What do we have to offer? Oak trees, tree litter and one native plum [prunus] tree presently covered in aphids. I hate that tree [its messy, is spread everywhere by birds, rats and squirrels sprouting willy nilly, as well as its covered in thorns] but the bees and birds do seem to love it - so far it stays. Ah yes, we also have two elderberry shrubs. Both of which had gotten quite scraggly and were chopped back severely last year. This year they have sprung back with new vigor offering shade to our llamas and hopefully lots of berries later in the season. Other than that there is very little on our property but "weeds and ivy" - which I must admit are a great home to spiders and lizards until May when we have to whack it into the ground. We live in what is considered and is now being called a "Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone" or VHFHSZ. We live in the canyon consumed by the 1991 Oakland [CA] Hills Fire. Every year we are subject [necessarily for the community's safety] a fire inspection to make sure that we are fire safe [or safe-ish]. We are in drought conditions and things grow on the property. If the fire marshal had their druthers, our lot would be a bare patch of earth. Nothing there = nothing to burn. The trees on our lot are all re-sprouts from old majestic Live Oak that covered the hillside prior to the fire. Several of the returning oaks have grown quite large and haven't had much pruning. Very little has been done in regards to landscaping around the house prior to this year. The yard would be weed whacked to the ground and leaves racked and that was about it. Our lot is a hillside, the ground being one hard glob of clay soil more akin to cement in the summer than dirt to be tilled lazily on a summers afternoon of gardening. This year I've decided to act upon my daydreams of creating a landscape to balance safety, and a healthy ecosystem that sustains a natural habitat. So far I've dug a 2-1/2' x 9' plot that looks more like a grave than a garden plot but now holds the sprouts of what will be an asparagus garden. The deer love it. That's one for nature! My second act is natural erosion control with logs and branches. Not much appreciated by the fire inspectors but we are working together on that. Happy lizards! This class is my third act towards bringing all my hopes and ideas into one clarified plan and creating a happy place for nature to exist. Wish me luck!

In my yard, I have a small pond feature (~50gal) which contains three goldfish and a couple species of plants.  I also run a filter/pump combo to  assist in keeping the water moving, clean and aerated.  Also in my yard, I have several raised beds where I plant a mix of annuals, biennials and perennials all with the intent of attracting primarily birds.  I feed year round with seed (sunflower {mostly Black-oil}, millets and Safflower), nuts (peanuts out of the shell) and during the warmer months of spring/summer/fall, I offer sugar water for the Ruby-throats and Baltimore Oriole.  A few years ago, I planted a Pin (or Fire) Cherry - Prunus pensylvanica in my yard to attract insects and of course, birds.

This year I've learned that I have quite a bit beyond my bird feeders.  I have trees with nuts - oaks, hemlocks, and beech and trees with fruit - sassafras and serviceberry. I have good shelter with three large hemlocks.  I never paid much attention to them before this spring when I started doing a weekly survey using Nature's Notebook. I started working in native plants last year and also began leaving the leaf litter on the ground. This year I've seen lots of ground foragers in the leaves and under bushes - like sparrows and thrushes. I had a small wood pile this winter for the first time and noticed a Carolina Wren around it almost daily.  I'm retired now and obviously will have to pass this house on to someone else down the road. I want to make sure I have plenty of native plantings around the yard so that even if the next owner is not into birds/wildlife the yard will still be a suitable habitat for them.