Wildlife

Watching the Birds – Connecting with Nature in Winter, Part III

January 30, 2010 | by

Photo courtesy of Kelly Riccetti at Red and the Peanut

Continuing our series on “Surviving the Winter by Staying Connected to Nature,” today’s post is about enjoying nature from inside, and in particular, feeding and watching the birds.

It’s true that one of the keys to making it through the winter is getting outside (more on that in the next post). But let’s face it: Even if we do venture forth, we’re probably not going to be out very long. So what is a “healing garden” in winter? One that we can gaze upon and enjoy from indoors. And what better way to hold our attention than watching the birds? It’s certainly been keeping me going this winter. This is the first year that I’ve noticed white-breasted nuthatches flitting back and forth from the bird feeder to the white oak. And in addition to the usual sparrows, crows, dark-eyed juncos, starlings, and cardinals, we seem to have more chickadees and tufted titmice (titmouses?) this year as well. Such a delight!

I want to especially encourage nurses, administrators, volunteers and family members who care for seniors to do more to attract birds. Place bird feeders and baths (you can even buy heated ones) outside of private and community windows. Watching, identifying, and counting birds can bring a great deal of meaning (and social interaction) into people’s lives. Bird-watching is an excellent antidote to the common problems of boredom, loneliness, and isolation.

No matter what your age, here are some resources to get you started. There are two primary ways to attract birds to the garden. First, plant things that birds are attracted to for food and habitat. The following books and websites will help you choose what to plant and how to keep a garden that’s bird-friendly throughout the year:

Second to providing natural food and habitat in your garden, supplement with birdfeeders and bird baths. The National Bird-Feeding Society is a great place to start. Learn about bird feed and feeder preference; how to prevent disease at bird feeders; best backyard bird-feeding practices, and more. And many of the websites listed above also provide information about this aspect of backyard bird-care as well.

All of these resources, plus a few more, are on the Therapeutic Landscapes Network’s Sensory & Wildlife Plants page. Stop on by, and if you have other recommendations, let us know.

Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

Photo courtesy of Henry Domke


Planting the Healing Garden: Bring on the Bees!

April 4, 2009 | by

This image is courtesy of sciencemuseum.org.uk
I haven’t been able to keep up with the regular blog posts lately (hm, same thing happened last spring, I wonder why?), and today is not much of an exception. I’m actually going to direct you to a great article on bumblebees and honeybees on the Fine Gardening website (“Bring the Buzzzzz Back to Your Garden”); it’s got some great information about various kinds of bees and what you can plant in your garden to attract them. And here’s another great website that I stumbled upon while looking for good bee pictures: The Science Museum’s “Bumblebees like it hot.”
 
As a landscape designer who specializes in restorative gardens, I have the funny experience of some clients wanting gardens that attract bees, and other clients wanting gardens that don’t. After a nasty yellowjacket incident when I was five (involving over 25 of the beasts attacking me after I accidentally stepped on their nest), I’ve struggled to master my stinging-insect phobia. I can relate to people who would be happy if the bees just stayed away. Nevertheless, I like to educate clients about the fact that honeybees and bumblebees rarely sting (something I’ve learned from my own gardening experience – I’ve been stung by many a wasp in my life, but never by a bee), and I also stress the importance of providing food and habitat for our wonderful pollinating friends who’ve been having a bit of a tough time lately (you can read about Colony Collapse Disorder on many websites and blogs, but here’s the Wikipedia article to get you started). Incidentally, beekeeping has really taken off in the past couple of years. A friend in Beacon has a great blog called Beacon Bee, and I’ve been learning a lot from her. There are even urban beekeepers; in france, they call it “concrete honey.”

Planting the Healing Garden: Growing Your Own Bird Seed

March 6, 2009 | by

Image of prairie warbler courtesy Henry Domke Fine Art

Not much time for blogging lately, but here’s a good article about planting flowers that will attract birds into your garden. And if they don’t eat it all while it’s “on the vine,” you can harvest to feed the birds later. “How to Grow Your Own Bird Seed in the Garden.” Enjoy, and the birds will, too!

Urban Naturalism – Finding Nature in the City

January 17, 2009 | by

Image courtesy Chris at Urban Naturalism

Who says you have to be waaaaay out in the country to experience nature? After all, 81% of Americans live in urban or at least semi-urban areas (that number is 49% in the rest of the world). If we couldn’t find any nature in our immediate environs, life would be pretty bleak, indeed.  


Did you know that before large urban parks like Central Park were created, people picnicked at cemeteries? Yes, indeed. In the nineteenth century, city-dwellers were so desperate to have a patch of green to throw their blankets down on that they flocked to cemeteries like Mt. Auburn in Cambridge, MA. After all, you couldn’t exactly hop in the car for a drive out to the country. Frederick Law Olmsted, “the father of landscape architecture,” was dismayed by the lack of public green spaces in cities and decided that there should be more of them. And now we have Central Park, and Prospect Park, and many other urban green landscapes. Thanks, Fred (and Calvert Vaux, among others). 

