Five Ways of Making Your Lawn Better

8/31/2015 // By David Mizejewski

 

Fall is a great time to get your yard ready for the next growing season. The cooling temperatures often make working outside less taxing, and some of the late-blooming plants in your yard provide a great opportunity to get a close look at many birds and butterflies.

This fun video from John Green, the popular novelist and co-creator of vlogbrothers, points out several compelling reasons why we should move away from the American obsession with the conventional lawn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-enGOMQgdvg

 

The video advocates for converting some of our lawns into productive vegetable gardens that would help produce local food to feed us. We at National Wildlife Federation think that’s a great idea, and we’d add that it would be amazing if more people also incorporated native plants that provide habitat for wildlife into their landscapes too.

Lawns don’t provide habitat for wildlife. Native plants are a much better choice. Photo by F_A via Flickr Creative Commons.

With that in mind, here are five tips for converting your lawn into a landscape that is better for wildlife and the ecosystems upon which we all rely:

1. Add one new garden bed each season.

The idea of replacing your lawn can be intimidating, especially if you’ve got a large one. Rome wasn’t conquered in a day, and it’s ok if your lawn isn’t either. A good way to break up the work is to make it a goal to add one new garden bed each season. Remove the grass and add ornamental native plants, and soon your yard will be a gorgeous oasis teeming with life.

Start small. Add one new garden bed each season. Photo by scottie32 via Flickr Creative Commons.

2. Focus on blooming wildflowers and shrubs.

One of the biggest arguments made in favor of lawns is that they present a clean, tidy look in our front yards. Many worry that getting rid of their lawns will reduce property values or trigger the ire of neighbors. To avoid both situations, focus on replacing lawn with native wildflowers and shrubs that have gorgeous blooms and colorful berries. You’ll not only support birds, butterflies and other wildlife, but you’ll also make your yard look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens.

Replace lawn with beautiful, blooming native plants. Photo by JKehoe_Photos via Flickr Creative Commons.

3. Let your lawn be diverse.

“Weed” is a subjective term that really only means a plant growing where we humans don’t want it. The original lawns of Europe were filled with a diversity of plants (and mown by sheep and other grazing animals to boot). Here in America, we’ve developed a militant aesthetic, largely fueled by the lawn chemical industry, for lawns that are total and uncompromising monoculture. Letting so-called “weeds” such as clover or–yes–dandelions co-exist with grass will add diversity, wildlife habitat and even help fertilize the soil. You’ll also spend less time and money spreading dangerous herbicides.

Let clover and other plants co-exist with you turf grass. Photo by Rob via Flickr Creative Commons.

4. Stop using chemicals.

One of the things that makes lawns ecological dead spaces is that we dump tons of chemicals on them each year. Whether it’s chemical fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides, these poisons reduce the local biodiversity and toxify the soil. If over-applied they can run off into local waterways. Use organic products if you must use something, but focus on reducing the size of your lawn and adding more natives plants, and you’ll have less need for chemicals.

Pesticides are bad for wildlife. Photo by Michelle Tribe via Flickr Creative Commons.

5. Upgrade your mowing practices.

Gasoline-powered lawn mowers are noisy, smelly and polluting. Switch to an electric mower and one that finely chops clippings and returns them to the ground, where they compost and add nutrients back into the soil. Even better, use a push mower powered by you, not by fossil fuels (pushing a mower is great exercise too). Allow your grass to grow a little longer, which will result in stronger root systems that are less susceptible to drought and require less watering. Research has shown that even just mowing your lawn every other week instead of every week can have significant impacts for local wildlife.

A push mower is a better choice for mowing your lawn. Photo by Brian Boucheron via Flickr Creative Commons.

Visit National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife site to learn more about sustainable and wildlife-friendly gardening practices and certify your green space today!

 

 

http://blog.nwf.org/2015/08/five-ways-of-making-your-lawn-better/

 

 

 

The Mighty Geiger trees: Tough but versatile

Fairchild column: Geiger trees are tough but versatile

 

A sprawling yellow Geiger.  Kenneth Setzer – Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

 

By Kenneth Setzer

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

 

Upon moving to the South, I remarked on some outstanding smallish trees with bright orange flowers. They are Geiger trees, I was told — orange Geigers. That name stuck with me, probably from growing up watching ’60s and ’70s TV where people often and inexplicably seemed to have Geiger counters at hand. But these tropical trees have nothing to do with detecting radiation.

