This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Gifts For The Native Gardener

I may have missed that important mail cut-off date for Christmas; but I had my reasons.  First, I want to encourage folks to shop locally.  For the budding native gardener, this is going to likely mean both Independent Garden Centers (IGC) and Book Stores (IBS).

They struggle in an economy of bigger is better and yet, it is here that the Native Plant movement needs to grow.  If their customers show an interest in native gardening, then more native gardening plants and publications will be stocked. 

There is one exception I want to mention.  The Timber Press www.timberpress.com/  has made an extraordinary commitment to biodiversity and sustainability and is publishing some of the most important books on these topics to date.  I have not had a chance to go over their whole catalog, but there is one book that is essential to understanding the need for native environments, this: http://www.timberpress.com/books/bringing_nature_home/tallamy/9780881929928

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I have had the opportunity to hear Doug Tallamy speak on a few occasions, he is an icon in the Native movement, a veritable rock star, with a calm and pleasant demeanor.  With his permission, I share this article from his site: http://bringingnaturehome.net/native-gardening/gardening-for-life

Now, after reading that, how could you not Need this book ?  I encourage you to order it through Timber Press directly (they appear to be having a sale).  Or contact your local Indie Bookseller, IBS  (not B&N or other National Chain stores) to see if they have a copy you can scoop up before Christmas.  You might even see if the book section at your local Independent Garden Center has a copy. If you cannot get the shipment to your house in time, you can print out that article from the Bringing Nature Home site, and tell your giftee it is en route, and that you ordered it ‘ethically.’ (Cite reasons given in the first paragraph here).  

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If I had a generous budget, I would be treating myself to “Gardening For Birds” which is getting rave reviews (Confession we Did put a squirrel-proof bird feeder/suet holder in the front, where we cannot see if little birds become hawk food. Though if I had this book, I would not need to supplement. I reneged on my No Feed Wild Birds stance when I realized our feathered friends are in for a harsh winter, because of the lengthy drought, it is all so interconnected).  I would also buyhttp://www.timberpress.com/books/new_american_landscape/christopher/9781604691863. I recognize many of the contributors and hope to someday add it to my library (Disclosure, I buy all of the books and plants I mention here, not a thing is “comped.”  I understand this is an FTC requirement for bloggers, so there you have it.) 

Now there are many other books I have consulted, but it will be a long Winter, and you will here about them.  We are in a hurry here ! 

What other Native-friendly things might you buy at a IGC?  If you will be feeding birds, then you do want a squirrel-proof Cage-like feeder for smaller birds.  Unless, of course, you want to wake up to a coven of 13 squirrels calling your backyard home, like we did. (The Shelter dog helped with that.)  You can also get varying types of suet for different bird species.  I did not know that they have “tastes.” Woodpeckers, for instance, enjoy peanut butter suet.  One year we made a pine cone wreath and slathered it with peanut butter.  We failed to secure it outside, and off it went with one of our yard visitors, never to be seen again. 

If you are interested in mammal yard visitors, I suggest a bat house.  We have had one on the SouthEast side of the house since my sons were single-digits.  We got one earlier this year to replace what is now a ramshackle mess.  However, we are going to switch it in the early spring.  Bats in the US are being decimated by the disease White Nose Fungal Syndrome (first seen in an upstate New York  cave)  To date 5.7 Million bats have died.  If you do get a bat house, consider joininghttp://batcon.org/, where you will find information on positioning your house and all manner of other things batty.  They even have a charitable connection with a shop witch neat things (try the wooden earrings!).   

In fact, I don’t think you can really go wrong with any sort of yard enhancement that feeds or shelters wild things.  The only exception would be the butterfly house, which is more likely to become a bee habitat.  A funny article I read suggested butterflies prefer mud. That’s it, just wet dirt. 

Over the months I have mentioned many groups, such as the one I am affiliated with, http://www.wildones.org/. I am not sure if they have a membership certificate that you can give your loved one, but you are not likely to find more accurate information any where.  

I began this blog speaking about Monarch Butterflies, and I do owe you an update. Again, long winter, short deadline.  You can visit http://shop.monarchwatch.org/ and take a look in their shop.  Though you might not be ready to rear monarchs, you might find a nice gift for the kids.  You cannot get a Monarch Waystation sign unless you are registered as such, but there are many other choicess to consider.  Or make a donation before December 31 for the Tax benefit.

If you want to encourage Planting of Natives, speak with your IGC owner and ask them about what stock they plan on having in the Spring, and get a Gift Certificate.  Or, consider a Gift Certificate to Amanda’s Native Plant Nursery, who will ship plants: http://www.amandagarden.com/index.html#.UrC7fRw16N8 (we might have missed her special, sorry).  WildThings Rescue Nursery is another merchant who I have had great experience with. Check out the website here:http://www.dawnswildthings.com/.  I bet you could work out a nice gift certificate deal. 

As far as bigger more generalized nurseries go, the only one I have had experience with is American Meadows.  They sell native plant seed mixes and/or, if you wait til the Spring, you can get very nice (guaranteed even) native plants and/or rootstock. Look for these in the Woodland Section.   I also suggest you encourage your giftee to get their emails and newsletters, and study what they might want.  Things tend to move quickly there when they go on sale. 

There are so many other groups that do wonderful things for our environment.  I like to support local organizations, but national ones also have merit.  If you find a group I do not know about, or failed to mention, please leave a comment.  Any other promotions I might come across will be listed in the Comments section.

Happy Holidays to All! 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?