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Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

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Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#201

Post by klondike_klive »

troyvit wrote: post #172
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…

> Native plants may be easy; but by that measure, invasives are where its at. :D I can only agree. I ate a ton of dandelion last summer and can't wait to do it again this year.

Interesting! I've been drinking dandelion root coffee for a few years alongside regular decaf and it's great (although a bit subtle). What part and in what form did you eat it, leaves, root, flower?

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#202

Post by smallerfish »

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 think one should actually take a relatively hardline approach to planting only native plants.

I disagree.

Billions of birds fly around the world every year with seeds in their gut. Plants are constantly, naturally, migrating in territory.

"Native" plants are plants which were in a given place (in this example the US) before an arbitrary date (for the US, very roughly 1500), when we started keeping track of local flora.

The climate is observably changing, and what was "native" in 1500 may not be applicable to a local ecosystem anymore. Trees are already suffering in some ranges, and ranges are moving north.

Note that there is a difference between "non-native" (arbitrary) and "invasive" (measurable). Planting invasives (whether native or non-native) should be discouraged because they have the potential to disrupt ecosystems by completely filling niches. Planting non-invasive non-natives is harmless, and if well considered can be beneficial to your local ecosystem.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#203

Post by KaiserPro »

wcarron wrote: post #114
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 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.…

If the majority of your plants are native, a few non-native isn't going to hurt, assuming that they are well controlled.

Where they can be useful is that they often bloom at different times, or provide food at the start or end of the season, not furnished by native plants.

This can be really useful for supporting a wider range of species, especially with the seasons expanding/compressing.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#204

Post by dahfizz »

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…

> Honestly, the only reason to plant non-native plants is vanity.

That's a bit extreme. Planting a bit of herbs and veggies in my garden alongside the native forest on my land will neither destroy the local ecosystem nor is it for vanity (nobody can even see the plants but me and my family).

If you live on a small plot of land and you only have room for a few plants, then native is a good choice. I have acres and acres of untouched woodland on my property. A few bell pepper plants in my garden does no harm.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#205

Post by mcovey »

taeric wrote: post #25
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…

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…

My neighbor cut down and chipped a large area of mostly dead trees. Maybe his original intent was to clear the area and expand his back yard but it's been 2 years and it's still just a bunch of ugly stumps and brush. I have a lot of woodpeckers around and it makes me sad that they lost a bunch of homes - woodpeckers primarily nest in dead/dying trees.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#206

Post by mcovey »

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…

Any advice on how to get rid of feral honeybees? I had hundreds of them last year, attracted to my hummingbird feeders. I took those away and the bees stuck around waiting for them to reappear. They're completely docile, but also non-native, and the huge number of them makes them a pest.

They've even been around a bit this winter taking pieces of cracked corn that I put out for wild turkeys.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#207

Post by genocidicbunny »

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'm unlikely to cutdown any tree, even if it's dead since even those support insects, owls, woodpeckers, and other birds.

Be careful doing this with any tree that can potentially fall on your home or one of your neighbors'. You will have a lot more trouble getting insurance to pay out if they find out you knew the tree was dead.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#208

Post by twoquestions »

morgango wrote: post #14

So, not unrelated was a post from reddit where someone built a little better environment for a frog in their yard: https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/11czhbt/g... and they ended up with a zoo. While whimsical, it shows very how adjusting your environment just a little bit can really attract wildlife.

Thank you for posting this, it really made my day :)

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#209

Post by gibspaulding »

bmitc wrote: post #136
gibspaulding wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I did something like this for a while (before moving out of town to a more traditional farmstead last year). You won't be able to grow all of your own meat or grain, but you can fit a ton of tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. in a city lot. We're on track for our canned tomatoes to make it through to next harvest from a poorly managed ~200 square foot plot for example. We ran out of frozen peppers and onions…

> We were also allowed to keep up to 6 hens which were enough to keep two people in eggs and provided excellent compost. About how many eggs per week or month was that producing? We're allowed a certain amount of chickens, and I have considered it. What was the maintenance like?

We got about 4 eggs a day ~10 months a year. Though that does drop off as birds get older.

We had a ~8'x12' fully enclosed run that they got locked in at night since we had surprisingly bad predator issues for being in town. That just meant open the door to give them the run of the (fenced) yard during the day and close it again before bed. They had enough space that they could stay in their run if we were out of town for a day or two.

We used a big PVC gravity feed system for food and poultry cups for water so just had to check that once a week or so.

Whenever the run started smelling, we'd add a layer of mulch or straw in the bottom - maybe once a month.

Re: Turn your backyard into a biodiversity hotspot

#210

Post by troyvit »

klondike_klive wrote: post #201
troyvit wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Native plants may be easy; but by that measure, invasives are where its at. :D I can only agree. I ate a ton of dandelion last summer and can't wait to do it again this year.

Interesting! I've been drinking dandelion root coffee for a few years alongside regular decaf and it's great (although a bit subtle). What part and in what form did you eat it, leaves, root, flower?

Oh cool I tried dandelion root as a tea and didn't like it much but I think I need to try it again. We dried it, ground it, and ran it through a french press. Is that similar to what you did?

We pick the leaves early in the season (March/April in Colorado) and they're not too bitter and work great sauteed, or raw in a wrap. We also put extra in freezer bags, freeze them, then blend them up in a shake and that's pretty good. Because of the shape of the plant I found that it collects dirt really easily, so picking a more mature plant is not only more bitter but also tougher to get all the gunk off the leaves.

The heads are good too. Let the dandelion bloom, then as soon as the blooms close again we go out and pick them. I tend to just eat them as I'm doing other things in the yard but they keep for a little while in the fridge too. I threw some in a stir-fry once and it was pretty good. They're juicy, slightly sweet, and maybe a little nutty. Wait too long though and it's just fluff on the inside which doesn't taste that great.

One year we picked the flowers while they were still yellow and dried them, then we baked them into cookies. It was a lot of picking but it tasted pretty good.

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