Wildlife Friendly Fall and Winter Gardens

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 1:01 pm

wildlife-friendly-gardens Creating wildlife friendly fall and winter gardens provides a place for your local wildlife to survive the cold of winter. These gardens also offer a haven for those species that pass through your area while migrating during fall. If you enjoy watching nature's creatures visit your garden during spring and summer, you'll love watching winter visitors as well.

Few species of wildlife actually live deep in forested areas. The great majority of wild creatures in urban areas prefer the areas where the more densely wooded countryside meets our lawns and gardens. By providing fall and winter gardens where these creatures, both animals and birds, can feed and protect themselves from predators, you'll invite some colorful and interesting fall and winter visitors.

Layer The Habitat Of Your Garden

One way to provide habitat for the widest number of species is to plant your fall and winter garden so that it provides a layered habitat. Planting dense groundcover, low shrubs, and taller evergreen or deciduous trees, you can offer food and shelter to a vast number of species. It also helps to provide plantings in different densities. Some plants can be clumped together; others can be more spaced out, and you can also leave some open areas.

Another key to inviting fall and winter wildlife to visit your garden is to provide a source of water during freezing conditions. It is very difficult for many of nature's citizens to locate drinking water during hard freezes, especially if you live in the northern climates where small ponds and streams freeze solid. A birdbath placed in a sunny area which has the ice cover removed daily and more water added can be a blessing for avian species. Lower water features such as small ponds can be maintained with free-flowing water or you can simply provide water in attractive pots or dishes daily for the outdoor creatures to visit. They will come to count on your garden as a watering hole, so be consistent with providing the crucial drinking water they so badly need.

To the extent that it is practical, you'll enjoy the best fall and winter garden results by using plants native to your area. These should be, if not all of your garden, at least a large portion of your plant selections because they are certain to thrive. You can, of course, select some favorites that have value as wildlife habitat even though they may not be native.

Planting Hardy Plants Works Well

Avoid planting delicate plants which will require protection during the coldest nights. You'll also want to select plants which provide nuts, berries, seeds, or food sources for the wildlife visitors. Barley is a great example of a way to provide for visiting birds. Winterberry holds berries far into the deepest part of winter and provides a good food source.

Bird feeders can be an appealing and very helpful addition to your garden. Birds of many species will gather in your garden, both those species that overwinter locally and migrating visitors. Suet blocks are welcomed as well. Bird houses can offer a great spot for birds to get away from cold winds and rain. Be sure to position the bird houses so that the opening faces away from the cold north winds. Position both the bird feeders and bird houses so that they can easily be seen from a windows so you can watch the activity from inside your warm, cozy home.

Some fall and winter garden plant choices for groundcover which do well even in the extreme northern reaches of the contiguous United States include bunchberry, cotoneaster, heather, ferns, and wintergreen. Good winter shrubs and vines to create your mid-height garden habitat include blueberries, chokeberry, red flowering currant, red, mountain, or evergreen huckleberry, rhododendron, snowberry, viburnums, winterberry, holly, and small evergreens. Trees which can provide canopy for wildlife include cedar, pine, fir, crabapple, cottonwood, maple, oak, spruce, willow, and ash. You'll find many others that fit your needs easily as well.