What we call Geigers all belong to the genus Cordia. There are a good number (250-300) of them; Fairchild alone has a dozen species growing throughout the garden. Some Cordia are found naturally in India, Australia, the Middle East and tropical Africa, though most are Neotropical.

The three found most commonly in Florida landscapes are the orange Geiger (Cordia sebestena), yellow Geiger (C. lutea) and white Geiger (C. boissieri). All three share some similarities: The bark is rough, deeply furrowed, and exfoliates — it feels and looks like coarse manila rope. Their foliage consists of velvety, rather large egg-shaped leaves, begging to be stroked. Their flowers, besides differing in color, all have a crinkly crepe-paper appearance and trumpet shape, similar to some geraniums.

Native or not, the stunning orange Geiger.  Kenneth Setzer – Fairchild Botanic Garden

The common name “Geiger,” legend has it, was bestowed by J.J. Audubon: While visiting his friend John Geiger in Key West, he supposedly was so impressed by the orange blossoms on a tree in Geiger’s yard — or possibly the neighbor’s yard — that he named it the Geiger tree. The problem is, Geiger built his house — now the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens — in 1846-1849. Audubon had already included orange Geiger flowers in his painting of white-crowned pigeons, circa 1832. Ah, pesky details!

While the orange-flowered Geiger is usually the show stealer, its origin is also in question. Some sources I found claim it is a Caribbean-Lower Keys native. Other sources, including Audubon, suggest it was introduced from Cuba into Key West through the commerce of the early 1800s.

Geigers are tolerant of salt spray, so they make nice coastal trees. All three are very drought tolerant. My own Geiger tree is the white (Cordia boissieri), native to Mexico and extreme southern Texas, where it’s called Texas white olive. White Geiger has the added benefit of more cold tolerance; mine has never shown damage from our occasional wintertime dips into the upper 30s.

Growing slowly to about 25 feet, it’s compact, but with a spreading crown. I’ve pruned mine to encourage upward, not outward, growth. Orange Geigers get a few feet taller but with similar spread.

Grow them in full sun; Geigers take even our harsh midday sun. Sandy, alkaline soil such as in South Florida is also not a problem. I watered mine as a seedling after planting, but only for a couple weeks. In about ten years, it has grown to about 10 feet and never requires irrigation or fertilizer.

Geigers may lose leaves in winter. When warm rains return, however, new foliage will appear followed by clusters of flowers, and small, spherical fruit will follow. Birds eat them to an extent, but I don’t see a lot else eating the fruit from my white Geiger.

The unscented flowers attract moths, skipper butterflies and bees. While I see denser flower clusters in the rainy season, they do flower all year long.

The Geiger seems unperturbed by scale, aphids, thrips and whiteflies. Geiger tortoise beetle larvae (Eurypepla calochroma) may feed on the foliage of orange Geiger, causing minor, temporary cosmetic damage. In ten years, I’ve seen a total of three on my (white) Geiger tree, but being on the wrong species, they apparently didn’t stay long enough to lay eggs. I wouldn’t mind seeing more; they are spectacularly beautiful metallic gold beetles.

Kenneth Setzer is writer and editor at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/home-garden/article25040716.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

The Future of Plant Conservation in South Florida - Panel Discussion This Wednesday

The Ghost Orchid, Polyradicion lindenii, is perhaps the most famous rare and valued south Florida native plant, thanks to a novel, a movie, and some true stories, too. Native plant botanists and enthusiasts often have other favorites, too. Does admiration save plants or cause their extinction through poaching? What are the current threats to the 25% of south Florida species currently in peril and to their ecosystems. Learn what we can unite around and accomplish.

Don't miss our premiere conservation panel event this Wednesday, May 13 at 7:00 pm. See details below.
 

 

The Future of Plant Conservation: A Panel
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 7 pm
Secret Woods Nature Center, 2701 Florida (W. State Rd.) 84, Dania Beach, FL 33312
 

This is it! Finally, an opportunity to hear what a few experts in South Florida know about the current status of plants in the wild, the ecosystems, recent trends and changes in the environment, and what they think are some of the conservation priorities we face. We don't often have the opportunity to get this broad view from the people who are likely to understand it best. Bring friends and colleagues who share your concerns about the environment right here, right now, in South Florida.

