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October, 2015
Author: Heidi Pruess

Backyard Habitats
 
We finally did it!  Our backyard has now joined the more than 900 certified wildlife habitats in Charlotte.  You can have a certified wildlife habitat for a yard too!
 
Our path to certification began 9 years ago when we moved to Charlotte.  The home we selected is uphill from an unnamed tributary, in the Mallard Creek watershed.  This nearby tributary does provide wildlife habitat however watching butterflies or listening to birds is better in your own backyard.  We didn’t know it at the time but our new home was about to become a wildlife habitat.  Certified Wildlife Habitats are described by the National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) as gardens that:

1. Provide Food for Wildlife,
2. Supply Water for Wildlife,
3. Create Cover for Wildlife,
4. Give Wildlife a Place to Raise Their Young, and
5. Help Wildlife Thrive with Healthy Habitat through Sustainable Practices.

 
We moved in and the work began.  The first task at our new home was to work on the landscaping.  An existing natural area was part of our backyard but the remainder of our outdoor property had dying grass and struggling shrubbery resulting from years of neglect.   We began by replacing the dying grass with a drought tolerant Zoyzia grass, allowing us to minimize watering and chemical use that is required of other grasses.   Our yard had extremely steep slopes, actively eroding away, so we moved soil, erected a small retaining wall and series of stone planter boxes, and added a rock garden /mulched area.

"Then"  2006 yard

"Now" 2015 Yard

​Adding mulch around the shrubs and creating new mulch gardens, taking the place of some grass, has not only decreased the amount of watering we must do but has added to the cover and protection for many beneficial insects and our colorful amphibian lizard and frog friends.  (✓ for Sustainable Practices)
 
Before planting native shrubs and plants we needed to remove many invasive species.  Removing the invasive Bradford Pear trees from our lawn was a challenge as the roots sent up shoots (a.k.a., suckers) for years after the trees were gone.    We also removed Chinese Privet, Japanese Honeysuckle, Wisteria, and Porcelainberry from our natural area and continue to fight these invasive plants, although each year the battle is easier.   The annual tree seedling sale hosted by the Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District, provided the native dogwood, spicebush, short-leaf pine, and button bushes (the butterflies really love these) now populating our yard habitat.  We did leave some of our dead or dying trees in the natural area to provide cover and food for our wildlife friends.  (✓ Food and Cover)

The results of our small effort to create a wildlife habitat are amazing!  I wish I could share photographs of all our wildlife friends but some are just too fast to capture!  Needless to say, we have a serenade of sounds each evening as we sit on our backyard deck and enjoy our wildlife habitat.

Completing the on-line Certified Wildlife Habitat application was easy.  Join the Community Wildlife Habitat in Charlotte by certifying your yard today, just clicking on the link above or go to www.nwf.org !  You can learn more about wildlife habitats and CROWN (Charlotte Chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation) by attending the free community programs, listed here.

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A ruby - throated hummingbird darts about sipping nectar from the coral honeysuckle that climbs a tree in Janice Beck’s backyard. Meanwhile a female bluebird clucks softly from a branch near her next box.

Having lived in Charlotte’s Sherwood Forest neighborhood for nearly 50 years, Mrs. Beck has enjoyed watching her wildlife habitat evolve from a mixture of native hardwoods, wildflowers and other family heirloom plants. A yellow rose winds around a front-yard tree and a half-dozen iris shoot skyward. “A lot of these plants came from my mother and aunts,” she says.

“It’s been an enjoyable project that has continued through the years,” she adds, “I think providing cover for wildlife has been the most important thing.”

Mrs. Beck bubbles as she tells about a time that a large magnolia in her back yard coughed up a family of barred owls. “The mother pushed the babies out, and they were hopping around in the grass, looking like little old ladies with woolly caps and jumping up in the bird bath,” she continues.

Back in 1988, Mrs. Beck sent away for an application to certify her backyard as an official wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation, but it was her son, Rick, who completed the paperwork for what is now a simple on-line process.

