SHE HAS GOT TO GO

 

I have had it!   All she does is sit there and make a mess which I have to clean up daily – I want her gone NOW!  These were my parting words as I left for Master Gardener College in June. Thankfully, my husband didn't listen to me because she was still there when I returned with my new appreciation of her presence in my life.  You might think I'm talking about a teenager or an unwelcome guest, but I am talking about Maggie, my huge Magnolia.  Maggie found a home in our yard 28 years ago and obviously likes it here because she has grown so large she towers over my house.  I recently had an arborist out to check on another tree and he commented on Maggie, saying that she was a one acre tree – you need an acre to grow her – we don't even have a half acre of land.  I'm not saying that Maggie can stay here indefinitely, but while I have the yard, she can stay.

 

What changed my mind about Maggie?    I took a very interesting class at Master Gardener College, led by Suzie Leslie, called Gardening for Wildlife.  Since my yard is a Certified Wildlife Habitat I thought I had all the bases covered, BUT, how many native plants did I have for the birds and critters?  Native birds and critters want native berries and I realized I was negligent in that area.  This summer I have made a concerted effort by replacing some of the “imports” with native plants, shrubs and trees and I'm hoping to change even more as time goes on.  Wildlife loves hedgerows and I have begun planting those on each side of my property and hope, in time, they will be the highway that the birds and critters use to get around.  The class not only showed me where I could improve my yard, but it also showed me that I wasn't doing that badly either.  Over the years I have replaced the lawn with plants and shrubs and have very little lawn to maintain, I have lots of flowers for the butterflies and the pollinators and I do have logs scattered around my yard which provide a place for the birds to get the grubs and insects they need for their diets.

 

Suzie does not advocate having bird feeders - she wants us to plant natives which will produce berries the birds need for their diets.  While I agree that we all should plant  native berry producing plants, I still love to watch the birds using my feeders and will continue to do that.  She also recommended a very good book on the subject of sustaining wildlife with native plants and I found it to be very interesting and informative – Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy. 

 

Why did I decide to let Maggie stay?  Suzie suggested that before we cut down a tree we should sit for awhile and watch the wildlife using the tree.  So, one day Mic (my dog) and I sat on a bench and watched Maggie's love affair with chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, titmice, robins, and numerous other birds. I realized that she may be messy, but they loved her despite her faults, I just wish they could help me rake up her mess.