![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Today seems like a good day to talk about our gardening plans. As soon as we chose this house, I was envisioning our own little nature preserve. We've got a bit over an acre, with lots of water (river, creek, vernal pool) and parts of the lot are already wooded. Last year was largely taken up with moving and with the kidlet's life changes, so we didn't plant much. This winter I've done a lot of reading on gardening for nature, and we've made some decisions.
1) We won't plant any non-native species that are considered invasive (they take over the area, like kudzu, and change the ecosystem).
2) We'll eradicate non-native invasives already on the property. Sadly this includes my husband's beloved English ivy; we've already moved it to pots on the deck. It may also mean chopping out two big clumps of bushes-- we're waiting for them to leaf out so we can confirm that they're Japanese honeysuckle.
3) We'll strictly limit use of chemicals-- pecticides, herbicides, even fertilizers. Probably we will use no chemicals at all except herbicides to deal with those invasives.
4) We'll plant mostly native species, especially plants that provide food for native creatures. (I especially hope to encourage the frogs, turtles and snakes we already have on the property.) This is the fun part-- hunting up native grasses, berry bushes, flowers, etc. It's a challenge, though-- have to check anything I like against my New England Natives checklist.
We're not going overboard on this-- I have no intention of taking out my lilacs and crocuses, for example, even though they're non-native. But I'm hoping we can make a tiny little difference, and maybe attract a few more interesting birds and butterflies! Y'all will probably be hearing more about this-- I'll create a filter if it gets boring.
1) We won't plant any non-native species that are considered invasive (they take over the area, like kudzu, and change the ecosystem).
2) We'll eradicate non-native invasives already on the property. Sadly this includes my husband's beloved English ivy; we've already moved it to pots on the deck. It may also mean chopping out two big clumps of bushes-- we're waiting for them to leaf out so we can confirm that they're Japanese honeysuckle.
3) We'll strictly limit use of chemicals-- pecticides, herbicides, even fertilizers. Probably we will use no chemicals at all except herbicides to deal with those invasives.
4) We'll plant mostly native species, especially plants that provide food for native creatures. (I especially hope to encourage the frogs, turtles and snakes we already have on the property.) This is the fun part-- hunting up native grasses, berry bushes, flowers, etc. It's a challenge, though-- have to check anything I like against my New England Natives checklist.
We're not going overboard on this-- I have no intention of taking out my lilacs and crocuses, for example, even though they're non-native. But I'm hoping we can make a tiny little difference, and maybe attract a few more interesting birds and butterflies! Y'all will probably be hearing more about this-- I'll create a filter if it gets boring.