Beck explains that her late son found a welcome respite documenting the nature in the urban yard as he recovered from massive radiation he received to treat Hodgkin’s disease. “He would sit on the patio in the shade of a dogwood counting the birds that visited,” she tells.

Dogwoods bloom and hover over azaleas, perennials, and ferns in a large section of natural area in her front yard. The backyard hosts a large patio and small lawn area flanked by a quarter-acre of mixed oak, maple, and hickory, with a few sweetgum trees.

This past winter she enjoyed seeing eight deer that appeared just before a snow and ice storm. “I put out a bag of corn for them,” she says, adding that the deer have also come to nibble on her roses, but she doesn’t seem to mind sharing.

Besides regular seed feeders, Beck puts out mealworms for the bluebirds who visit her deck above the backyard. Misters on two bird baths provide additional spots to cool-off , and the moisture has also fostered a lush moss-filled lawn in front and a vibrant violet lawn in back.

Beck says that she once tried to till and replant the back lawn with turf grass, but it just didn’t flourish. “I learned to let it be what it’s going to be,” she says of her wildlife gardening. “You have to leave some of the weeds and junk for the animals. It can’t be ALL pretty- pretty.”

Still, Beck’s yard is gorgeous with spring blooms and provides a peaceful oasis in an urban neighborhood for humans and wildlife alike.

“This is my Church of One,” she explains. “Sometimes if I don’t feel like going to church, I can come out on my deck and just watch nature. What could be better than enjoying God’s handiwork?”

To date, Beck’s long-time backyard habitat is joined by more than 900 others in Charlotte, certified by the National Wildlife Federation, and qualifying the city to be recognized as a “Community Wildlife Habitat”.

Hidden down a gravel drive off Alexander Road in south Charlotte are several acres of privately-owned wildlife habitat, many of which have been protected and cultivated for more than 35 years.

Former landscape designer Diana Travis along with her partner, MaryAnn Mueller oversee a 5 ½ acre woodland getaway they call “Big Cedars”, plus another 2 acres where their house sits. Certified with the National Wildlife Federation as official wildlife habitat back in 1990, the land, along with several neighbors’ lots, totals almost 23 wildlife-friendly acres, smack-dab in the middle of an otherwise urban/suburban landscape.

One of the first NWF certified habitats in Charlotte, this wildlife haven is now joined by more than 900 others leading to Charlotte’s recent recognition as a “Community Wildlife Habitat”, the largest city to obtain such certification east of the Mississippi River.

Blooming native dogwoods and redbuds light up Diana’s area in early April. These, combined with some unusual white pines (normally a mountain species), Arizona cypress, and huge Osmanthus bushes provide much cover for local songbirds.

“I’m a firm believer in planting native plants,” Diana emphasizes, “but some nice non-native species still provide good cover for wildlife.”

“I will never plant a kousa dogwood,” she counters. “Our native dogwoods can feed some 80 species of birds, while the other kind is only good for feeding yellow jackets.”

On one recent afternoon, a mallard duck waddles up to nibble on corn she put out beneath a sweetgum tree. Here, a good hundred feet out from her house, she stocks a squirrel feeder and scatters chopped apples for the deer. “One evening we saw five bucks standing out here,” she says, noting that the feeding station also keeps the squirrels away from the bird feeders she placed closer to the house.

A brown-headed nuthatch flies in and out of a bird-house oddly placed ON the house near the front door. Apparently the cute, little brown bird (a cavity-nester that also depends on pine tree habitat) had chipped a hole in the siding to nest there last year. Diana found a bird-house specifically designed for that species at Renfro Hardware in Matthews. She simply mounted the box over last year’s hole, and the birds came back to use it.

Several other sizes and styles of bird houses flank a large fenced vegetable/flower/herb garden near the house. Diana reports that they usually have at least 3 or 4 occupied with nests each season. One of her favorite “bird” places, however, is an overgrown grape vine that forms a huge brown tangle in early spring. Unkempt and untrimmed, the natural maze provides a popular wildlife hiding place.

