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Habitat gardening

1/20/2020

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On Wednesday, Jan. 22, we will have a meeting on creating wildlife habitat in our yards.  I am sharing these resources in advance of the meeting.  Take a look and the meeting will be even more useful to you.

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©NWF


​The four must-haves of habitat: https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife
The National Wildlife Federation is the national organization that brought habitat gardening to the mainstream.  The website is stuffed with accessible, easily digestible basics. Though not specific to California, the general principles transcend regional differences.
Why native plants for habitat: https://www.pnas.org/content/115/45/11549
This is the original 2018 research showing that “properties landscaped with [more than 30%] nonnative plants function as population sinks for insectivorous birds.” ​
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©Narango et al
A bounty of pix, how-to’s and plants: https://www.laspilitas.com/garden/wildlife.htm
Yummy information and photos, and links to things like building a birdbath, and which creatures benefit from which native plants.
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©The Gottlieb Native Garden
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©Las Pilitas
Focus on California: https://www.cnps.org/gardening/habitat-value-gardens-5261
https://www.cnps.org/gardening/native-design-basics/habitat-gardening
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) has literally hundreds of pages of beautiful, educational articles and pictures of native gardens that provide wildlife habitat.  Click around in this website!
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​The master, Doug Tallamy: https://youtu.be/3wzcz8dWyBc
An hour-long presentation by the nation’s leading expert on the importance of providing habitat in our yards.

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Gorgeous California how-to video: https://youtu.be/omyFNYqd3MI
A southern California habitat garden as backdrop for advice on creating it in our own yards.
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©Pete di Girolamo
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What Carolyn did

12/9/2019

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On November 13 this is what we did at our Streetside Demo meeting at Carolyn's house:
We placed nearly a hundred flags in the ground for small sage (Celestial Blue), large sage (Allen Chickering), small grass (Purple Needlegrass), and large grass (Deer Grass).
Carolyn, left to her own devices, and incorporating the areas to the right and the left of the main planting area, did this:
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Address area planted out with twelve natives and a Native Plants Live Here sign. Notice how even this small, immature planting helps give focus and presence to the majestic oak.
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Small sage planted in front of electric box.
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Per one group's suggestion, there is a large sage all the way to the right.
I love how Carolyn has stretched her planting to the corners by creating individual "islands" for the plants.  Perhaps she will end up connecting them as the plants mature, creating a continuous border.  Come spring, as the weeds come up between the islands, she will have a lovely front area punctuated by, and celebrating, our California native plants.  Fabulous job, Carolyn.
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the art of planting in the rain

12/3/2019

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Last week my husband planted 49 plants in the rain.  Many were delicate little things -- a single leaf, a cloud of tiny transparent leaves clinging to a drooping stem.  Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita sends these healthy, humble babies to serious native plant gardeners, who trust that care and rain will rehome a native plant, and set it to thriving.

PictureLas Pilitas ships 1 gal plants in plastic bags
The Plants
​4 Lepechinia calycina, “Pitcher Sage”
5 Peritoma arborea, “Bladderpod”
18 Muhlenbergia rigens, “Deergrass”
3 Salvia ‘Celestial Blue’, “Celestial Blue Sage”
9 Baccharis pilularis consanguinea,“Coyote Brush”
2 Salvia clevelandii, “Cleveland Sage”
2 Penstemon centranthifolius, “Scarlet Bugler”
5 Penstemon spectabilis, “Showy Penstemon”



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    A CA native plant gardener for 20 years, Leslie has been caring for her habitat garden in Yosemite Lakes Parks, Coarsegold, CA,  since 2013.

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  • Home
  • Resources
    • Fall 2021 Plant List
    • 10/28/21 Zoom
    • "YLP Through the Seasons"
    • Meeting RSVP
  • 5 for YLP
    • Deergrass Gallery
    • Sage Gallery
    • Sagebrush
    • Coyote Brush
    • Toyon
  • Sign Up
  • Donate
  • Blog