I have not yet mastered time management in the garden. It always seems like I spend more time working on it than I do enjoying it. Although, I must remember all the times I’m out there weeding and stop to watch an insect do something amazing. Below, I have put together a short list of ways to prevent spending hours in the garden weeding. Plant groundcovers: Cover all bare soil with groundcovers so weeds can’t grow. Kill any existing weeds first and then mulch or plant a living groundcover to fill in the vacant space. If there is an idle part of the garden, cover it with a groundcover until planting time comes. Simplify path maintenance: Cobblestone paths either need to be hand weeded or poisoned. I don’t use poison in my garden so I don’t have cobblestone paths. I have decided that mulch paths, wide enough for the lawn mower to mow down in summer, are the best solution for my garden. Before putting in a path, think about maintenance and remember that paths are necessary to do maintenance on the rest of the garden. Avoid difficult to care for borders: It is popular to use the chain link fence as a border, but this area can become a weeding nightmare as they tangle in the fence and only one side can be reached. When the garden boarders a lawn, use border material such as brick that is easy to mow against. Design the garden to avoid unmowable lawn spaces that will just get out of hand and invade the flowers. Expand the garden slowly: New garden beds should only be as big as you can weed. It is always best to underestimate this area because weeding in midsummer is unpleasant. Keeping a garden well weeded the first few years will cause it to be less maintenance in the long run. Prepare new beds with care: No matter which way you prepare a new bed make sure all the weeds are good and dead before planting. Some lawn grasses can be very difficult to kill and may need to be killed more than once. Roots like clematis, star of Bethlehem, and dandelion need to be dug out. It may take more than six months to be sure all weeds are dead. Be wary of free plants: Do not take in a free plant you can’t identify. Plants given away from another garden are most likely aggressive quick spreaders and should be selected carefully. If the free plant is going to be a good fit for your garden, you should still clean all soil off of free plants to prevent hitchhikers. Limit weed seeds entering the garden: Don’t let weeds seed. Monitor the garden frequently to remove all weeds before they can spread their seeds. Rainwater can also bring weed seeds from uphill properties. Hitchhiking seeds come in on clothes and pets. A less preventable way that weed seeds appear is from birds pooping them into the garden. Some weed seeds will enter the garden and germinate. Monitor frequently to pull them out while they are small.

There are a few key elements to attracting birds and wildlife to the garden. Incorporate all of them into the garden for the best results. The more each element is used, the more wildlife will show up to call your garden home. Garden with native plants. Adding native plants to a garden is a great way to attract birds and other wildlife. Native plants and native animals have evolved together. Our local wildlife is specially adapted to feed off of our native plants that are easy for them to digest and provide the nutrients they need. Use plants that produce seeds and berries. Berries and seeds keep wildlife going through the winter. Winter residents and migrants appreciate a variety of food to eat all winter long. Seeds of native plants left in the garden can be even healthier and more attractive to birds then a bird feeder. While birds are busy exploring the garden for seeds they may also come across a tasty insect to supplement their meal. Keep dead plants standing through winter so birds can continue to clean seeds off the stalks. Supplemental with bird seed and suet in winter. Birdfeeders will gather birds in an easy-to-view spot in the yard. Hummingbird feeders near the porch will allow you to catch a glimpse of this speedy visitor. It is easier to see how successful a garden is with the wildlife when they show up right outside your window. Racoons and opossums will also raid bird feeders at night. A red shouldered hawk likes to sit on a tree overlooking my bird feeder. When the birds suddenly scatter, I know to look for a hawk. Invite insects to thrive. Allow insects to eat plants and become bird food. Leave plant stems and leaves around garden through winter and into spring to shelter insects. Native plants eaten by native insects will attract native birds. Seeing insect damage on plant leaves is a good sign that there will be plenty of food for birds. Young birds are fed insects almost exclusively by their parents. Provide safety. Wildlife needs your garden to be a sanctuary. Birds want to feel safe from passing cars, stray cats, humans, hawks, etc. Birds need shrubs and brushy cover to hide in and nest. Hollow trees are preferred by some birds as a place to nest. Provide as many natural shelters as possible and supplement with some bird houses. Supply clean water. Water attracts wildlife. Birdbaths, water features, and ponds will become gathering places for birds and other wildlife. Birds need a source of water for drinking and bathing. Try to keep birdbaths, etc. filled and clean throughout summer when water is needed most. In winter, a small heater can keep a water feature running without freezing. I am always amazed to see the birds eagerly bathing even when I think it is too cold to go out.

