Native Plant Wildlife Gardening

My name is Karyl and when it comes to gardening or writing, I am a world class amateur. Neither is my profession which will quickly become obvious. I can root a pencil, make anything in the ground excel but can’t grow a blasted thing in a container. I’m just a person who believes in sharing my space with wildlife. Mine is the experience of an average citizen attempting to landscape responsibly.

Ours is a small one acre property located in zone 7b, north Georgia. When we moved in it was a wall of invasive plants, overcrowded trees and saplings. Two years later I have finally cleaned and thinned it out. Today I am left with canopy trees with nothing else below, oh, about 40′. I have no understory or ground level, mine is not an established garden but simply a foundation of trees and empty space. Now I am trying to build a garden out of that space. Since I am starting from the beginning here with no garden I am attempting to translate my experiences for other non-professionals.

My focus is wildlife gardening, biodiversity and native plants which is truly a labor of love. Having nothing, no foundation shrubs, no flowers and no defined garden space can be daunting. Once the invasive plants are gone there is little left. When you see photos and read gardener’s blogs full of stunning ideas anyone could get discouraged with the prospect of beginning. I encourage people to start with nothing. My shrubs are 2′ tall and there are so many things I’ll never see grow to maturity. Still, you have to begin. Be encouraged by the beautiful gardens other have, be inspired, appreciate that new bird that shows up in your backyard for the first time.

I am not a native purist so much as (hugely) anti-invasive, but I do feel that native plants are a first choice. There are a few non-natives on my property which I love but I do avoid planting them. I don’t believe aliens are necessary.

…and oh, I’m kind of a dork and get really excited about things like baby turtles. Bear with me on that please.