We also have a lot of “urban naturalists,” people determined to find nature in the city. The best of them share that enthusiasm with the rest of us, and we are richer for it. I just discovered the wonderful Urban Naturalism blog yesterday (“Discovering the Magic Wonderment of an Urban Place). Tool around on this site for other great books and links. And a few worth looking at that aren’t on the blog: Prospect: A Year in the Park, and Mary Winn’s Central Park in the Dark, and The Urban Naturalist. I’m sure there are many more. If you have a favorite book, website, or blog on urban naturalism, let me know.

And if you’re like me and live in the city, you, too can participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count! See previous post for more details.

Great Backyard Bird Count

January 14, 2009 | by


Guest Blog by Theresa Loe of Garden Fresh Living

If you liked The Lost Ladybug Project, then you might like this as well…

The Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up on February 13-16, 2009. This annual four-day event is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. Its purpose is to create a comprehensive picture of where all kinds of birds are found during late winter and then compare that information with data collected from past years.  Apparently, scientists can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Since the birds are always moving, no team of scientist could ever hope to document the movements of so many species over a four day period. So they ask the public for help on these dates every year.

Anyone can participate, it only takes 15 minutes and it is especially fun for children. Participants count birds, record and submit their information and can also submit photos for a yearly contest. Visit their website for more details on how to participate. 

Photo Credit: This Northern Cardinal photo was the overall winner of the 2008 photo contest, Judy Howle, MS.

Thanks again to Theresa Loe of Garden Fresh Living for this guest blog posting!

(Especially in Winter), Feed the Birds

January 12, 2009 | by

White-throated sparrow. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

White-throated sparrow. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

A bird’s life is tough in winter when food supplies and drinking water are scarce. This makes it an ideal time for us humans to participate in “armchair birdwatching.” If you keep your feeders and baths full and clean (and heated, if temperatures gets below freezing), you’ll get to enjoy the show when your feathered friends come to visit. It’s a wonderful way to get kids interested in nature – who wouldn’t be excited about spotting a brilliant red cardinal or a bright yellow goldfinch? Armchair bird-watching can be enjoyed at any age. My great-aunt Stefanie, who is 94, loves watching the birds, especially on days when she can’t go outside. The other day I spied some kind of woodpecker with a brilliant red patch on its nape that put even the most showy cardinal to shame. I looked it up in my Field Guide to Birds of North America (which I keep near the window for precisely this reason, just as my parents did when I was growing up) and learned that it was a yellow-shafted northern flicker. Who knew? There’s something about seeing and watching birds that elicits fascination, wonder and delight in even the most curmudgeonly sorts, and you don’t even have to leave the cozy warmth of your home.

Here are some links if you want to learn more, do more or buy more to watch the birds and help them at the same time:

And here are some sites and articles specifically about winter bird-feeding:

If you buy one book on bird-watching, it should be a field guide to help you identify what you see. A guide to birds in your area is probably sufficient (see the first book on the list below for my favorite regional guide). Other recommendations for book on bird-watching and creating a garden for birds include:

  • My favorite book for the past couple of year has been the Birds of New York Field Guide, by Stan Tekiela – There’s one for every state, and some come with cds to help you identify bird calls: www.adventurepublications.net.
  • The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher
  • The National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Backyard Wildlife
  • Sally Roth’s Attracting Birds to Your Backyard
  • The Backyard Birdlover’s Field Guide, by the same author
  • Projects for the Birder’s Garden

Seedheads for Winter Interest

November 28, 2008 | by

It never ceases to amaze me how fast things change in the northeast when winter comes around. 
Here in the Hudson Valley, what was green and almost frighteningly verdant in September bursts into flames of yellow, orange, and red in October as the weather grows colder and the days become shorter. Then a hard frost hits in November and the landscape is transformed once again, this time into a muted tapestry of blondes, tans, browns and greys, with the blue sky and its early sunsets serving up the brightest colors of the day. If you, too, live in a cold climate and you haven’t already finished your garden cleanup for the year, it’s time to get out there before the snow hits (and transforms the landscape once again). 
I always encourage people not to cut their perennials and grasses back too fiercely in the fall. Leave some seed heads on those coneflowers, goldenrods (above), and the like – the birds will thank you for it, as will you on a snowy winter’s day when the seed heads sport delightful little snow caps and the grasses wave gracefully from a blanket of snow (or frozen mud in March). 
In a more institutional setting like a hospital, nursing home, or even a public park, this unkempt look may be a hard sell – many people like things to look neat and tidy because that’s what they’re used to. I don’t know of any studies that have looked specifically at people’s preferences between the wilder look and the more manicured, but I do know that education can go a long way. When people learn about the benefits to wildlife, or about collecting seeds, or even are just turned on to a different point of view, they may change their mind and appreciate those scraggly seed heads rather than just seeing them as “dead flowers that need cleaning up.” Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?  
Some good resources to inspire you and/or your clients: 
This is a great website with a wealth of resources: Winter Gardening: A Guide to Selected Resources.