I’m listening to the spring peepers calling outside my window. The peepers say that it is spring and time to get busy. Battling for vocal supremacy, these tiny frogs try to attract a mate. Spring peeping can go on for weeks on any warm day down by the pond. Soon the water will have masses of eggs and after that, millions of tadpoles. Later in the year the American toads take over the symphony. It is amazing that something so small can make so much noise. Their calls echo off the brick walls of my house calling in their sweethearts. The cardinals are also in the mood this spring. The males and females flirt, flying from tree to tree. Love is on the mind of all the birds. The little wren is checking out each knothole in the silver maple looking for a safe place to raise some babies. The mockingbird perches on my chimney and sings out his best calls hoping someone will be impressed. And somewhere I hear a woodpecker drumming up a territory fit for a woodpecker family. Even the plants are feeling sexy. The silver maple is releasing pollen into the wind, hoping it lands in the right spot and forms a seed pod. Many plants release hormones to trick insects into exploring their flowers in hopes of some pollen being transferred to a neighboring plant. Plants are using insect sexual behaviors to have sex themselves, kinky. The insects are also doing it on the flowers. I see two beetles locked together gathering nectar from a flower not wanting to take a break from gathering resources even for the perfect mate. All this fecundity would not be happening in my garden if these animals did not feel that the resources were available to raise a family. A garden must have a plentiful source of food to raise young, this means lots of insects, pollen, and seeds. The parents also want to feel safe with shrubs to hide in, knot holes to nest in, and a reliable source of water. Safe habitat comes naturally with native plant gardening and so does the sex. This garden is all about the birds and the bees.

Many gardeners do not know that honeybees are not native bees. They were brought over from Europe during colonization as a resource. Colonizers were not worried about invasive species as their focus was surviving in a new land. However, today we do know the price of introduced species on native communities and the honeybee is one of those species. Honeybees disrupt ecosystems with their large numbers foraging on specific flowers in certain areas. Their foraging behaviors can encourage invasive plants by favoring pollination of only certain flower types. Monoculture crops may rely on imported honeybees for pollination, leaving few resources for other plant or insect species the rest of the year. Honeybees will displace native bees by monopolizing floral resources with their numbers and pollinating efficiency. They are often brought into an area to intensely pollinate a crop and then taken away again, leaving a disrupted ecosystem behind. Domestic honeybees can also bring diseases to bee populations. Bee colonies are regularly shipped long distances and can quickly spread diseases across the globe. Native bees can pollinate a much wider array of flower shapes. Some bees have very long tongues to reach down to the base of a long tubular flower like the trumpet creeper. Other bees are very big and strong to pry open the petals of a flower like monkeyflower. On milkweed a bee must be a strong flyer to be able to carry the heavy pollen between plants. All of these unique bees need our protection. I am often irritated when I see a save the bees poster featuring a picture of a honeybee. The honeybees have problems right now, but it is nowhere near as dire of a collapse as the one that native bees are experiencing. Messaging like this can confuse the public into thinking honeybees are a native wild species instead of an agricultural concern. I will be sad if I have to give up honey but I’m not sure the earth will survive if we lose our bees. We need to focus our research, education, and messaging on the protection of native bees.