 

 

 

It's National Wildlife Week and the theme is "Living with Wildlife"

So let’s learn “How to Live Responsibly Alongside Our Wild Neighbors”

from Wildlife Promise

 

A fox family outside their urban den in Colorado. Photo donated by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Kimberly Hill.

 

Urban ecosystems are increasingly becoming critical habitats for wildlife. It’s time we embrace it, roll out the welcome mat and find ways to live responsibly alongside our wild neighbors. This list is simply a starting place, please add your advice and tips below!

 

Hang bird feeders 3 feet or less from windows to prevent collisions.

Collisions with windows is the number one cause of migratory bird population decline. It’s the leading cause of bird mortality, killing an estimated 100 million to 1 billion birds per year. Most of that mortality happens during migration, but birds flying to and from feeders and birdbath are also often victims of window strikes. We can protect birds from these collisions by positioning bird feeders and baths 3 feet or less from your windows. When feeders are close to windows, birds cannot build up enough momentum to injure themselves should they hit your window. Bonus: bird-watching right outside the window!

 

Example of the recommended placement of bird feeders, 3 feet or less from windows. Photo courtesy of FLAP.

 

Another way to prevent window collisions is to decorate your windows, especially during the migratory season. Applying window film or decals is one option, but keep in mind 80% of the window must be covered to be effective.

 

Make sure about 80% of your window is covered if you choose to use decals. Image courtesy of FLAP.

 

Keep trash and food sources out of reach of wildlife.

Have you ever been startled by the rustling noises and glowing eyes at night around your garbage bin? Animals are attracted to our garbage as a potential source of food. This scrounging can be avoided by storing waste in wildlife-proof containers (e.g. metal, sturdy lid). If this is not enough to deter critters, try adding motion lights, bungee cords or a twist on lid. Finally, put your trash out the morning of collection to avoid a night raid.

 

Supervise your pet cats and dogs.

A great number of birds and small mammals are injured by off-leash dogs and especially by free-roaming cats. Domestic cats (both pets and stray or feral animals) take a massive toll on our native wildlife, killing an estimated 3.7 BILLION birds and other small animals each year. The solution is to prevent your dogs and cats from chasing, attacking or playing with wild animals. If you’re unable to watch your pets outside, consider keeping cats indoors, or dogs on a leash.  I’ll admit I’ve also tried putting my cat on a leash. He didn’t love it, but it kept him from chasing other animals.

 

Leashes are one solution to keep cats from attacking birds outdoors. Photo by Dani Tinker.

 

Keep dead trees and plant new ones.

Dead trees (logs and snags) are anything but dead, they’re crawling with life! They provide vital habitat for over 1,000 species in the United States. If you must remove dead trees, please be respectful of any species living inside. Go the extra mile and plant more trees, either in your yard or community!

 

This marbled salamander was found by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Nicholas Kiriazis after flipping a log in Illinois.

 

Give wildlife a brake.

Wildlife don’t understand the danger of being in the road. When driving in areas with high populations of wild animals, or during migrations of certain species, please be alert. You can also advocate for wildlife crossings or corridors, which safely get wildlife to the other side of the road. For example, right now there’s a campaign to save California mountain lions by building a wildlife crossing!

 

A moose leads her calves across an Alaskan road by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Mike Criss.

 

Respect the “wild” in wildlife.

It’s easy to forget that even if animals aren’t deep in the woods, they are still wild. Never try to approach, touch, feed or make a pet our of a wild animal. In some cases such harassment of wildlife is illegal and even when it’s not, a letting wildlife be wild allows animals the space to continue their typical behaviors (e.g. feeding, nesting, breeding). It also keeps you safe!

 

A Toledo, Ohio, homeowner’s dog found this raccoon kit in her yard. Photo donated by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Ginny Sussman.

 

Don’t litter or spit gum out.

Enough said.

 

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wI7eNpHJe90

 

Plant native.

Welcome wildlife to your backyard by adding native plants. This will avoid the negative impacts of non-native species. Consider planting native milkweed, a critical way to help declining monarch populations.

 

Newly emerged monarchs dry off on milkweed in Missouri. Beginning this month, monarchs will be laying the eggs that develop into the migratory generation. Photo by National Wildlife Photo Contest entrant Lisa Serda-Ansel.

