Your landscape IS an ecosystem, and it behaves like an ecosystem, whether you think about your piece of paradise in such terms or not. Most gardening problems/difficulties and hard work stem from not understanding or downright ignoring this fact. Want a “low maintenance” landscape? Thinking about your garden as a habitat might help.

A LOT of things have been written on the topic of why you want to encourage or attract wildlife to the yard. Everything from expanding urbanization and reduced natural habitat, to decreasing biodiversity and increasing spread of exotic aggressive species, to name a few reasons. For Wellfield, the “wildlife” around us becomes key to an organically preferred approach: protecting Elkhart’s drinking water (you do know Wellfield’s relationship to Elkhart’s water supply, right?). We rely on the balancing and resilient effects of ecosystems to hold many things in check, thus reducing our dependence on expensive fertilizer or plant health control measures.

There are four essential ingredients to making habitat work for you:

• Diverse food sources
• Diverse water sources
• Diverse shelter types(a place to hide)
• Diverse locations to raise some babies

You probably can guess what the keyword might be. Yep, that is right: “diverse”. It is not enough just to put out a birdbath and check off “water source”. Not everything is going to visit the perch. Different organisms obtain moisture from different sources. If you plant a lot of different species, native especially, of various sizes, textures, root types, and plant them in layers, you are doing much already to provide these four elements. 

In the coming weeks, we will take up each of these essential ingredients and examine them in turn. 

Wildlife is already present outside your windows, whether you want them or not. You can either partner with them to create some win-win relationships, or you can spend a lot of time, energy and cash to banish them to your neighbor’s kingdom.

Josh Steffen, Horticulture and Facilities Manager

Miss any of Josh and his team’s latest posts? Click below to see what you’ve missed!

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  Wellfield Horticulture Staff’s Favorite Things
  You usually see them with their heads down working, but we thought we’d let our our 2023 Horticulture and Facilities staff introduce themselves!
• 
  Stratification and Scarification: A Seed’s Path to Germination
  Can’t get your seeds to germinate? They’re probably just going through something. Today, Kyle talks about stratification and scarification, and what they mean to your seeds.
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  Friends of a Feather
  We see lots of native birds at Wellfield – they’re fun to look at, but are they beneficial to your garden?
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  The Importance of Dormancy in Gardening
  During these cold months, gardening activities are rather limited and this time of year can be considered to be an off season for gardeners everywhere. But even though it seems like there is not a lot happening, plants are busy maintaining dormancy. This phase is essential for plants to survive and maintain nutrients.
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  Roll Out the Red Carpet for Squirrels
  National Squirrel Appreciation Day is one of our favorites every year. While our Horticulture staff faces challenges from squirrels, they appreciate them nonetheless! Today, Amy takes a look at ways to welcome and protect squirrels in your yard.

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