Get Wild in Your Garden

Image Gallery image by Anni Betts

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Gardeners are tuned in to the weather; we can’t help it. We grumble over droughts and fret about when the first hard freeze will hit. We notice when lilac and cherry blossoms emerge earlier in spring, and we’re quick to spot an unfamiliar dragonfly or hummingbird in the backyard. But sometimes those aren’t just idle observations; they’re signs that global warming is happening at home.

Wild creatures bear the burden of our behavior as much as we do: Unprecedented droughts, floods, and freezes erode habitat, throw off migratory routes, and make food and water sources scarce. Sprawl only compounds the problem; each year development claims more than a million acres in the United States, making it harder for a bird to find a meal or build a nest. Turning gardens into habitats is one way to fight back, which is why I took the only piece of land that I control—the 6,000-square-foot patch surrounding my home in Eureka, California—and restored as much wildlife habitat as I could.

My earliest forays into wildlife gardening were a few years ago, and my motivation was sheer vanity. The dance of orange painted-lady butterflies and the fierce whir of ruby-throated hummingbirds would, I thought, improve the allure of my flower beds. It turns out these creatures aren’t terribly interested in hydrangeas or roses—not enough nectar—so I found a native fuchsia with red trumpet-shaped flowers for the hummingbirds, and for the butterflies I planted yarrow and tall purple verbena, plants with sturdy, flat-topped blossoms that make good landing pads.

Soon I found myself cataloging the activities of the black and yellow agriope spiders that hung, pregnant and swollen to the size of grapes, from their webs. I began to count on the flock of red-breasted American robins that arrived each December to pick winter berries off the shrubs.

Over time, my backyard became a wildlife haven, a refuge from extreme weather and ravaged ecosystems. Last fall I made it official and registered it with the National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program (www.nwf.org/backyard). The program has been around since 1973, but it has recently gained momentum. By spring 2008, there were nearly 100,000 certified habitats in yards and gardens near homes, businesses, schools, and places of worship, in both urban and more rural areas.

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