Plus a few more:
Seedheads in the Garden, by Noel Kingsbury
Brooklyn Botanic Garden article: “Inviting Wildlife into Your Winter Garden.”
Lots more where that came from, just Google “garden in winter” or “planting for winter interest.”

Winter Reading: The Wildlife Gardener’s Guide

November 21, 2008 | by

Winter is the ideal time for curling up in front of the fire with a cup of hot cocoa in one hand and a good book in the other. It’s also a great time to make plans for the garden. The Wildlife Gardener’s Guide, published by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, looks sure to inspire as well as educate. Check out their press release and description HERE.

Trees and Shrubs with Showy Fruit

October 20, 2008 | by

Photo of wild persimmon by Henry Domke, Henry Domke Fine Art

Speaking of fall color and winter interest (see my last post by clicking here or just by scrolling down), I just came across a nice article in Garden Design magazine (the printed version) about trees and shrubs with showy fruit (“Berry Bright,” by Jenny Andrews, Garden Design, Nov/Dec ’08, pp. 30-36). 

I was hoping they would have the article online, too, but I guess they don’t do that. Anyway, it’ll be on the stands for another month or two; the article has gorgeous photos and nice descriptions of Ilex verticillata (winterberry), Euonymus europaeus ‘Red Cascade’ (spindle tree), Sorbus alnifolia (mountain ash), Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry), Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ (tatarian dogwood), Aralia spinosa (devil’s walking stick), Callicarpa species (beautyberry), Viburnum species, and Malus transitoria (a yellow-fruiting crabapple).

I have not checked these plants to find out if they are edible (or not poisonous). As I said in the last post, if the plant material you intend to use is for any type of situation where people might nibble on the fruit (children, the developmentally disabled, and people with dementia are the three most susceptible groups) then make sure that the fruit is not harmful if ingested! Several good poisonous plants databases are listed on the Therapeutic Landscapes Database Links page. 

What you do want, when possible, is fruit that not only looks attractive but is actually attractive to wildlife, especially birds. Bringing birds to the garden adds another delightful sensory element. The Audubon Society has a nice book out on the subject: National Audubon Society: The Bird Garden: A Comprehensive Guide to Attracting Birds to Your Backyard Throughout the Year. And of course there are lots more books out there on the subject. I list a few on the Therapeutic Landscape Database Plants page, but the list needs updating; I see in my latest Google search that several new books have come out recently. Just go to your local neighborhood independently owned bookstore (hint hint!) and see what they’ve got. Also some great websites with information, for example the National Audubon Society (www.audubon.org/) the National Wildlife Federation, and The Garden Helper.

Planting for Seasonal Interest – Fall Color

October 13, 2008 | by

Witch Hazel and the Technicolor Dreamcoat

Way back in January of this year, one of my first blog postings (“Backyard Sanctuary,”  1/21/08) was about my dear little witch hazel, Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena,’ who was budding (and who bloomed a few weeks later…in March! How cool is that?). I wrote about that, too, in a post titled “Winter Landscapes: Planting for Winter Interest,” (3/5/08) and included a photo of ‘Jelena’ in her strange and wonderful fringed burnt-umber glory. I meant to write more about plant material this summer, but never quite got to it, and I apologize for that. I will attempt to make up for it in the dark days of winter by providing some juicy images and ideas for the spring and summer garden (the blogger’s equivalent to sitting in front of the fire with a cup of cocoa in your hands, poring over seed catalogs). 

In the meantime, it’s peak leaf-peeping season here in the Hudson Valley, and I can’t help but extoll the virtues of planting for year-round seasonal interest. Flowers in spring and summer are wonderful for all sorts of reasons, but whether you are planting for your own garden/backyard sanctuary or for a more public space such as a healing garden in a hospital, the landscape at a nursing home or retirement community, or even the grounds in a public park, it’s best to consider plants that will provide year-round interest. After all, if we’re going to appreciate the landscape for the entire year, whether by being in it or by looking at it from a window, we should plan for it to delight in every season. 

