Why Garden For Wildlife ?

Why indeed?  It certainly isn’t the lazy gardener’s way out, at times.  Though there are far fewer laborious moments spreading herbicides and pesticides, which itself isn’t a bad thing.  So, why ?  

I guess it is as personal as why folks garden period.  Each home and garden is someone’s “castle” or “dream.”  Every perfect lawn is evidence of ?  Well evidence that we emulate something the British Aristocracy of earlier centuries cultivated. Or had their servants cultivate. It crossed Atlantic with so many of our ancestors.  (They also brought their favorite plants along, but that is for another time.)  

I believe each bit of land is sacred and ultimately belongs to Mother Nature.  Though we may till it or grow/mow it, as our recent hurricanes (and tornados and brush fires) have demonstrated, we  really only lease the Earth. 

Recently, a friend told us about a site that puts our “property” in an entirely different perspective.  The site http://www.historicaerials.com/  allows you to input a location and a year.

So, having been born in 1954, I chose the closet year to then, and what I saw is pictured here in a screenshot.  Land, lots of land.  And trees, and presumably wildlife in those woods.   If I do a comparison for 2004, it is not pretty.  Where did the wildlife that lived here then, go ? Did it migrate to more welcoming habitat?  Did it die out ?

The answer is, much of it did die out.  With loss of habitat, there is loss of diversity. It is just that simple.  Box turtles, frogs and salamanders; native moths and butterflies, well beyond our endangered Monarchs, are at risk.  Unless, we change our gardening habits.  That is why I garden for wildlife.  In hopes that my not yet born grandchildren, will be able to see the diversity I did, not in a museum or as a taxidermy, but in the wild.  We do not have to give up much to make this happen. 

We do have to reconsider pesticide and herbicide use.  For instance, much to I imagine my current neighbors horror, I am allowing the dandelions to bloom alongside the violets in the lawn.  They are food for pollinators, and as the Honey Bee crisis has proven, we need pollinators. (More info on that here: http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572 ) I will deadhead them before they go to seed. This is the part where gardening for wildlife gets hard.  But I prefer to feed the bunnies and all the creatures that call our .25 acre home.  Our lawn is really their salad bar. 

Both the Federal Government and New York State recognize that we humans are endangering other life forms.  The Feds maintain this site: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/. It allows you to input where you live and then gives you a list, along with ‘implementation plans” http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/countySearch!speciesByCountyReport.action?fips=36103 .  Not so bad, right ?  Not so fast. Expand the parameters and you will get more. 

A better overview of what species we have put at risk is found in the New York State Natural Heritage portal: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/.  Here you can search by Animal or Plant. Look at the Animal list: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/animals.php. Ok, so some are *just insects* but those insects are likely food for many species. 

Plants ?  Well here you go: http://www.acris.nynhp.org/plants.php. Again, I find it sickening. 

I cannot replace animals, but I can try to re-establish plants that are going away.  White and Purple Milkweed are on endangered the list. Need  we wonder about the future of Monarchs in our region ?  At least I am able to plant the milkweeds.  And I may have that Corydalis growing here. I will have to look at what I have growing close-up. Saxifrage too. 

But beyond what is known to be endangered, consider this: an oak tree supports more than 500 species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).  If you remove that oak from your ‘yard’ you then break a food chain that has evolved and served generations of birds who might be food for mammals, etc. etc. (source “Bringing Nature Home” by Doug Tallamy).  

The question comes down to, what on this Earth and in your yard do you value ? And do you want to be part of the problem, or part of the solution? 

I choose to try to be part of the solution.  That is Why I garden for wildlife.  Will you join me ?