Knowledgebase

Habit for Marylands birds and pollinators #804532

Asked August 03, 2022, 9:36 PM EDT

How do I go about using indigenous plants and turning my front and back yard into a habit for birds , bees and butterflies . I know absolutely nothing.

Wicomico County Maryland

Expert Response

We have several resources and link collections that may be useful, presented on our Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden and Pollinator Gardens pages. The latter also includes a link to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service booklet listing native plants for the Chesapeake region, which also notes plants of particular benefit to birds and other wildlife. (Lists like these are not exhaustive but focus on species more readily obtainable from nurseries and local native plant sales.) A publication by the Rochester Institute of Technology about Recommended Plantings for Migratory Songbird Habitat Management is another good resource for plant suggestions for birds.

In general, planting a diverse array of plant species offers wildlife the best value for year-long resources and allows those that specialize in using very few plant species (like some of our native bees or butterflies with specific host plant needs) to have a resource to use. By-and-large, "plant it and they will come" can work when the habitat around your property is suitable for that species, even if it takes them a few years to find it. Diversity in plantings also provides better aesthetic seasonal interest, and keeps the risk of severe pest or disease outbreaks (or damage from abnormal weather) low, because not all species in a mixed planting will be equally vulnerable.

Start small so you don't get overwhelmed; you can always expand planting beds as you see how the different species fare while they establish. Keep in mind it can take three or more years for perennials and shrubs to start coming into their own in terms of fullness of growth and reliable blooming, so space them with enough room to mature without overcrowding. Starting perennials from seed can be rewarding and cheaper, but be aware that they will take longer to bloom and fill-in than those installed as plants grown in containers, which tend to be a couple of years old already. Plugs, which are young plants between the ages of seedlings and those typically sold at most retailers, are a good middle-ground in terms of cost and installation effort balanced with waiting for them to mature.

Not every species will be available in every form (seed, plug, potted plant). Area nurseries are stocking an ever-growing assortment of native plants as their popularity grows, but you can also find natives at local plant sales and through online specialty nurseries (those that derive their stock from local plant populations tend to be best because they're adapted to our conditions).

Shrubs are harder to transplant than perennials are, if garden layout editing is needed in the future, so it's simplest to begin choosing and planning the location for shrubs and trees since they will take longer to mature and take-up the most space; they form the framework of the garden that perennials can complement and fill-in around. Remember to consider the expected mature size of shrubs or trees when choosing their locations, though you do have some wiggle-room with some species when dwarf cultivars are available, since they mature smaller and grow slower.

Cultivars are simply selections of a species (or sometimes a hybrid) that were chosen and propagated because of specific traits, whether it's flower color, plant height, disease resistance, and so on. All individual plants of one cultivar are exactly the same. Sometimes cultivars don't benefit wildlife as much as the wild species does, but sometimes they can provide equal benefits, so they are not universally good or bad to use when planting natives. A cultivar name is given in single quotes -- 'Shamrock' is a cultivar of our native Inkberry Holly. Its botanical name, Ilex glabra, is written in italics. So, you may see on a plant tag or catalog listing this listed as Ilex glabra 'Shamrock'. Ilex glabra 'Nordic' is a different cultivar of the same species.

A mention of pollination is needed to avoid frustration with lack of fruit (berries, etc.) for the birds. Some tree and shrub species can produce fruit by themselves and some cannot. Researching the pollination requirements of a species you like can help you plan for the need to have several plants of the same species for the sake of fruit production, whether for your own consumption or for wildlife. For example, birds enjoy Viburnum berries, but few Viburnums are capable of fruiting by themselves; their blooms need pollen from a different individual of the same species in order to form berries. Let's pick Arrowwood Viburnum for this illustration. You can plant two shrubs of straight-species Arrowwood (that is, not a cultivar) to ensure cross-pollination so each produces fruit, or one species plus one cultivar, or two different cultivars. So, Arrowwood cultivar 'Blue Muffin' can be used to pollinate with 'Chicago Lustre' because they are both the same species, but they are not identical genetically.

Native plant lists may not go into this level of detail, but nursery/catalog listings may mention pollination needs, particularly when a certain cultivar is self-pollinating because that would be a special trait within that species. For some shrubs and trees, the pollination issue is simply a male vs. female flower situation: male flowers provide pollen and female flowers receive that pollen and produce fruit. American Persimmons are an example of this: male-flowered trees won't fruit but are needed to pollinate the female trees that do. (Wild mammals love persimmon fruits.) In other shrubs and trees, the pollination issue isn't that male and female flowers are on separate plants, just that the plant can't use its own pollen to fruit, like with the Viburnums and Pawpaw trees.

While this may sound daunting, it's actually not too complicated and ensuring you have a few different individuals of the same species (especially important when using cultivars of a species) tends to be enough to ensure some of them will produce berries for the birds. Knowledgeable nursery staff can guide you in the selection of good pollinator pairings, and you don't need to plan on using the partners growing right next to each other in the garden; if the bees can find them across the yard, that's fine. Several of the popular shrubs to grow for bird food have pollination requirements that are worth investigating and planting in multiples, like Viburnums, Inkberry Holly, Winterberry Holly, Bayberry, Spicebush, Eastern Redcedar, and to a lesser extent, Blueberries, Elderberries, and Dogwood shrubs. Those that don't include Chokeberries, native Roses, Serviceberries, Crabapples, and American Beautyberry.

Lastly, it's much simpler and often more successful to work with the conditions you have instead of trying to change them to suit particular plants. Therefore, if you have an area that tends to stay wet, look for plants well-adapted to damp sites rather than trying to improve the drainage (aside from situations where this means the house foundation stays too wet). Similarly, look for drought-tolerant species for areas too inconvenient to water (or for reducing water use in general). A laboratory soil test is another good first step that can reveal soil pH (acidity level) that may help you choose the most appropriate plants if levels happen to be unusually acidic or alkaline. While more commonly used to direct lawn and veggie garden care, these tests can be useful for any part of the yard and any garden type. Sodium content is an option for testing with some labs, for instance, and may be useful if you are close to the Bay shore or if saltwater intrusion from sea level rise or past storm surges have introduced salinity issues in the soil (common on Delmarva), because some plants are more salt-tolerant than others.

Miri

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