Jennifer

I've been interested in habitat restoration for several years so the keys weren't a surprise to me.  I've incorporated all the keys, but not to the extend I would like.  In particular, I'm working on getting rid of more lawn.  The hardest thing to do is embrace some messiness, without interference.  One example, the wild flowers growing on a bank that I specifically didn't mow, were kindly mowed by a neighbor who thought my mower must have broken.  Also, I would like true natives not cultivars.  It's taken a lot of time to find the few that I've planted.

There are a couple elements of my yard that I really enjoy; the several older trees that provide a lot of shade in the summer, and the locations of the flower beds that allow me to see the flowering plants from the house. I want to change the variety of trees on my land.  All the ash and elm trees in my area have been wiped out by insects or disease.  As I replace the trees, I’ll use a more diverse group of native trees.  There are also several invasive flowers that I want to replace with natives. In the last 2 years I’ve taken pictures of 35 different birds at my house.  Now it’s far between new sightings.  Since I now know which birds are common, at least it is easy to spot something different.  There are still a few birds from our area Christmas Bird Count Common Checklist that could visit my house.  That’s one reason I signed up for Project Feeder Watch, it makes take time and look at the birds.