Landscaping for Wildlife

Landscaping for Wildlife

~Creating habitat with native plants~Celia Vuocolo, Hill House Farm & Nursery

September 2014

~Creating habitat with native plants~Celia Vuocolo, Hill House Farm & Nursery

September 2014

Located in Castleton, VA

100% Native!Landscaping

& Design Services

What does wildlife need?

What does wildlife need?

ShelterFood sources

ProtectionWater

ShelterFood sources

ProtectionWater

Plant NATIVE plants!Plant NATIVE plants!

Create healthy habitat--Create healthy habitat--

Why are Natives important?

• Provide shelter, food, nesting sites and cover for wildlife--birds, mammals, insects, aquatic life--and ultimately, people!

• Essential to land reclamation, soil health and water protection—Ecosystem Services

• Create a “sense of place”

• Create habitat !

Habitat losses are

enormous

Habitat losses are

enormousUrban Sprawl/Development

Current Agricultural Practices

Over-harvesting for medicinal purposes

Urban Sprawl/Development

Current Agricultural Practices

Over-harvesting for medicinal purposes

So, what’s a gardener to do?So, what’s a gardener to do?

#1: 5 First Steps

#2: Hedgerow Recipe

#3: Plant a Powerhouse

“5 First Steps”

• Mow less grass! Add layers, create hedges, “connect corners”

• Control exotic invasives.

• Avoid using insecticides.

• Practice benign neglect...leave the leaves, save the snags, pile the brush

• Plant a “Powerhouse”!

Planting a Hedgerow: Think outside the box!Planting a Hedgerow: Think outside the box!

Traditional

Free form

Hedgerow Recipe:Hedgerow Recipe:

1 Evergreen 2 Nectar-producing 2 Berry-producing1 Thorny “beast”

1 Evergreen 2 Nectar-producing 2 Berry-producing1 Thorny “beast”

Inkberry, Ilex glabra

Start with an evergreen…

Bottlebrush Buckeye, Aesculus parviflora

Then add the nectar producers…

SummersweetClethra alnifolia

NJ TeaCeanothus

americanus

Serviceberry, Amelanchier laevis

BlackhawViburnum

prunifolium

Don’t forget the fruit!

Virginia RoseRosa virginiana

Thorny Beast!

Lonicerasempervirens

‘Magnifica’

‘John Clayton’

Consider some vines!

The Pollinator

Powerhouses

Top Ten• Mountain Mint

• Blazing stars

• Goldenrod

• Joe Pye

• Asters

• Milkweed

• Black eyed susans

• Bee balms

• Ironweed

• Vervain

Mountain Mint!

Liatris spicataLiatris microcephala

Liatris squarrosaLiatris punctata

Liatris pycnostachiaLiatris aspera

Liatris borealis

Rudbeckia trilobaR. subtomentosa

R. fulgidaR. maximaR. laciniata

FS

The Goldenrods: so misunderstood.

Stiff goldenrod

Blue stem goldenrod

Dwarf goldenrod

Aster laevisA. pilosus

A. puniceusA. novae-angliae

A. novii-belgiiA. oblongifoliusA. umbellatus

*A. cordifolia, A. divaricata, A. macrophyllus

Asters, asters, asters...

Aster oblongifolius

Raydon’s favoriteOctober skies

Milkweed spp.!

What will we accomplish?

Re-building biodiversity from the ground up

Re-establishing relationships

Questions?