Essays
Moseying: Living La Vida Llanero
A garden gives wildlife a home
February 1, 2004
Many modern varieties of flowers are sterile, and only offer a brief passing interest to wildlife. It is surprising how many times a native plant (native to the American southwest and northern Mexico) or passalong plant gardener hears the comment -- "Your garden is so full of life!" Passalong plants are the plants that are handed from person to person, and many came with the earliest settlers -- bouncing bet, winter jasmine, lilac, Chinese Photinia, and many others
Insects and other wildlife that are attracted to a garden can be fascinating as well as beautiful. Watching the behavior of a male hummingbird swooping to impress a female, or watching two male butterflies do a circle battle, or any of the thousands of magical natural happenings is a major part of the enjoyment of gardening. A person connects with the natural world in a myriad of life-affirming ways. Watching wildlife in a garden is a delight.
One’s heart leaps in joyous admiration when watching a hummingbird pluck spider web for its nest, or when a skink slinks out of a rock wall crevice, or a box turtle wrestles a tomato hornworm off its host plant. There is a world of neighbors in the backyard, dozens of life forms living out intricate lives. A gardener participates in a world that is much greater than the constructs of man.
When native plant and passalong plant gardeners get together, the conversation is sometimes enlivened with reports of wildlife. Many such gardeners love butterflies, and have learned the names of many of the species common to our locality. Butterfly watching is a celebration of the wonders of the natural world. Walking into a swarm of orange Queen Butterflies around a bed of Blue Mist Eupatorium is like being caressed by fairies.
Rain brings baby toads to gardens. On evening strolls, tiny toads dance across garden paths, patrolling for tiny insects. The toads grow from a quarter inch to an inch long in a month as they tend the garden. Yes, tended the garden is correct. Often, critters in the garden are partners. Lizards and turtles lend a hand, although turtles extract rent in the form of a low-hanging berry or two, or ten. Birds tend the garden as well, removing dozens of caterpillars that nibble away and mar the foliage. So do wasps, mashing caterpillars to feed their young.
The benefit brought by wildlife to the garden outweighs the negatives. Sure, flies might make your arm twitch and a mosquito might sneak in for a blood meal, but bug repellent can defeat them. And if a roadrunner comes to harvest the lizard that patrolled the herbs, well, another lizard will come from the next yard to fill the void.
Instead of instantly bringing out the heavy artillery, such as a chemical spray, try techniques that will not damage creatures other than the targeted species. Work with the ecology of the yard. Watch carefully – who eats the species that is out of balance? Is there a place the pest seems to congregate, and can it be altered? Is there a way to attract it to the alleyway and away from the garden? Make the experience a time of learning, not a time to declare war. It is the harder way to garden, for sure, but it is a way that honors the natural world.
Native plant and passalong plant gardeners honor their regional ecosystems and our local culture by growing the most beautiful native plants of their bioregion and those imports that have stood the test of time. Plants are gateways to stories and a major part of culture. Think of the garden as a sandbox, and the plants, hardscaping, and ornamentation as the toys in the sandbox. Each of the “toys” will have stories associated with them. The “toys” stories transmit culture – in other words, stories of our experiences, our knowledge, and our traditions.
When a person meets another person of a different culture, conversations are easily started by talking about plants that are used for food, medicine, and materials in each person’s culture. Horticulture means more than the culture (or care) of plants – it also means the transmittal and interpretation of our own human culture. The stories of the garden add layers upon layers of meaning to our gardens.
We change the world by gardening. For example, it is amazing how much diversity has been brought to our local environment by oaks. Many species of birds that winter here spend most of their time in oaks, and only became regular visitors after the oaks had become established; such as the Carolina Wren and Carolina Chickadees that have been spotted for a number of winters near San Jacinto Junior High, or the Winter Wren and Bushtits spending this winter in Saddle Club. Brown Creepers, White-breasted Nuthatches, and Ruby and Golden-Crowned Kinglets all glean the tough leathery leaves for insect eggs and aphids hidden in the cracks of the bark. Winter-visiting woodpeckers will spend a month near one single grouping of oaks in a neighborhood.
If a person looks a bit more closely, then an incredible variety of tiny organisms can be found on oaks. Wasps, midges, mites, and bacteria cause strange growths (known as galls) on oaks. Several species of lichen and fungus live symbiotically on oaks, as well. Carpenter ants came here in oak firewood, and now live within some landscape oaks. We have only touched lightly on the diversity added to the local ecology by oaks. Keep your eyes open – who knows what will be found!
Gardening is a way to enrich your life. Learn the history of the passalong plants. Learn the names of the creatures, and learn of the interrelationships that tie the garden together. A gardener is active, both physically and mentally. A gardener builds a much richer world.
Yards that are merely a stretch of grass, a hedge along the house, and a shade tree or two are not gardens. Such a landscape is sterile, and hurts the human soul. Gardens provide many of the things that elevate the mundane to the sublime, such as a bouquet for the house that brings the beauty of the natural world close. Gardens extend the house to include outdoor rooms. Gardens make a house a home. Gardeners create joy for themselves a thousand times or more a year.