 

Celebrate National Wildlife Week

The theme of this year’s National Wildlife Week is “Living with Wildlife,” and the goals are to educate and raise awareness. Take this opportunity and spread the word that we must live responsibly alongside the wild animals in our urban and suburban spaces.

Tweet: It’s National #WildlifeWeek and I think it’s about time we live responsibly alongside our wild neighbors! A few tips: http://bit.ly/1aO2J9w

 

http://blog.nwf.org/2015/03/how-to-live-responsibly-alongside-our-wild-neighbors/?utm_content=buffer40270&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

 

 

 

Water Matters Day at Tree Tops Park this Saturday, March 14th.

 

The event is at Tree Tops Park – 3900 SW 100^th Avenue, Davie

 

“A Decade of Difference” is the theme of the 10th Annual Broward Water Matters Day event to be celebrated on Saturday, March 10, at Tree Tops Park, 3900 S.W. 100 Ave., Davie.

 

Water Matters Day is Broward County's signature water conservation event where residents can learn about our local and regional water resources, how water is managed and how we are planning for the future. Residents will receive tips on water conservation, find out about rebates and incentives for upgrading to water-conserving devices and learn how to create “Florida friendly” and drought tolerant landscape.

In addition to learning how to save water and money, participants can leave with free native plants or trees just for learning how to do the right thing. To be eligible, attendees will need to visit at least 12 of the event's exhibits and obtain 12 stamps. Approximately 40 educational exhibits and booths will be on display to help residents learn about water conservation techniques, smart irrigation, native landscaping and what role they play in protecting and conserving our water supplies.

Other activities include face painting, a caricature artist and crafts for children; rain barrel workshops; the music of environmental folk singer Grant Livingston; and a variety of giveaways and raffles. One lucky raffle winner will win an irrigation system upgrade (installation not included), courtesy of Rainbird. Activities will begin at 9 a.m. and run through 3 p.m. In conjunction with this year’s event there will also be a free electronics recycling drop off available.

The Broward County Board of County Commissioners, Broward Workshop, School Board of Broward County, and South Florida Water Management District are partnering to present this event. Co-sponsors include the Town of Davie, City of Cooper City, City of Coconut Creek, City of Fort Lauderdale, City of Hollywood, Town of Southwest Ranches, Central Broward Water Control District, South Broward Drainage District, Old Plantation Water Control District, AECOM, Carollo Engineers, and Rainbird.

Admission to Water Matters Day is free, but the park's weekend and holiday admission fee of $1.50 per person will be in effect. Children aged 5 and under are free. For more information on Water Matters Day or water conservation, visit broward.org/watermatters.

 

 

 

 

Wildlife Wednesday - Finding Subirdia

 

Ten ways to be a good neighbor to birds

By John Marzluff

 

When many of us think about nature,we imagine a pristine preserve far from the city center, not the partially paved places where most of us live and work. But John Marzluff, a University of Washington professor and ornithologist, has come to a surprising realization: Suburbs are bustling with bird diversity, sometimes even surpassing that of forests. In an excerpt from his new book, Welcome to Subirdia, Marzluff presents 10 ways you can help the birds in and around your own backyard, and connect with nature in your daily life.

 

My research and that of other urban ecologists suggest that, despite the great loss of biodiversity caused by our actions, we also have a lot to celebrate. I’ve spent most of my spring and summer mornings counting birds in national parks, industrial parks and suburbs. It is not surprising that the most-heavily paved portions of the city hold few birds, but it is not the case that the least-disturbed places on Earth always hold the most birds. Wild reserves provide shelter for unique birds not found in the city, and they are absolutely essential. But the greatest variety of birds is often found in the suburbs.
 

With my graduate students I have counted birds from Seattle’s urban core to its fringing forests nearly every spring and summer morning for the past decade. We expected the suburbs between the city center and the forested reserves to support an intermediate number of species, but when we listened as these neighborhoods awoke each morning, we were astonished by the dawn chorus of thrushes, tanagers, wrens, towhees, finches, crows and woodpeckers. Here we often tallied 30 or more species in a single count. We found birds from the industrial city mixed with some from the protected forest, and we encountered a whole new set of birds that use more open country.
 

 We had discovered “subirdia.”
 

Human neighborhoods are good for birds because they offer a wide range of habitats in a small area. Lawns and trees are jumbled into savannahs, fields and woodlots. Engineers provide new features such as small ponds that retain runoff from the many sealed surfaces. Where different habitats touch, they produce rich edges that offer access to many resources, such as nuts from trees, seeds from annual weeds and insects from ponds. The diversity of plants found together in urban settings is simply incredible.
 