Above is a picture of our other witch hazel, Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Arnold’s Promise’ (Jelena isn’t doing her thing yet – earlier to flower and slower/not quite as showy with fall color).  Some plants, like dogwoods (Cornus florida), are beautiful in every season – they bloom in the spring, they are a rich green in the summer, they turn a gorgeous burgundy in the fall, and then their berries last at least part-way through winter (while also attracting birds and squirrels, which is why the berries don’t usually last all winter long). Their form is also attractive year-round, especially in winter when you can really see the gracefully spreading branches.

There are many good websites to get information on designing for fall color, including About.com and the University of Illinois Extension. Some plant databases, like the University of Connecticut’s Uconn Plant Database (go Huskies!) let you search for specific attributes like fall color – Uconn’s even lets you look for which specific fall color you want. Lots more where those came from, just Google away. 

Some good books: Fallscaping: Extending Your Garden Season Into Autumn; Autumn Gardens by Ethne Clarke; Gardening with Foliage Plants: Leaf, Bark, and Berry, also by Ethne Clarke; The Year in Trees: Superb Woody Plants for Four-Season Gardens; The Autumn Garden;  Fall Foliage: The Mystery, Science, and Folklore of Autumn Leaves by Charles W.G. Smith isn’t so much a planting guide but looks like a really fun read. Michael Dirr’s Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs is one book I use all the time because each plant gets several images, giving you a sense of what it looks like through the seasons. I’m sure there are more out there, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Go on, add a few to your Christmas/Channukah/Kwanzaa/Winterfest list!

Here are some tips to keep in mind for fall color (note: this posting is geared to people like me who have “seasons” – if anyone from L.A., Miami, etc. wants to submit a similar entry for their area, I’m all for it):

1. Use plants like the dogwood mentioned above that give a good show in more than one season: Shrubs and trees that bloom in the spring or summer and put on a good fall show with their foliage, and/or brighten up the winter landscape with berries, or seedheads, or bark, or an interesting form. Of course, some plants are amazing enough that they don’t have to do double, triple, or quadruple-duty. If the site is right, who would say no to a red maple in October? Still, many people tend to fall back on the old stand-bys instead of looking for the multi-season gems.


2. Think about what color the leaves turn (yellow, orange, red, burgundy, or technicolor like my witch hazel) and design for the effect with other fall foliage plants or with late-blooming perennials and bulbs – lavender asters and sepia mums look stunning next to brilliant yellow autumn leaves; yellow goldenrod (Solidago) dazzles against a backdrop of dark-red foliage. Of course, also find out when they turn – if you planned for your goldenrod-and-sweetspire (Itea virginica) combo but the flower is done by the time the shrub has turned, the effect is not quite so powerful. 

3. Try all-in-one-show plants with contrasting berries and leaves, like the spicebush pictured below (Lindera benzoin), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), some viburnums, like Viburnum dentatum, beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.), and crabapples with yellow rather than red fruit.


4. Some perennials and vines get great fall foliage, too: true geranium (geranium sanguineum‘s common name is bloody geranium because of its fall color), plumbago (ceratostigma plumbaginoides), and many ferns are some examples.

5. Don’t forget grasses! Many ornamental grasses like little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and switch grass (Panicum virgatum) turn beautiful colors in the fall, and unlike those maples and that burn bright and then drop their leaves for you to rake up, grasses keep their foliage all winter long – the colors usually soften to blondes and russets, but they are still a beautiful contrast to the brown mulch (or mud) and white snow.

6. Think about the site and how it’s all going to work together – if your plants are in front of a dark building or a row of evergreens, something that turns bright yellow is going to have a lot more impact than a deep red that will get lost in the depths; if your hardscape (walls, paving, steps) or furniture is a distinct color, think about what colors of foliage will either complement that or help to set it off (and not clash – for example, I’m not wild about lavender and burgundy together, but maybe that’s just me).

7. If you want glorious fall color and you have a shady site, make sure that the plant you choose will still perform in shade – many, but not all, plants require full sun for the best display. Others (like my witch hazel above) don’t seem to care. This on-line Houston Grows article mentions a few that will perform even in shade, but there are more beyond that, too.

8. If you’re designing for any type of healthcare facility, safety comes first! Always make sure that what you’re specifying is not poisonous or thorny or otherwise harmful – those berries might look very attractive to a young child out for a stroll in the garden when she’s visiting her sibling…see more on this subject on the Therapeutic Landscapes Database Plants page, including some great links to poisonous plants databases.

9. Don’t let any of these suggestions intimidate you – most designs have at least some “bonus” or “happy accident” element. You buy a rose in the nursery because it’s blooming and it smells delicious and then you discover in the fall that it’s borne these gorgeous orange “hips” (fruit) that also attract all manner of birds and are also, should you care to harvest them, rich in Vitamin C. As with all gardening, designing for fall color and seasonal interest takes a healthy combination of curiosity, research, experience, passion, and luck.
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