New Year, New Yard

 

Christmas fern

What a great time to take on a new project, with weekends more free than ever, and an old suburban landscape that needs a native makeover. It’s not my new yard, rather it belongs to my son and his wife (and their love-to-be-outdoors child). I hope over the next year to replace invasive plants with native ones as well as add more pollinator-friendly perennials.

While the yard is not overrun with invasive plants, there is clearly the beginning of what I think of as neglectful encroachment. These are plants that were brought in by nature (wildlife such as birds deposit seeds on their way through, for example). The homeowner doesn’t realize what has arrived and allows the plant to grow (essentially a type of neglect). Examples in this yard are mahonia (Mahonia bealei), heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), English ivy (Hedera helix), and thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens).

This yard is typical of most good-sized suburban yards (this is about half an acre in North Fulton county) in that it has a well-managed front with lawn and tightly manicured shrubs but a more natural backyard. It is in the back where these bird droppings have been allowed to grow and where I’ll focus my early efforts to remove and replace. There is a bit of a slope and some deer in the neighborhood so I’ll need to consider those factors in my plant choices.

This little bird kept me company

The section I worked (before view)

This week I started small by removing the fruit on the nandina to prevent spread, removing limbs on the single large thorny olive (but leaving the roots for now to prevent erosion), and pulling waxleaf privet seedlings (Ligustrum japonicum). I also removed the patch of English ivy near the driveway (the mother of ivy is clearly visible in the backyard of a home within walking distance, a thick mass high in a tree that towers over that home) and replaced it with Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) that I had rescued several days before, a few rocks, and hardwood mulch. 

Of course, if these don't do well, that is part of gardening lessons in general (not specific to native plants) and I will adjust.

The Christmas ferns for the cleared space; large shrub is Illicium

Future plantings will be a mixture of extras from my yard, purchased plants, as well as more rescued ferns. I am excited to work on this change. A friend gave us a board book about bugs and it has helped to inspire my grandson to ‘find some bugs in your backyard.’ The changes I have in mind should increase both the diversity and quantity of bugs that we can find there.

This first set of changes took about 4 hours; the area was nicely moist from rain the day before. I look forward to sharing pictures and stories of the progress and change over the next year in the hopes of inspiring others to transform older yards into more productive, wildlife-supporting landscapes.

Ferns in place; existing Daphne shrub left for now