critter friendly yards

[brooklyn1]

[Jean B.]

I agree with that. Some for more-immediate enjoyment, and some for the future.

And so I decided to plant

That's diplomatic.... I won't be seeing them.

That is a very nice situation to be in! I spoke with woman in the new neighborhood yesterday and asked about critters. She said there were deer, hawks, a fisher.... So at least there is something beyond squirrels--and I gather the hawks like to dine on them!

in front of the deer--and to the left?

Again, I am soooooo envious! My yard isn't nearly as large as yours, and it is in a more urban setting, but I will do what I can with it. At least there are some critters--and where there are some known ones, I suspect there are/will be more.

[brooklyn1]

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:24:29 -0500, "Jean B." wrote:

Well, I'm 66 so I don't have to be too diplomatic, at 66 I don't have time to pussy foot around issues. LOL And I've never been evasive or have been known to wear blinders, I'm a tell it how it is sorta guy. If you plant a baby tree ten years later it will still be pretty much a baby tree... at 60 years old you want to plant a teenage tree... a twelve year old tree is still pretty small but at least in ten years when it finally has some semblance to a tree one can barely recognize in its mature state you will already be 70.

Shade trees don't grow very quickly, even those touted as fast growing just creep along adding only a foot or less in height each year. I planted quite a few saplings when I first arrived here seven years ago, none are what I'd now call a shade tree. The beech trees seem to barely grow at all. The gingkos are doing a little better but their new growth is brittle and weak, even the weight of small birds break off pieces so that they lose about half what they put out each year. Crabapples do better but need enough pruning that I find myself removing about half of each years growth. My blue spruce are doing well but still add only about six inches in height a year. My sycamore are doing the best but in seven years went from three foot twigs to ten foot saplings, will probably be another ten years before they'd offer enough shade to sit in without constantly moving the chair as the sun travels across the sky, if I make 76 I'll get to do that. My apple and plum trees were seven years old when I bought them and are doing well but after two years I can see that they are really not much larger, but still much better than a three year old bareroot mail order twig or a skinny potted sapling from Lowes... at this age I don't recommend buying twiggy fruit trees, go to a grower and spring for something a bit older, I paid $60 each, the apple trees actually had a few fruit on them. I bought nine larger speciments from a grower and they delivered and planted them with a small excavator, even those after seven years are not a whole lot larger but at least they look like trees... those were expensive, to buy and to plant, but they were gauranteed, all made it; a linden, two flowering pear, a hawthorne, two beech, a Kentucky coffee tree, two dawn redwood... nine trees, $3,000.

Deer like to dine on most any plant... you'll need to fence any small trees.

One is clearly out in the meadow, others are just inside the tree line, difficult to see in a photo.

Be wary about what brush you bring from elsewhere, could be polluted (toxic), diseased and harbor pests, I'd not.

Not sure what you mean... there's a big brush pile to the left just inside the entrance to that path, then all along are stacks of logs wedged between standing trees from trees I cut to open the path so that sun could get in to dry up the water from rain and run off, otherwise it was mud all summer. There are a couple of deer and a Canada goose there too. That picture was taken with telephoto from my rear deck, nearly a thousand feet away, so it's pretty distorted, compresses the length of the path, which is also about 1,000' long but looks much less in that picture.

I still suggest that you don't do anything major right away. Live there a year, be watchful and make notes and sketches depicting shaded areas in summer, areas with poor soil that seem to remain dry and don't support lush ground cover, and areas of standing water that don't drain well. This will help you eliminate areas where you won't have success planting and help you focus on the areas where you will have success. Also note areas where snow is piled from shoveling/plowing, especially areas where road salt accumulates, you really don't want to consider planting in those areas and you don't want to obviate areas you will need for piling snow. When I first moved here I din't know anything about this land, now I know where every rock is to avoid when mowing. I keep a file where I keep all the documentation for everything I planted, when, and where (with diagrams). Also, take lots of pictures. We're practically neighbors.

[Jean B.]

I have noticed that for many years--probably ever since I got on NGs!