A native yaupon holly at the back of the house also provides special bird entertainment. With its plentiful red berries, the tree is likely to host two to three dozen cedar waxwings in the winter months.

A winding creek runs through Diana’s back acreage where she sometimes camps out in her very own storage-shed-turned-wilderness-cabin with an added screened in porch. “We’ve seen fox, deer, opossum, owls, raccoons, and field mice,” she lists. Scattered persimmon trees add to the wildlife appeal along with the red cedars.

“Cedars provide a lot of berries in winter,” Diana explains, adding that birds also like to strip the flakey bark to add to their nests.

Lucky to have wildlife-loving neighbors, Diana and MaryAnn appreciate one adjacent property with a large pond and another where a lazy horse hangs out calmly in a green pasture. The total of 23 neighborhood acres joins several other acres of non-developed land behind the Oxford Hunt subdivision.

“Providing corridors for wildlife is important too, because wildlife needs to be able to move from place to place,” Diana explains. “If a fox has a litter of pups, they need a territory to grow in. They can’t all just stay on one small lot.

She insists that providing wildlife with food, water, cover, and places to raise young benefits her own peace of mind.    “It’s nice to be able to get out apart from all the traffic, the buildings, and loud music,” she says. “It’s such a wonderful experience to sit and see something wild that’s not bound by our boundaries, that’s not part of our world.”

Twenty-eight years ago Wan Marsh made lists of her backyard plants to complete a simple form.  She and husband Edwin had shrubs to provide cover for birds and tasty berries for food. They set out bird baths for water, and whimsical houses for nesting spots. In 1987, when they certified their backyard in the Madison Park neighborhood of Charlotte as an official wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation, they did not know they were beginning a local movement.

Today their 1/3 acre urban wildlife magnet is only one among more than 900 such certifications in Charlotte, helping to qualify the entire city as a Community Wildlife Habitat.

During a recent visit to the Marsh home, the couple made it clear that gardening for wildlife has been   part of their way of life for nearly three decades. Even with an in-ground pool and separate art studio for Wan, their small backyard still teems with plant life and all the avian visitors that go with it. A wide variety of shrubs, perennials, and herbs hide the back fence and scatter color in every nook and cranny of the yard. A towhee calls from the treetops and a brown thrasher flits beneath a bird bath.

“Start with water,” Wan advises any would-be wildlife gardeners. “It will attract more than you can imagine.” Not a fan of bird feeders, she has had great success letting her wild cherry tree flourish to feed wildlife, as well as a towering red cedar, and the many annual and perennial flowers that go to seed in late summer and fall.

“They also come to eat all the little insects in the bushes,” Edwin points out as he waves an arm across an entire back border of shrubbery. A large Oak Leaf Hydrangea peeks out between a variety of native and ornamental plants. Arborvitae and juniper provide cover for songbirds as well as “grandmother’s spiraea”. A palmetto waves in the breeze beneath one of several rustic birdhouses.

Among the Marsh’s favorites is a bird house shaped like their own Air Stream trailer. Apparently the local chickadees favor it too, by nesting there each spring. By early April there are already characteristic moss samples in the bottom of the hanging “trailer”.

The couple has enjoyed hearing and seeing tree frogs, chipmunks, rabbit, anoles, raccoon and hawks in their habitat, and they’re often entertained by bats swirling above the swimming pool at dusk. Wan suspects the local pair of barred owls are actually nesting in a hole in their front yard willow oak.

Several planters filled with herbs also decorate the area. “I always plant three times what I need of parsley,” Wan explains. “That way there’s some for me, and the rest for the caterpillars.” She also attracts butterflies with Joe Pye Weed, rhudbeckia, coneflower and coreopsis.

