Many of us spend time and effort trying to keep wildlife out of our gardens. Others cultivate spaces as habitat for birds, bugs, reptiles and other nature friends.
Chatting with Linda Gribko about her gardening adventures and successes encouraging wildlife, I got distracted by a wood-thrush and other birds in the overgrown blackberry thicket behind my house.
Such neglect is not the proper way to garden for wildlife. Linda said she’s heard criticism from passersby, expressing opinions that her garden looks messy. But in fact, she mindfully curates each element to create safe spaces for wildlife.
Linda, who has a degree in wildlife management and a doctorate in forestry, explained four main components to consider and create to attract wildlife: Food, water, shelter for safe hiding and shelter for creating homes.
“You don’t have to do all of it, especially all at once,” Linda said. She began her gardening journey planting inexpensive forsythia bushes, which grew quickly into a dense thicket hangout for birds and other wildlife.
Observing that birds needed shelter from winter wind, Linda planted evergreens.
Knowing almost all birds need insects and caterpillars to feed their young, she planted an oak tree. “An oak tree supports over 500 kinds of insects,” Linda said.
“The natives are really important because the animals recognize those plants, because they evolved together,” Linda said. “The native plants are synchronized, because they want the animals and the birds to take the berries. So they produce their berries at the optimal time for migrating birds to come and eat them, and then fly away and poop somewhere else.”
If you opt to put out a bird feeder — a fun way to invite birds close enough to watch from house or porch — Linda said it’s important to provide shelter nearby, where birds can dart off from predators. Linda recommends loosely piling or weaving branches together — also providing habitat for over- wintering bees.
Water sources for wildlife don’t have to be fancy. Linda uses a metal dog bowl, adding a heater in winter to keep the water from freezing. In the summer, fill a shallow dish with marbles and water for bees; the marbles allow bees to land and drink without drowning.
Other tips Linda recommended are not to rake up leaves — they provide habitat for insects which birds feast on. In flower beds, packing plants in close together creates more wildlife habitat than mulch. Varying the heights of plants is also important — create interest on ground level, then add shrubs of different sizes and a variety of trees.
“The biggest thing to do to create wildlife habitat is to stop using things like lawn chemicals that kill every little thing,” Linda said.
Linda said she doesn’t mind attracting some rodents, like mice, because predators, like hawks, check their population. She likes opossums for their insect (especially tick) eating habit. She doesn’t try to attract deer, groundhogs or other animals that turn into pests.
To protect produce from wildlife, Linda has a six- to seven-foot tall circular fence surrounding her food garden.
While Linda enjoys a friendship she’s forged with a female hummingbird, who flies through the mist when Linda waters her garden, her wildlife garden has a greater purpose.
“I feel an obligation. It makes me feel guilty as a human being that we’ve destroyed so much,” she said.
“It’s kind of up to us,” Linda said, “if we want to have a functioning eco system, to make sure our yards are part of that eco system.”
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, exploring possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County.