I will go prowling. I THINK the nurseries are done with tree work until spring, but I could be wrong. More's the pity, since fall is a good time to plant, and the ground here near Boston is not frozen.

Also, I have gleaned the knowledge that fast-growing trees tend not to be very long-lived. One strategy I have seen is to plant some of those junkier trees that give privacy while the better ones grow a bit. I

SEVEN years! Gee, how time flies. I wouldn't have guess you moved that long ago.

The beech trees seem to

I am leery of gingkos. In fact I was reminded of my reason when I visited Boston's Chinatown a few weeks ago. Egad! Now my daughter understands my comments about them.

I have a dwarf crab, which I have had in mulch for a few years. That is one thing I will plant next week. There are actually two larger crabapple trees in the yard.

My blue spruce are doing

Not too bad. Yes, I want fruit trees. I don't know whether they would be for man or for beast--I suspect the latter, although *I* will enjoy the blossoms--and seeing the critters.

Mmmm. The pros and the cons. Yes. Also deer ticks. Still, I want to see them and to encourage them in my small way.

I will look again.

Hmmm. Not even from this yard?

I thought I saw a critter with a bushy tail--much like that of the coyote that crossed the street in front of my car tonight.

Well, I think you are pretty far away. I'll get a camera with a better telephoto lens.

I will try to confine myself to minor projects this coming year and leave the larger areas until I know the lay of the land (both literally and figuratively). I do need some more privacy though, and I do have my little babies to plant.

[FarmI]

Thank you Jean and I reciprocate that :-))

There was a woman who used to post here from somewhere in the midwest and she had a glorious garden on a house sized block and she ended up a single mouse in the house from a brush pile in her yard. That wouldn't have worried me given that I get mice (plural) in the house each spring and autumn (but I just noted that I haven't this spring - wonderful!) I guess it wouldn't be a problem if the pile is down the back and there are lots of other things around for the critters that shelter in such a place have plenty to eat.

[Jean B.]

I have mice in the house here. It is an ongoing battle. (I don't know why in all the years here, the three cats have only gotten TWO mice!) I am going to try to be careful about keeping things, even welcoming groundcover, away from the house. I am envisioning the brush pile(s?) being on the edge of the wooded area. I want to see where the critters tend to come out and leave that clear, so even that may be after a lag.

OTOH, I do have that nice big downed branch here.... I should point out that I am only moving 2-3 towns away--depending on how one drives, so I wouldn't be bringing any foreign invaders to the new domain.

And that reminds me... I was going to do research on the Asian Long-Horned Beetle to see what trees they don't destroy. They are in this state, and it would be foolish to not think about that when planting.

[enigma]

"Jean B." wrote in news:7mgmn2F3g2vvlU1 @mid.individual.net:

i'd wait through a full year at the new place to study sun patterns & soil conditions before i started planting. use the time to map the yard & plan. my yard is a Certified Wildlife Habitat, as well as a Tree Farm (i like my signs, i do ). you can find wildlife habitat suggestions at:

oh, and wrap those Japanese maple trunks in hardware cloth over the winter. the mice & voles love to eat them.

[mleblanca]

Yes I agree with you Lee. Plan and research, Jean.

The NWF is a great source of information. They have a wonderful, beautiful book:

Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife. by David Mizejewski (he is manager of the Backyard Habitat Program) See if you can locate it. Pub. by Creative Homeowner books,

(I also have a Certified Wildlife Habitat # 49465.)

Have a fun winter planning, Jean and let us know of your progress.

Emilie NorCal

[Jean B.]

thanks for the advice--and the link, Lee.

Gee, I haven't had any problem with those maple trunks being eaten.

Oh yes.... Speaking of maples, I started looking into the Asian Long-Horned Beetle. On one hand, the advice is that all maples are very susceptible to them; on the other, they don't like any Japanese maples. No oaks seem to be susceptible. Now I am trying to remember why a friend of mine was worried about his oaks a few years ago....

[Jean B.]

Thank you, Emilie. I will order that book from the library.... Oh, heck, I'll get a book shop owner/friend to order one for me. It sounds like something I will really benefit from having on hand.