Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot • Hacker News Board

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#151

Post by schiffern » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 10:45 PM UTC

nonethewiser wrote: post #146

bmitc wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The real problem is living close to your neighbors and wishing you could escape things that entails.

Vegetation can make an excellent screen against undesired views. A food hedge makes a great fence to screen over an ugly warehouse, bright street, vacant lot, or pesky neighbor.

You can also use some kind of structure, of course. Sometimes that will involve more rules, and some people just prefer using plants.

Ideally this should be part of a complete sector analysis, which also considers things like sun and wind direction.

https://www.greenpathherbschool.com/greenpathblog/permacultu... (scroll down to "Sector Analysis")

https://smalldesignstudio.wordpress.com/a-permaculture-proje... (scroll down to "sector map")

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#152

Post by pseudotrash » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 10:48 PM UTC

This article gave me no useful advice. I got a garden and would love to know what I should put there living in the north of Italy.

The article didn't mention, except using dome of the space to store compost. No advise on what to plant. Just feel-good advise by morons for morons.

It's like it was written by "Marjory the Trash Heap" from fraggle rock herself.

Thought you were dead Marjory!!!

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#153

Post by SirLJ » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 10:53 PM UTC

bmitc wrote: post #132

wcarron wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, gotcha. Makes sense.

Your points were good though! I haven't yet started gardening for fruits and vegetables but would like to at some point.

With edibles is getting tricky because everyone is eating everything… sometimes just one bite from a nice big tomato enough to ruin it…. Best to plant a lot to have for you, or plan for the ugly nettings and enclosures…. One thing that usually works are cherry tomatoes enough for you and the critters….

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#154

Post by WaitWaitWha » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 10:54 PM UTC

gateorade wrote: post #74

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.

For the love of all that is good, not worth a trip to ER. That kind of emergency usually happens when least expected, and the epinephrine is on the other side of the farm, and need 15 minute ride.

Personal experience, solitary bees (and honey bees in general) - the key word here is bees, NOT wasps - are gentle. I regularly play with bubble bees and show my progeny how to treat them.

But, that implies that you can identify a bee from a wasp.

Take a look at some of the comparison images and you will get the gist [0]. Drunk yellowjackets are the worst.

[0] https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=wasp+vs+bee&iax=images&ia=i...

(Do not read this: to be fair, ground nesting solitary wasps are not as freakish as any hive wasps.)

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#155

Post by InCityDreams » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 10:59 PM UTC

>Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot I did. Fucking gangster father-in-law came and mowed the lot down...12ft+ to 3" in less than a couple of hours. Fair play to the dude - he thought I was un- able/ willing to do the chopping. When he got it that I wanted it all to grow he was very, very apologetic, and from thereon, did so. Neighbors hated me.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#156

Post by RHSeeger » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 11:02 PM UTC

djtriptych wrote: post #149

wcarron wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I sort of disagree with the article though. I think one should actually take a relatively hardline approach to planting only native plants. Just because you have a lot of activity around a plant doesn't mean it's the right activity. You could be attracting non-regional and non-native species which is generating the activity. I disagree. Native plants are great, but so are tomatoes or some bell and habanero peppers.…

Is it fair to call it personal opinion if it's also the ecologist consensus viewpoint?

Of course. To some people, that viewpoint is what defines it as good. For others, it's beauty. For others, it's pure diversity. For others, it's minimizing the work involved. The choice of what is considered "good" here is a very personal thing.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#157

Post by schiffern » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 11:17 PM UTC

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…

I was in a similar situation, maybe someone could benefit from the experience:

We're in a cold climate here, so one early goal was to have more deciduous (leafy) trees on the southern side. This provides shade in summer but solar heat in winter.

Right now in that southward location is an overgrown ~60 year pine replant. Bad for sun, bad for fire. We ended up taking down a total of 50 (!) dead spindly pines. The building now gets noticeably more sun, but (intentionally) you can hardly notice a difference in forest density! However it gave a lot more room and sun for the maples and oaks already coming up, which are the species we want to encourage.

To choose trees, I took a sun path app and walked back and forth along the south wall. This let me choose only dead pines that were shading the building in winter.

Another goal was to avoid burning. The pine logs now rot peacefully (waterlogged) on the forest floor, feeding fungus while they buffer rainfall and cover chipmunk holes. Don't worry, there's still abundant dead stand habitat as well.

For ticks, you might consider chickens or ducks. Note that they will eat and scratch everything, so you might get one of those cheap solar electric fence enclosures. You can enclose a large area for little cost, leaving some habitat areas where toads and salamanders won't get gobbled up!

Cheers and good luck all

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#158

Post by goda90 » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 11:19 PM UTC

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…

Instead of putting my fall leaves on the curb for pickup, I used them to smother the grass where I wanted to plant a vegetable garden. I saw way more bumblebees the next year and occasionally caught them burrowing into the leaves. Just letting things be a bit messier goes a long way.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#159

Post by wcarron » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 11:26 PM UTC

bmitc wrote: post #132

wcarron wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, gotcha. Makes sense.

Your points were good though! I haven't yet started gardening for fruits and vegetables but would like to at some point.

Same for you! Interestingly, contrary to you, my wife and I only ever gardened for produce. Didn't turn out that well with poor soil and drainage, but we tried. Wishing we had the space for it again at our current residence. And, of course, I'd actually like to have more space dedicated to native plants and biodiversity. I love bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Even small areas of 'nature' (if you can call specifically cultivated areas nature) really improve the enjoyment and charm of a living space.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#160

Post by wcarron » Mon, Feb 27, 2023, 11:31 PM UTC

djtriptych wrote: post #149

wcarron wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I sort of disagree with the article though. I think one should actually take a relatively hardline approach to planting only native plants. Just because you have a lot of activity around a plant doesn't mean it's the right activity. You could be attracting non-regional and non-native species which is generating the activity. I disagree. Native plants are great, but so are tomatoes or some bell and habanero peppers.…

Is it fair to call it personal opinion if it's also the ecologist consensus viewpoint?

The other comment covered my thoughts mostly. Ecology is important. But I can't eat Blackfoot daisy. Not all gardens are there for ecosystem health. Some are for utilitarian purposes.