@Karen
Sounds like a great yard-your zone is similar-I am 6A but in Ontario...wonder if it is the same zone chart?
I have a pollinator patch between my neighbours drive and mine-it is adjacent to the sidewalk and it is fun to watch people walk by and notice the garden-stopping to look at things in there...I have been replacing non natives with native species and have introduced goldenrod and asters in a "landscape designed" way...this seems to show that you can use natives and have the garden "look nice" too...I am waiting for the goldenrod crab spiders to show up this season!
I have a number of native shrubs, perennials...producing some berries (Eastern Red Cedar, Smooth rose, Flowering Raspberry, Asters (3 species), Goldenrods (3 species), violets, wild ginger, leaf litter, logs and brush piles, rocks throughout. A small pond with waterfall and a couple of nest boxes, feeders....
My issue is a few of the larger trees are non native-and though I would like to remove them-they will be trickier to get out-may need to call on reinforcements to remove i.e. Amur Maple, Ivory Silk Lilac, Colorado Blue Spruce, White Mulberry...I would love to replace with Ironwood, an Oak and possibly Hemlock or White spruce/Pine
Hi All,
I live in an urban yard in southern Ontario...part of what is called the GTA--or Greater Toronto area. I have been "naturescaping" our yard for many years...though I confess to having a few non-native, invasive plants (Amur Maple, White mulberry) that were planted long before I knew the problem they cause for biodiversity. I have been working at removing and replacing with native species everything from woodland understory plants to a pollinator patch in between my neighbours driveway and mine...this year I rebuilt my small garden pond and worked towards including native marginals and making it urban wildlife friendly --so they can get a drink and get out safely (sloped edge with mini steps). Though I have had nest boxes in my garden for may years-this year I had chickadees nest and successfully fledge their babies! They actually fledged yesterday:) I am hoping to continue to add native plants and look forward to seeing who else may visit the yard...
I think one of the most memorable times I saw an owl was at a graveyard the day after my grandmother passed away. It was a Snowy, perched on a post overlooking the graveyard...not only was the bird beautiful-but as owl are considered to be psychopomps in some lore...a meaningful sighting as well.
Inspiration: I have alway been a keen observer of nature but have never tried recording what I see artistically--I can see where this would be very helpful in learning species--plants, animals, insects etc...I was interested in the course previously...now with some extra time at home ( there is only so much Netflix one can watch...), I decided to take advantage of the generous free offer and give it a try.
Journal Style: All the journals were beautiful and interesting...I really liked the idea of using a "zoom" image for details..I liked the including the date, time, weather, location idea...I like including both observations in detail, quotes, and images--I also like the idea of organizing some pages with boxes while others may be more free formed...
Journalling Ideas...I have played with art journalling a little, I may also add some other paper cuttings or images into the nature journal.