Seeds of Change
Backyard biodiversity and how to get it: Mark Cullen,
“Biodiversity” and “sustainability” were two words that I never used to use in my writing about gardening. But as our approach to food and gardening evolves, so, too, does our lexicon.
Today, there is much talk of container-growing herbs, succession planting, GMO-free vegetables and fruits, organically grown food; the next generation is keenly interested in gardening largely due to its interest in healthy food. Post-secondary college courses that target food are full to overflowing, many with waiting lists.
It is important to know how to attract pollinators and create more biodiversity in your yard and garden. Here is my list of things you can do to make your garden a more exciting place in which to live and play.
Habitat All wildlife needs water. Consider a shallow tray or saucer of fresh water in the feeding areas of your garden for honey bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. As for specific “habitat”:
If you have frogs living in a water feature you can be sure that you have created habitat and a balanced environment that is extraordinary.
Frogs breathe through their skin and as a result they are very sensitive to changes in the environment. When water or air is polluted, the frog population declines quickly.
The same can be said for toads. Both eat insects, including mosquitoes, and play an important role in the big life cycle of your garden. Ditto salamanders, newts and dragonflies.
Honey bees need a hive and a beekeeper. Native bees are a different matter. I provide pieces of lumber, at least 12 cm thick and drilled with 3/8 holes to attract mason bees to my yard. Look for commercial mason bee houses at your local “birding” retailer.
Butterfly larvae eat plants before they pupate into adults. Think about this when you find a caterpillar eating your dill plants (it is likely a swallowtail youngster) or milkweed (monarch butterfly larvae).
They generally do not do permanent damage to plants and mature within days or short weeks into adults that fly and collect nectar and pollen from your flowering plants.
Look for butterfly houses at your birding retailer, and put a small branch into the empty house to provide a perch for it to lay its eggs.
Native plants Butterflies, hummingbirds and song birds are, for the most part, native. It only makes sense that they are attracted to plants that are also native.
Native species are plants that lived here before the Europeans arrived about 500 years ago. Many still thrive in our hinterland, while others have disappeared. Gardeners can try to bring them back by growing as many plants that are on the en- dangered species list as possible. Some of my favourites include: Echinacea, or purple coneflower, is the plant from which the tincture is derived that we use to prevent or minimize the effects of a cold.
Native people used it long before non-natives “discovered” it. This plant grows over a metre high, loves the sun, blooms from mid July through August, attracts butterflies while in bloom and small song birds while in seed.
Yarrow is an easy-to-grow, reliably winter hardy perennial that flowers with characteristically wide umbels of hot coloured blooms late in the season. Each bloom is flat: perfect for a butterfly landing pad.
Yarrow loves heat and needs direct sun for best performance. It thrives in dry places.
Bee balm, sometimes called Oswa-go Tea, is another reliably hardy perennial. It blooms from early August for many weeks. Honey bees love it, as do the hummingbirds. Look for the common red bee balm and many new hybrid introductions of purple, blue and white.
Foam flower is a great woodland plant that blooms in late May and June. It grows to only 25 cm, but produces upright clusters of foamy white flowers that early season pollinators find attractive.
Columbine, in full bloom, is very attractive. While there are many great hybrids, the original ‘Little Lanterns’ produces red and yellow flowers on a 30-cm high plant, late in spring. The plant enjoys moist, eastern exposure.
Plants for habitat and protection There is a reason why our native forests are alive with restless native activity. The importance of the protection that is afforded in the form of deciduous trees and evergreens cannot be overstated.
When you plant trees and shrubs, you provide nesting areas for many song birds and shelter where they feel safe as they feed from your bird feeders, garden plants and bathe in your bird bath.
Any green tree or shrub provides these benefits, but some are better than others:
Native white cedar is the most popular evergreen used for hedging material. While it can grow up to eight metres high, it lends itself very well to control by pruning.
It is very winter-hardy, and as it matures it provides natural shelter for nesting and mating birds. The seeds are a great attraction for cedar wax wings.
Canadian serviceberry is a common, native shrub that is versatile and very winter-hardy. It is among the first shrubs to bloom in early spring, in masses of creamy white flowers. It can grow to eight metres high but can effectively be pruned much shorter. It is disease- and insect-free and tolerates half a day of shade, and thrives in full sun.
Bayberry has an aromatic fruit and the wax from this native shrub is used to make bayberry candles. You can plant them in clusters of three or more and they grow to a metre and a half high.
Elderberry is not only great for making jam, but has large, broad white flowers in early June, followed by large clusters of dark purple elderberries in July.
Feeders Hummingbirds are not only primary pollinators in most Canadian gardens, but provide more entertainment than almost any other backyard wildlife. They are territorial and as a result, spar with one another for available food. If you hang a hummingbird feeder early in the spring, you will laugh at their antics as they compete for perch space.
Unless you live up north where hummingbirds mate and nest, you will find in the southern portions of Ontario and Quebec that they arrive in your garden late April through mid-May, stay for a couple of weeks and then move north. They return after they have had their babies, bringing their young with them in August, and stay several weeks.
If you feed hummingbirds it is important to keep the feeder clean by rinsing it out with some mild soapy water each time you refill it, or once every week.
Water Consider adding a permanent water feature. All living things with legs and wings will make their way to your pond or half-barrel filled with fresh water each evening. You will benefit not only the pollinators and songbirds but the centipedes, millipedes, mice, moles and voles as well.
Fresh water, especially still water, is the most powerful elixir of life in your yard. Your entire community will benefit from the addition of it. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster and garden editor of Reno & Decor magazine. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Watch him on CTV Canada AM every Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. Email him at groundskeeper@markcullen.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.