My garden is an Atlanta Audubon Society Certified Wildlife Sanctuary!
I am delighted to announce that my third-of-an-acre property has just been approved by Atlanta Audubon Society as a Certified Wildlife Sanctuary.
When I bought my house in 1995, there were some perimeter plantings around the structure—azaleas, a cotoneaster, a weigela and a holly. There were also oaks, maples, a sweetgum, a black cherry and other trees on the property, and now there are several Canadian hemlocks and Japanese maples. Inherently rather lazy, I wanted to create a mostly perennial garden that would attract birds and wildlife while requiring little more than water and occasional fertilizing to be healthy, and so the journey began. And little by little, one by one, I added plants that would flower from early spring to early winter, just as those in my mom's garden in Connecticut used to.
The first plant I got was an oak-leaf hydrangea from the Chattahoochee Nature Center, which is still flourishing in my back yard. Over the years, I maintained an emphasis on perennials, and in more recent years, on native plants, and it was the latter that helped get me approved today by AAS. I will continue to add more native plants in the coming years. My garden also has a small patio fountain and bird baths, various feeders with different kinds of seeds and suets, and plants, shrubs and trees that provide food and shelter.
Before the team arrived for the inspection, I saw (but still have not photographed) my first Red-breasted nuthatch in years, as a result of the current irruption. And while we all were standing in my side garden, one of them landed at one of the feeders, almost within arms' reach. That was a very nice moment.
Photo by the kind neighbor who affixed the sign to a piece of wood and hammered it into place at my side garden.
My garden is an Atlanta Audubon Society Certified Wildlife Sanctuary!
I am delighted to announce that my third-of-an-acre property has just been approved by Atlanta Audubon Society as a Certified Wildlife Sanctuary.
When I bought my house in 1995, there were some perimeter plantings around the structure—azaleas, a cotoneaster, a weigela and a holly. There were also oaks, maples, a sweetgum, a black cherry and other trees on the property, and now there are several Canadian hemlocks and Japanese maples. Inherently rather lazy, I wanted to create a mostly perennial garden that would attract birds and wildlife while requiring little more than water and occasional fertilizing to be healthy, and so the journey began. And little by little, one by one, I added plants that would flower from early spring to early winter, just as those in my mom's garden in Connecticut used to.
The first plant I got was an oak-leaf hydrangea from the Chattahoochee Nature Center, which is still flourishing in my back yard. Over the years, I maintained an emphasis on perennials, and in more recent years, on native plants, and it was the latter that helped get me approved today by AAS. I will continue to add more native plants in the coming years. My garden also has a small patio fountain and bird baths, various feeders with different kinds of seeds and suets, and plants, shrubs and trees that provide food and shelter.
Before the team arrived for the inspection, I saw (but still have not photographed) my first Red-breasted nuthatch in years, as a result of the current irruption. And while we all were standing in my side garden, one of them landed at one of the feeders, almost within arms' reach. That was a very nice moment.
Photo by the kind neighbor who affixed the sign to a piece of wood and hammered it into place at my side garden.