Even though she was a Master Gardener for 10 years, Wan emphasizes the fun of experimenting with plants. “It’s trial and error: you learn by doing,” she says. “Everything is not going to work, but you find out what does work. Just do it. That’s my advice.

“You would never know we are five miles from downtown Charlotte,” she exclaims. “We’ve made this a very secluded area.” And it’s one that she and Edwin seem to enjoy sharing with many wild creatures that others may never even see.

It's time to take the tree bands off of your trees now! The City of Charlotte is advising that the tree bands put up last Fall to protect the willow oaks from the dreaded cankerworm should be taken off early. 

The reason, according the Charlotte Observer, is beetle-related. The fiery searcher beetle, which can eat hundreds of caterpillars a day, can help reduce the caterpillar population this Spring even more. By taking the sticky bands off the trees now, this beetle can avoid getting caught up in the bands and instead can feast on Charlotte's willow tree nemesis. 

Winter weather is harsh, not just for us humans, but also for the birds. In their quest for food in natural areas, a tasty morsel of suet is a treasured find at a bird-feeder station. They are looking for that extra boost of energy, and suet provides just that.

What is Suet? Suet is packaged in cakes, and made out of animal fat that has been filled with birdseed, nuts, and sometimes, dried berries and even dried insects. Different companies offer different recipes which can be purchased at bird and garden stores around Charlotte. Or you can make your own suet. Fair warning, it can get a little messy.

Why Suet? Why Now? Suet a good choice, especially in winter, to offer your backyard birds? The main ingredient in suet, fat, is an important part of the birds diet – year-round. It provides the bird with a high-energy food source. Suet is a bit easier to handle in the winter, and won’t melt if left out for longer periods. You can also notice in your landscape, the limited offerings of food naturally available to birds (and other wildlife) during winter. It is important to the health of your birds to offer a variety of food for a well-balanced diet.

See First Hand how Suet Attracts Birds: I’ve noticed a plethora of birds visiting my suet feeder, regardless of season. Most of the time, woodpeckers dominate the suet, staking out their claim on the feeder and swallowing down the morsels, but finches, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses, Northern Cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown-headed Nuthatches, Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Pine Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and occasionally Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Chipping Sparrows, take turns.

Watching the interaction of the birds on the suet is also enjoyable. One season, I watched, amused, as a Brown Thrasher sat patiently under the suet and wait for another bird to furiously peck at the suet cake. The thrasher would proceed to eat the crumbs that dropped from above.

Suet brings a wider variety of birds to your feeders. I highly recommend making an addition to your yard, if you haven’t got one already. If you do, add another. You can sit inside by your window, have a cup of coffee and enjoy the warmth of your home. The birds will thank you for it!

How much thought do you give to your back yard? No matter how you answer this question, whatever you do, or don’t do back there, affects more than just you and your family. Even if you don’t have much interest in it, your landscape plays a big role in the cycle of life in the natural world. 

DID YOU KNOW??? No matter where you live, your back yard, patio or balcony has an effect – positive or negative – on area wildlife and ecosystems beyond your property lines.

Although human expansion and development have challenged wildlife, you and I have the capability to restore a portion of their habitat which has been lost. As the saying goes, “if you build it, they will come.” 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Wildlife requires food, water, cover and a place to raise young. By simply adding a variety of native plants to your property, supplying a water source and a bird house or two, you will see a dramatic response from nature. 

Once established, native plants require less water than non-native plants. That alone makes them quite valuable in today’s landscapes, and who doesn't enjoy a peaceful, low maintenance setting with a variety of songbirds and butterflies? Biodiversity supports all life including our own. We don't yet fully understand how closely our own lives depend on healthy ecosystems.

DID YOU KNOW??? that Mecklenburg along with surrounding counties can lose an average of 41 acres a day to development during normal economic growth? Where does the wildlife go that once thrived there? You and I are stewards of this earth and it is our responsibility to take care of the environment – which includes the soil, water, plants and wildlife – beginning in our own back yards. 

