Subject: Re: Native Gardens/Wildlife Gardens
From: "Bill Robinson" <roseguy@flash.net>
Organization:
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 98 02:53:09
Message-ID: <MOD$980730.6272@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



I wrote:

One of the problems in converting a native site
to a "naturalized" garden or a wildlife garden when
there is a heavy tree canopy is that there isn't enough
light to give many options. . Rather than being able
to put in plants that are more or less natural to that
setting and/or being able to put in plants that will
attract and maintain a wider diversity of wildlife,
the emphasis shifts to putting in things that will handle
all the shade.

Nick LaRocca then replied:

>Personally, however, if I already had a climax forest
>I don't think I would cut it down simply to create a
>sere; I'd maintain a woodland. Simarly, if I had an
>open field in a forrest region, I might consider
>other possibilities beside letting it run to brush and
>pioneer trees on the way to becoming a forrest
>again. . . . IMO it's better to do that in a location
>where the underllying geology supports that
>community (and perhaps historically WAS that
>community) rather than trying to create an artifical
>situation.

The context of my post concerned an interesting
article in the Fall, 1988 issue of Pacific Horticulture
by Jack Schieffelin. He has a home garden that is
mostly a mature live oak forrest in Central California.
The article says that the canopy was so dense that
there was essentially no sunlight on the forrest
floor and "Apart from what dwelled out of sight in the
canopy, there were no insects except for yellow
jackets and house flies". He wanted a wildlife garden
and at the same time he wanted it 'natural".

Dr. Schieffelin concluded that, "the forrest had reached
climax stage and there was neither light nor root space
for new plants. To create a healthy garden habitat at
ground level, we would have to open the canopy".

It is a particularly interesting article because he took
this piece of "natural" land that had become problem land
behind the ways of nature and crafted it into a garden
that ended up looking like the product of nature at her
best. He did some judicious prunning of the dead and/or
diseased wood a bit at a time, used native plants and
added decorative rock and water features. He was able
to increase the bio-diversity of his garden and it appears
that he has helped to restore health to a spot that seemed
to be in trouble.

Which garden environment is artificial? I'm not sure that
the answer is self-ervident.

Bill

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