Plants can be used to clean up pollution in the environment. Certain plants are able to take in and store chemicals out of the air, soil, or water by concentrating them in their leaves or other tissues. Some plants can even break down hazardous chemicals or isolate heavy metals. Plants also partner with fungi and microorganisms that help the plants absorb nutrients. These relationships can also be used to clean up hazards in the soil by allowing the plant to process a greater number of chemicals then it could on it’s own. Using plants to remove pollutants from the environment is called phytoremediation. If contaminants are moving through an ecosystem, plants can be used to collect the contaminant and lock it into stable plant tissue. When ground water is polluted the plant roots can absorb the contaminant along with the water holding the waste in the plant tissues while releasing the cleaned water back into the atmosphere. Plants also absorb chemicals out of the air that accumulate with dust on their leaves. These particulates can be safely processed by the plant and locked up in the plants tissues. When hazardous chemicals are collected in the leaves or woody tissue of the plant these need to be collected and disposed of properly. Allowing contaminated plant material to return to the site will just reintroduce the hazard to the soil through decomposition. While phytoremediation is of interest to businesses on a large scale it can also be used by the homeowner. Places in our home garden are vulnerable to pollution. Garden beds along the street can be used to clean up water runoff polluted with gas leaks. Lead and other heavy metals might gather on the leaves of plants near the street and need to be sponged out of the air. Raingardens may also collect contaminated street runoff as well as fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides applied to neighboring properties. Anywhere stormwater gathers on a property is an excellent place to collect potential hazards out of the soil. Backyard soil could also be contaminated with a wide variety of pollutants from previous occupants and land uses. Knowing the history of a site could guide the choice of certain plants to collect likely contaminants. There are several common native garden plants that also have special powers to clean up pollution. If a site is contaminated with pesticides or the neighbors use pesticides, plant a grass buffer of big blue stem, switchgrass, Indian grass, and eastern gamagrass. Trees like black willow, river birch, cottonwood, and red mulberry can also lock up pesticides. Along the street use plants that absorb gasoline leaks like big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, Indian grass, blue grama, sideoats grama, bottlebrush grass, Canada wild rye, soft rush, tussock sedge, arrowhead, annual sunflower, and wild senna. Lead is also a common pollutant from cars that can be concentrated in switchgrass, sideoats grama, and fox sedge. If the garden is in the city, air pollution may be a concern. Trees like pine, holly, tulip poplar, tupelo, black cherry, ninebark, rusty blackhaw, and black locust can collect pollutants out of the air with their leaves. Although not a direct benefit to the gardener, plants can be used for carbon sequestration. Carbon is absorbed out of the atmosphere by all plants but locking it up in the tissues of long lived trees like bald cypress, white ash, tupelo, tulip poplar, pine, and oak is especially useful. Trees are not the only way to store carbon out of the atmosphere, the soil in wetlands and grasslands is an incredible carbon sink. Allowing these ecosystems to be undisturbed with long term protection keeps carbon unavailable and reduces greenhouse gasses. Phytoremediation is just one more way that native plant gardeners are going to save the earth. For further info look into Phytoremediation with Native Plants by Eric Fuselier.

A lot of times when I look at my garden I just see more work that needs to be done. There are always more weeds, plants to be pruned, seeds to be collected. It is an endless project of tinkering. Unlike most pieces of art that have a period for creation and then it is complete, the landscape is an artwork that is never finished. While I’m adding a little red over here with a fire pink, the white of mountain mint is taking over the background. Sometimes a tree falls and I have a new stump to decorate but also a patch of sun causing the shade plants to scorch. Button bushes grow sideways so the path needs to move. Then everything looks great until the cone flowers get a virus. Whenever I think I have a vision of my final artwork I soon realize that I’m wrong because these are living ecosystems. Ecosystems change constantly and this should be celebrated as a sign of success. Perhaps it is an artwork of three artists, the gardener, nature, and time, a collaborative project. Don’t be ashamed of this unfinished masterpiece or wait until it looks better to show it off. Let the peace of this sanctuary fill us with joy and excitement. Let us all ignore the never ending chores for a moment. There is no better time then this moment because the garden will never look like this again. It’s interesting looking into the eyes of visitors who are new to my garden as they round the corner of my house. I see emotions of feeling overwhelmed, in awe, afraid, amazed, envious, and inspired. My garden is a lot to take in at once. It is my space to play and experiment so I have a variety of bed types with a multitude of species mixed together. Trees and shrubs dot the yard as well as logs, rocks, benches, etc. There is a lot going on with many layers of detail to focus on. It is not a zen garden or even a particularly well designed landscape. It is everything all together in the small space I have available. This may not be a traditional style of gardening but it is exciting. I hope that my visitors can survive the initial shock and relax enough to enjoy the experience.

I regret neglecting my blog for so long but I hope I will be forgiven. I have been devoting my writing time to writing a book that is finally ready to go out into the world. I will be picking it up from the printer tomorrow. I wrote it as a monthly planner with a list of garden tasks that the native plant gardener may need to be reminded to do. I have also included several essays based on many previous blog posts. Thanks for all of your continued feedback on gardening questions and topics to write about. You can find more info about the book in the book tab of my website. https://besaschweitzer.wixsite.com/growswild/book I hope to resume blogging again soon. Or maybe I will write another book, who knows.

There is no need to hurry to remove every dead tree. If the tree is not in danger of falling on someone or something it can be a benefit to leave standing. If the tree is a hazard, consider hiring an arborist to only remove the dangerous branches. Trees dying from disease may need to be removed entirely to prevent the disease from infecting nearby trees. A standing dead tree provides habitat for many birds, insects, fungi, and mammals that specialize on decaying wood. A dead tree has many nutrients locked inside its tissues that can be returned to enrich the garden soil if it is allowed to remain and naturally decay. Try to find the stoic beauty in the tree as it once again returns to the earth. If a tree needs to be removed, winter is a good time to do it. When the ground is frozen and the plants are dormant there will be less damage to the garden. There is value in leaving dead trees standing: attracts woodpeckers wood nesting bees habitat for beetles perch for birds of prey mushrooms easy views of wildlife slowly returning nutrients to soil home for cavity nesting birds absorb and slowly release rain water beauty

