|
All wildlife requires food, water, and cover, and can only live
where these requirements are met. An ideal landscape uses native plants to provide
a year round food supply - such as berries, fruit, seeds, and nuts. Water is essential
for wildlife, and your water source can be as elaborate as a pond with a waterfall
or as simple as a dish of water.
Cover needs to be provided for wildlife to breed, nest, hide, sleep, and feed. Many
native plants that provide food also provide cover. Dense evergreen trees or shrubs
(such as Yaupon holly or Walter's viburnum) or thorny shrubs (such as Blackberries)
are perfect cover, as well as a food supply, for a variety of wildlife. Dead trees
and brush piles also provide cover. Many forest-dwelling animals require a cavity
in a dead tree (snag) for nesting.
If it's possible leave a dead tree or two for the woodpeckers and the flying squirrels.
Mother nature recycles everything. Wildlife requires all of the "trash"
that people throw away, it is always used by some animal somewhere in the food chain.
Consider constructing brush piles with fallen tree limbs and using leaves and grass
clippings as mulch. Leave stumps and fallen logs for cover, and foraging areas. Also,
refrain from using pesticides.
BIRDS
Yaupon hollies and Walter's viburnum are excellent for nesting sites and providing
berries in the winter. Other winter berries are beauty berry and chokeberry.
Chokeberry. (Aronia arbutifolia) - this deciduous shrub reaches 9 feet in height.
It grows in full sun to part shade with dry to moist soil. It has beautiful little
white blooms that are followed by bright red berries for the birds.
Beauty berry. (Callicarpa americana) - this deciduous shrub may reach 10 feet in
height. It grows in full sun to part shade with dry to average moisture. The bright
purple berries are an important winter food for the birds.
Dahoon holly. (Ilex cassine) - an evergreen tree reaching 40 feet in height. The
female has the bright red berries. It grows in full sun to part shade with average
to moist soil. The berries are another important food supply for birds.
Yaupon holly. (flex vomitoria) - this evergreen tree reaches 25 feet in height. Only
the female has the bright red berries. It grows in sun to part shade with average
to moist soil. It is another important winter food source.
Sparkleberry. (Vaccinium arboreum - this semi-evergreen shrub is Florida's largest
blueberry. It may reach 20 feet in height. It grows in part-shade with average moisture.
The berries are edible, but do not have much flavor and tend to be rather gritty.
Walter's viburnum. ( Viburnum obovatum) - this semi-evergreen shrub reaches 15 feet
in height. It's small, evergreen leaves make this a good candidate for using as a
hedge. It grows in sun to part shade with average to moist soil. The small black
berries are relished by birds in the winter.
BUTTERFLIES
Nectar plants, as well as larval food plants should be provided in order to have
butterflies as constant visitors to your landscape. Dense shrubs will provide cover
and protection from the elements, and moist soil or mulch will provide a water source.
Butterflies drink from moist soil or droplets rather than an open pond so as not
to endanger themselves.
Bahama cassia (Cassia bahamensis) - a deciduous shrub reaching 15 feet in height.
Yellow flowers appear in the fall. It grows in full sun with average moisture. It
is the larval food plant of a number of sulphur butterflies.
Tampa vervaine. (Glandularia tampensis) - this 'endangered' perennial wildflower
reaches 2 feet high and grows in sun to part shade with average to moist soil. The
flowers are lavender.
Black-eyed susan. (Rudbeckia hirta) - a perennial wildflower reaching about 2 feet
in height. It has bright yellow flowers with black-brown centers. It prefers full
sun with average moisture.
Wild petunia (Ruellia carolinensis) - a perennial wildflower that reaches I foot
in height, and can spread to become a ground cover. It tolerates part shade to full
sun with dry to average moisture. It has lavender blooms.
Stoke's aster (Stokesia laevis) - a perennial wildflower reaching 2 feet in height.
It tolerates part shade to full sun with average to moist soil. Its lavender flowers
are more abundant if grown in full sun.
HUMMINGBIRDS
Coral bean (Erythrina herbacea) - a deciduous shrub reaching 15 feet in height. It
grows in part shade to full sun with dry to average moisture. The red tubular flowers
are enjoyed by hummingbirds and large butterflies. The seeds are poisonous.
Scarlet hibiscus. (Hibiscus coccineus) - a perennial wildflower reaching 10 feet
in height. It tolerates part shade to full sun with moist soil. It has large 6 inch
red flowers.
Coral honeysuckle. (Lonicera sempervirens) - an evergreen, perennial vine with red
tubular flowers. It tolerates part sun to full sun with average moisture. It flowers
best with full sun.
Swamp azalea (Rhododendron serrulatum) - a deciduous shrub reaching 15 feet in height.
It tolerates shade to part sun with average to moist soil conditions. It has white
flowers.
Red salvia (Salvia coccinea) - a perennial wildflower that may reach 4 feet in height.
It tolerates part shade to full sun with average moisture. The red tubular flowers
are used by butterflies and hummingbirds. It will re-seed itself.
