but I find too many abandoned or swarms from people who bought into the ide…

Weird question, but if you encourage bees to come through these methods, how prevalent are they? I like the idea of doing this, but I also have a young child and am somewhat allergic to bee stings myself and wouldn't want my yard to become overrun with bees.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#75

Post by voisin »

ernestipark wrote: post #34

Semi related, but I firmly believe everyone with a yard should have chickens. 4 chickens can feed a family with more eggs than they'll ever need, you'll almost never throw food scraps out again, and you'll keep harmful methane producing waste out of landfills.

I concur wholly. We have wanted to do this forever and last year bought 5 acres on the edge of town. We are now up to 28 chickens (26 hens, 2 roosters) and run a small egg CSA. It’s been amazing for reducing food waste, yielding high quality compost, enjoyment for us and our kids and people walking by, a small step toward local food resiliency, and it earns a tiny profit. We’ve just ordered another 40 day olds for delivery in a few weeks, and are plotting to get some ducks too.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#76

Post by voisin »

hnbear wrote: post #44

There are also some interesting larger projects focused on insect health and diversity like Brighton (in the UK) mandating Bee Bricks: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/bee-and-swift-bricks-mandate... These are similar in design to the bee/insect hotels you find, but build as a brick, with the holes facing out, allowing insects a place to nest, and to fight the loss of bee populations.

The only issue is that I am pretty sure you need to clean them out every so often. I don’t think mason bees will take over another bee’s nest.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#77

Post by glennericksen »

There's was a story in Smithsonian magazine a few years ago (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/meet-ecologist...) about an ecologist who more or less did what this article proposes, increasing the biodiversity in his backyard. He called his project a "Homegrown National Park".

Tallamy's Suggestions:

1. Shrink your lawn (replace grass with plants that create habitat)

2. Remove invasive plants (native plants support more animal biodiversity)

3. Create no-mow zones around trees (accommodates insect life cycle)

4. Equip outdoor lights with motion sensors (lights can disturb animal behavior)

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#78

Post by jonnycomputer »

onos wrote: post #42
bmitc wrote: post #3

After getting a house with a decent sized yard and trees, I have been having a lot of fun with planting native plants. While my neighbors are cutting down trees, which is honestly hard to watch, and paying landscapers to plant non-native plants, I'm spending a lot of time researching and planting native plants. It is honestly one of the more fulfilling things to walk outside and see all sorts of bees, butterflies, mo…

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.

The rhetoric and tone around natives and non-natives can be problematic. However, the ability for a specific species to thrive isn't a really good index into the health and resilience of whole ecosystems. One of the reasons that non-native plants often thrive, sometimes at the expense of other native plants, is the relative lack of predation. I think it was only a week or so ago that there was a post on HN about how white-tailed deer are becoming a threat to native plants and a boon to non-native plants because (a) no natural predators to keep deer populations down and (b) deer generally prefer eating native plants.

Anecdotally, looking at the invasive Amur Honeysuckle on my property, its leaves remain pristinely green well into Fall, but by comparison, other comparable native plants have leaves eaten by insects, covered in molds, etc. There can be a competitive advantage to being the new plant on the block; but that competitive advantage is clearly at the expense of anything that relies on those native plants to live.

Generally however, invasive plants tend to be those that like to colonize disturbed areas, and they tend to be plants that are easy to grow (and so people like them). The greatest threat, imo, is the continued and ongoing disturbance of the land, and, the continued introduction of new non-native plants (primarily via the large commercial nurseries).

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#79

Post by jonnycomputer »

onos wrote: post #64
bmitc wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 definit…

See my comment above, but one reason they thrive is lack of predation.

And yes, the rhetoric can be feel very anti-immigrant (something my immigrant spouse picked up on very quickly)

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#80

Post by theNJR »

angst_ridden wrote: post #33

When I bought a place in the LA area, the house had neatly trimmed lawns and flowers planted with perfect spacing around the borders in both the front and back yards. Over the past twenty years, it's been converted into a wild, exuberant mix of flowers, fruit trees, and native plants. We do irrigate with drip-lines. We have a lot of butterfly host plants, and it is now a veritable Disney-film-happy-place filled with…

Also in the LA area. Would love to see some pictures!
Post reply on HN