Native plant landscapes often get advertised as low maintenance or even sometimes, maintenance free. This is not the case! Native plants do require less water and less fertilizer but still need all the rest of the care that traditional gardens require. The native plant garden also tends to appeal to gardeners who want less lawn, less chemicals, and more diversity which all require more maintenance then traditional landscaping. Common garden center plants have been selected to be lower maintenance, wild natives have not. A wild plant has evolved to fill it’s ecological role and that is not the same as being a well behaved garden plant. To keep the native plant garden lower maintenance start with a weed free garden bed, most common garden weeds are not native plants. Keep soil covered with living plant layers and dense root systems, competition will shoulder weeds out and not let new seedlings establish. Place plants in the conditions that are right for them, pay attention to soil moisture, texture, and sunlight, don’t force a plant to grow where it doesn’t want to. Select plants that will serve multiple functions in the garden beyond beauty, like erosion control, wildlife value, sweet smells, and movement in the wind. Keep your plant pallet simple while you learn your plants, big masses of plants are easier to care for as they fill in a space. Diligent maintenance early on will pay off in the long run while the native plants establish. Establish a new garden in phases, each year expanding a little more. Since native gardens require the most work in the first years, start off small. Another benefit to starting small is that once plants get established they can be divided to be planted in larger beds, saving costs. Native gardening is a learning experience. There will be many lessons learned early that can be applied to more successful gardening in coming years. Gardens will change over time, as trees grow and the canopy layer fills in, and as soil improves from all the organic content the plants add. Plants will migrate on their own over time or will need to be moved to areas where they are adapted and can be healthy. To be a native gardener is to work with nature in a never ending ecological project.

Plant combo; fragrant sumac beak grain garden phlox There is an ugly stream bank behind my garden. It is choked with honeysuckle, rose of Sharon, winter creeper, Japanese hops, poison ivy, and trash. This stream side is a highway for wildlife around the neighborhood. I have seen woodchucks, raccoon, skunks, and opossum use it and signs of their tracks and burrows. The invasive species, trash, and poison ivy must be removed but what to put in their place? A stream bank is a fragile place where soil must be protected so that it doesn’t erode. Chemicals and compost piles should be kept away from the water to keep pollutants out of the water and from harming any wildlife using the stream. I slowly removed the weeds being careful not to disturb too much soil in any area before replanting. In the holes where the honeysuckle came out I put in fragrant sumac. Fragrant sumac is a short bushy shrub that has winter berries for the birds and a beautiful red fall color. On the bare ground where the winter creeper was removed I threw out seeds of beak grain grass. Beak grain is an aggressive but graceful grass that requires part shade. In the summer beak grain is a vibrant green and sways delicately in the breeze. To finish off the restoration I also planted a few plugs of garden phlox. Garden phlox also likes part shade and can colonize a large area. The fragrant spring blooms attract many pollinators and make it very enjoyable to walk along the creek. These three aggressive, colonizing plants compliment each other well, providing interest throughout the seasons, and will completely fill in a shady creek bank. The shady creek bank at the end of my garden has been transformed from an eye sore to a haven for wildlife and a very pleasant place to be. I must keep up constant monitoring for baby invasives moving in from bird droppings or washing in from the water flow. I always bring a bag to pick up the trash that has floated in from the street storm sewer or the neighbors over flowing cans. Like all urban plantings, my work is never done. It brings me peace to look at this small piece of land and know that I am doing my best to make it a better place.