MAMMALS
Raccoons and opossums relish persimmons and saw palmetto. Flying squirrels require
cavities in dead or dying trees for nesting and protection. Rabbits prefer thorny,
low growing hedges and brush piles. Bats may sleep alone in trees or in clumps of
Spanish moss, and may be attracted to a roost box if one is provided.
Scrub hickory (Carya floridana) - a deciduous tree reaching 30 feet in height. It
prefers dry soil with full sun. The nuts are edible, and an important food for wildlife.
Squirrels love them.
Persimmon (Diospvrus virginiana) - a deciduous tree reaching 60 feet in height. It
requires average moisture and full sun. The fruit is edible, and rather stringent
unless eaten when it is very ripe.
Red mulberry (Mows rubra) - a deciduous tree reaching 50 feet in height. It grows
in full sun with average moisture. The edible fruits can be messy so plant it far
from the patio. All wildlife relish the fruit.
Slash pine. (Pinus elliottii) - this evergreen tree grows to 90 feet in height. The
seeds (or pine nuts) are eaten by a variety of mammals and birds. It grows in full
sun with average to moist soil.
Shiny blueberry. (Vaccinium myrsinites) - a low growing evergreen shrub that reaches
2 feet in height. The berries are edible, and very sweet. It grows in full sun to
part shade with dry to average moisture.
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
Leaves used as a mulch maintain a moisture level that in some cases is perfect for
amphibians to thrive in. Slimy salamanders love moist leaf litter. Brush piles, and
fallen logs are ideal foraging and shelter areas for reptiles and amphibians. Rocks
in the landscape provide perfect perches for reptiles to sun themselves and catch
insects.
Gopher apple. (Licania michauxii) - an evergreen ground cover that reaches 3 - 12
inches in height. It requires full sun with average moisture. Gopher tortoises relish
the fruit.
Prickly pear. (Opuntia compressa) - a woody, succulent cactus reaching 2 feet in
height. The flowers are yellow. Gopher tortoises eat just about every part of this
cactus. It prefers full sun with dry soil.
Needle palm, (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) - an evergreen palm that will reach 6 feet
in height. The yellow fruits are eaten by mammals and large birds. The trunk has
needle-like spines which provide cover for reptiles and amphibians. It tolerates
part sun to sun with average moisture.
Saw palmetto. (Serenoa repens) - An excellent evergreen ground cover for reptiles
and amphibians and can be used underneath trees. This evergreen shrub reaches 8 to
10 feet in height. It tolerates shade or sun. The black fruits are eaten by a variety
of mammals and birds.
BUILDING A BRUSH PILE
To build your own brush pile start the bottom with large logs placed a few inches
apart. Then place more logs (the same size) across and perpendicular to the first
layer. Next add brush, with larger limbs first then smaller branches and twigs last.
The brush pile can be added to continually as the lower portion rots. Not only will
you provide habitat for wildlife, but you will also be recycling.
|
|
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Adams, George. Birdscaping Your Garden. Rodale Press: Emmaus
PA. 1994
ISBN: 0875969569 (paperback 1998 edition); ISBN: 0875966357 (hardcover 1994 edition)
Ajilvsgi, Geyata. Butterfly Gardening for the South. Taylor Publishing:
Dallas, TX. 1990
ISBN: 0878337385 (1991 edition)
Ashton, Ray E., Jr. and Patricia Sawyer-Ashton. Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida: Part One: Snakes. Winward Publishing, Inc.: Miami, FL. 1991
ISBN: 089317033X (1988 edition)
Ashton, Ray E., Jr. and Patricia Sawyer-Ashton. Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida: Part Two: Lizards, Turtles
& Crocodilians. Winward Publishing Inc.: Miami, FL.
1988
ISBN: 0893170364 (1991 edition)
Ashton, Ray E., Jr. and Patricia Sawyer-Ashton. Handbook of Reptiles and Amphibians of Florida: Part Three: The Amphibians. Winward Publishing, Inc.: Miami, FL. 1988
ISBN: 0893170372
Bell C. Ritchie and B. J. Taylor. Florida Wildflowers and Roadside
Plants. Laurel HiII Press: Chapel Hill, NC. 1982
Harvey, Michael. Bats of the Eastern United States. Tennessee Technological
University: Cookeville, TN. 1992
Huegel, C. Butterfly &Gardening with Florida's Native Plants.
Florida Native Plant Society: Orlando, FL.
Nelson, Gil. The Shrubs & Woody Vines of Florida. Pineapple
Press: Sarasota, FL 1996
ISBN: 1561641103 (paperback); ISBN: 1561641065 (hardcover)
Nelson, Gil. The Trees of Florida. Pineapple Press: Sarasota,
FL. 1994
1561640557
Taylor, Walter Kingsley. The Guide to Florida Wildflowers. Taylor Publishing:
Dallas, TX 1992
ISBN: 0878337474
Wasowski, Sally. Gardening with Native Plants of the South. Taylor
Publishing: Dallas, TX. 1994
ISBN: 0878338020
|