Our discovery of subirdia in Seattle is not unique. Throughout Britain, in deciduous woodlands of California and Ohio, grasslands of Arizona, forests of Japan, and shrublands of Australia, moderate levels of urbanization also provide an abundance of various resources that increases the number of bird species beyond that found in either wilder or more densely populated settings.

Subirdia is the place many of us call home or work.

 

Physically, it is a richly interwoven mixture of residential, commercial and wilder land. Houses, allotments and gardens, derelict and vacant land, golf courses and other outdoor sports sites, cemeteries, schoolyards, highway and railway verges, municipal utility stations, business parks and shopping centers occur among places dominated by natural vegetation such as greenways, river and stream corridors, parks and nature reserves, pipelines and power lines, steep slopes and quarries. In a variety of locales, natural vegetation constitutes one-third to two-thirds of subirdia. Functionally, subirdia is the confluence between city and country that promotes a mutual exchange of plants and animals. It is also a place where people from urban and rural cultures come together as neighbors, friends and acquaintances. In so doing, we learn how varied is the human perception of nature.
 

As our modification of the land combines birds into new communities, we create interactions that have never before been seen and rekindle others that played out long ago. The interactive strands that link subirdia’s birds into an ecological web are as varied as the myriad animals that reside there. Some strands in the web are deadly, but others are supportive. As we now more fully consider a variety of ecological interactions, we learn about each bird’s place in the web of life and begin to see ourselves in that web as well. 

 

Birds and other species will benefit when landowners think of property as a community, not just a commodity, says Marzluff.

 

1. Do not covet your neighbor’s lawn. 

Landowners can increase bird use of their turf by reducing its extent, mowing it less often, and skipping the fertilizers and pesticides. Providing shrubs and trees, especially native species, increases food resources. Thickets, brush piles, rocks, standing dead trees and logs contribute cover from predators and safe nest and roost sites.

 

2. Keep your cat indoors. 

Our favorite felines are called “house cats” for a reason. Free-ranging cats kill one in 10 wild birds. Plus, living inside extends the average cat’s life by a decade. 

 

3. Make windows visible to birds.

Collision is the second most deadly and preventable threat for urban birds. Obscuring just 5 percent of a large window with artistic etching, frosting or simple striping can help. Or use decals that reflect ultraviolet light, visible to birds but not humans.

4. Do not light the night sky. 

Use light only when necessary and from as dim a source as possible. Bright bluish light is the most disruptive, soft yellow the least. Face outside lighting downward, not skyward, and especially avoid illumination that shines horizontally. 

 

 

 

5. Provide food, water and nest sites. Most birds that use feeders prefer black oil sunflower and white proso millet seed. In urban settings, birds also benefit from the provision of nest boxes. But preserving dead trees or limbs is the best way to ensure a steady supply of cavities for the species that require them. 

 

6. Do not kill native predators. 

Subirdia needs the natural checks and balances that predators such as hawks and owls provide. Exercise restraint when applying pesticides. The toxins we use to control insects and rodents are deadly to small birds and mammals.

 

7. Foster a diversity of habitats. 

Promote natural variability within and around backyard landscapes. Many native plants could be retained if we carved lots carefully from existing vegetation, rather than scraping entire lots bare and replanting them with a standard mix of nursery stock. 

 

8. Make roads safer for wildlife. Creating crossings for reptiles, amphibians and mammals increases biological diversity, which is good for subirdia. Enable natural grasses and shrubs to fill in along road verges and medians, and limit roadside mowing of these sites during nesting season.

 

9. Ask local planning authorities to ensure functional connections between land and water. These might include buffers along waterways, vegetated corridors, golf courses or a series of small parks strung together along an abandoned transportation route. 

 

10. Enjoy and bond with naturewhere you live, work and play! When humans live in the city and nature lives only in distant reserves, we can suffer what has been called “environmental amnesia.” To remember what biodiversity is and why it is important, we must also conserve nature in urban settings.

 

- See more at: http://magazine.nature.org/features/finding-subirdia.xml#sthash.o0mzu9GB.dpuf

 

 

 

 

 

'Go Native' Plant Sale this Saturday, 2/28/15, at Anne Kolb Nature Center