I want to attract owls to my garden. I think owls are so cool with their puffy bodies, round feather faces, and mysterious nocturnal habits. Sometimes visiting friends gardens I have seen owls. Usually half asleep in a tall tree peering down at me, judging me. I want that in my garden. I want to know that an owl has judged me and found that the garden I have provided is good enough. To pass this test I’m going to need habitat, places to perch, hunt, nest, and feel safe. Owls like big trees to perch in and surveil their territory. I have a few old sugar maple trees behind my house. I have planted a Kentucky coffee tree, red maple, and bur oak to take their place as the sugar maples grow old. Since large trees take so long to grow it is important I keep a constant flock of new trees growing up to replace the older ones. Older dying trees are also great places for owls to perch and nest in. A silver maple over my rain garden is almost dead and since it is not a danger to fall on anything important I will let it naturally decay. Right now it is home to woodpeckers and squirrels and many wood nesting insects, maybe an owl will move in some day. I haven’t put up any nest boxes for owls yet but that would be a good thing to work on soon. Great nest box plans are offered here https://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/your-visit/nest-box-plans/ Owls hunt small mammals and birds. It is sad when a predatory bird kills one of my song birds but that is nature. When I see all the birds scatter off the feeder I know to look around for a predator and usually find a hawk nearby. To attract plenty of prey animals for owls to eat I provide food, water, and shelter for wildlife. The native plants provide seeds and insect habitat. I have a little pond with a bubbler that attracts birds during the day and mammals at night. Mammals and birds find shelter in my garden in the shrubs, brush piles, and dense vegetation of the garden. A healthy wildlife population needs to have some predators to keep the smaller animals in balance. My little patch of yard is not big enough alone for an owl to live on. I need to get my neighbors involved too. There are very few large trees in my neighborhood but many of my neighbors are willing to plant a tree once given information about the benefits. I also need to educate my neighbors about ways to protect owls. Don’t put out rodent poison. If a poisoned mouse is eaten by an owl the owl is also poisoned. Watch out for owls when driving at night, they swoop low over roads when hunting and don’t know to look both ways. To find out more about owls and see some in the urban wild check out http://forestparkowls.blogspot.com/

How do you know it is spring? Is it the smell of the witch hazel in the air, the sound of spring peepers, snow geese flying overhead in February. Or do we wait for march to see the catkins form on the maples, spring beauties popping out of the ground, rain hitting already formed puddles. Spring Garden Chores Cut down stems and seed heads when new growth begins. Plant and divide perennials and grasses March through May. Replace mulch which has been washed out with spring rains. Prune winter-damaged branches on shrubs or trees that have not begun to grow by May. Water new transplants and newly planted shrubs and trees unless rainfall is abundant. Weed out spring annuals. The best time to divide ferns and other early spring plants is on the day they first pop above the surface. Dig up clumps of plants and gently tease them apart. Some small pieces will break off but most will still regrow into hardy plants. Grass and sedge clumps can also be dug out and hacked apart. Get a sharp saw and cut the clump into quarters. Watch out for rocks in the soil that will ruin a good saw. Ground covers like ginger can have shovelfuls removed from throughout the area. Carefully pull apart the mass and replace a single plant back in the center of the disturbed area to fill in the hole. While teasing plants apart be careful to keep the roots covered with moist soil on the plants waiting to be dealt with so they don’t dry out. Replant plants as soon as possible for best results. Water the donating area thoroughly as well as the newly planted areas. Beautyberry bushes are very late to leaf out and usually have a few dead stems. Wait to see small leaves appear before pruning out the dead wood or you may accidentally cut away too many of the live branches. When pruning woody plants be sure to never damage the healthy bark. Follow these guidelines when pruning to make sure that the tree stays healthy. https://www.treesaregood.org/treeowner/pruningyourtrees Many seedlings are popping up all over the garden in spring and it can be difficult to tell if the plant is a weed or not. The Missouri Department of Conservation sells a prairie seedling ID guide with great photos. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/mopmcpu6313.pdf When seeding an area be sure to keep good records so that you don’t accidentally weed out all the desirable seedlings. Seeds tend to flow down hill so seedlings of plants like cardinal flower are often found down slope from the parent where the rainwater deposited them. Keeping the soil covered with a dense layer of vegetation or much will limit seedling growth. I always try to weed out all the spring annual weeds before they can go to seed but never succeed. Bird seed under feeders can also be a source of pesky weeds. It is tricky to determine when is the optimal time to clear away last years dead plant stems to make way for new growth. The insects overwintering in the stems need a few warm days to emerge. One method I use for clearing out the spring debris is to simply walk through the garden on a dry day waving a rake from side to side about a foot off the ground, knocking down stems. I leave the toppled stems in place to decompose on their own. New growth quickly covers over the debris. Plants that bloom in late summer and fall can be cut back to keep them from falling over or getting leggy. Good dates to remember to cut back plants is on memorial day and the forth of July. If buds or blooms have appeared by then it is too late to cut back the plant without compromising the bloom. Trim the plants low promotes a more bushy growth. Another way to keep taller plants from falling over is to surround them with shorter grasses to give them support, this also hides their naked legs. Spring usually brings lots of rain. Have rain barrels clean and ready to collect as much rain as possible for watering later. After each rain event I always patrol all storm ditches, gutters, and rain gardens to clean out debris and keep extra water heading in the right direction instead of washing out my paths. When soil is saturated try to stay off of it to avoid compaction. If saturated soil must me walked on put down boards to step on to help distribute the weight and protect the soil structure, this also makes me less muddy.