CHILDREN: Also, our children need the connection to the natural world for healthy development which cannot be obtained through electronics. Children do better in school when their activities include outdoor play. Kids exposed to nature have a better understanding of math, science and reasoning skills.

GOING FORWARD THIS WINTER: As our gardens are tucked in for the winter, now is the perfect time to plan out your spring gardening projects to include native trees, shrubs and perennials. Consider plants that don’t need help from pesticides. Insects on your plants actually help the surrounding ecosystem food chain. Try a more natural landscape setting that, once established, takes care of itself. Consider giving back to wildlife and sharing the results with your children or grandchildren. Back yard wildlife habitats are good for your local ecosystem and for the human soul. Be part of the solution and contribute what you can through environmental stewardship. Your daily choices at home, work, and play contribute to the global future of generations to come. 

TO LEARN MORE: visit http://www.crown-clt.weebly.com and check out our “Resources” tab for free literature on Wildlife Habitats, native plants, and nature friendly landscaping practices.

Ernie McLaney

The team began by visiting the school and performing an assessment of the campus. It was exciting to see how much Oaklawn and its supporters have already done to beautify and enhance the grounds with gardens, fruit tree and shrub plantings, and structural development.

The Habitat Stewards identified several areas that would be well suited for natural wildlife habitats. Each habitat area could work well as a stand-alone project, which would allow the school to implement the changes in phases. Ideas generated by the Habitat Steward team:

• Create a bird-friendly habitat alongside a glass-enclosed walkway to provide wildlife interest as children change classes
• Consider a native plant flower garden in an enclosure near picnic tables to attract butterflies
• Plant existing trellises with native plants and vines that attract hummingbirds

These preliminary ideas were discussions with representatives from the PTA. They indicated that a they would like to focus on attracting hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. 

Given an initial direction, several members of the team will attend Oaklawn's next PTA meeting to listen to their thoughts and share ideas.


We will keep you posted on this project's progress!


This group from CROWN is working to develop a partnership with Oaklawn Elementary in order to help them tailor these projects to meet their needs so they can achieve certification as a "Certified Schoolyard Habitat Site". 

To learn more about the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitat certification program, click here.



 

We are kicking off CROWN’s newsletter! We expect quite a long history of working with the Queen City, and these newsletters will add to our connection with the City and we hope will continue as long as there are nature lovers out there to read and enjoy them. A special “Thank You” to Liz Horgan and her team for pulling this new venture together.

So, what is the “Nature” of Charlotte? How do we measure our City’s level of “wildlife friendliness”? We are quite proud to say that we have over 800 Charlotte landscapes that have been certified as wildlife habitats by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). 

But is that enough? Is Charlotte a region where multitudes of wildlife species feel comfortable living and raising families? Will we get to that point where native plants outnumber non-natives in our landscapes? Can you and I nurture an epiphany within our neighbor, and their neighbor, where they come to realize that we ourselves are part of nature, not separate from nature? Can we share the realization that what we do or don’t do in our landscapes has a profound and lasting effect on the quality of local ecosystems?

CROWN’s mission is “To educate and engage the citizens of the greater Charlotte region about the benefits of creating wildlife friendly communities.” As we begin our second year of operating under this mission, we hope to collaborate with homeowners, families, school teachers, business owners, and city officials to encourage a renewed connection to nature. 

Many older folks can remember that connection during our childhood, but will today’s children have that same critical piece o human development? CROWN has many NWF trained Habitat Stewards, Central Carolina Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, and wildlife enthusiasts who are devoted to their passion and are willing to share their knowledge and experience with anyone who will take a moment to listen.

I invite you to check us out. Thoroughly digest this and future newsletters. Take a look at our website in more detail. Come to our monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month at Queens University. Talk to any of our dedicated Chapter Leaders. Get to know us and our mission. During this process, I also encourage you to ask yourself this question: 

“How can I help CROWN expand their mission, so that my children and their children may know the many joyful wonders of nature, here, in Charlotte, North Carolina?”