RHIS Presents Backyard Wildlife Habitat

Redlands Horticulture and Improvement Society welcomed Professor of Natural Resources, Kurt Leuschner, from the College of the Desert in Palm Desert as their speaker for their January meeting. Backyard Wildlife Habitat was the subject of Leuschner’s presentation. Leuschner began his program by stating that “The key to a backyard habitat is plants; attracting beneficial insects and birds by planting native plants.” He went on to share that even if one person in the neighborhood had a great yard or habitat, that was full of native plants, that would do a lot to alleviate fragmenting native habitats that have been turned into parking lots and malls, which have no benefit to wildlife. Leuschner encouraged the audience to re-evaluate their lawns. “Useless lawns really do nothing but waste water, money and time. People are finally getting the idea that water is not this unlimited resource. We really do need to curtail our water usage.” One of the ways he suggested reducing water waste was by transforming lawns. People can learn about native plants to their area and plant those plants. Most lawns don’t get any use and planting native plants will reduce the amount of lawn that takes up water, time and money. “If you don’t plant the right stuff, the native stuff, you will attract the wrong kind of critters, too. Wrong kinds of birds; pests such as house sparrows and starlings which are both non-natives. The brown headed cowbird is native, but is a nest parasite. They lay their eggs in other birds nests. If you want to avoid attracting cowbirds, change your landscape by getting rid of turf grass. Planting native plants attracts native birds,“ explained Leuschner. Leuschner suggested keeping native palms intact. Many palm trees are hacked and skinned. Allow palms to grow with the skirt of the palm intact. The skirt helps to protect the palm from frost, wind and sun damage as well as provide homes for beneficial critters such as yellow bats which only live in palm trees. Yellow bats eat insects. If you need to have palms pruned, avoid pruning them during the time between March 1 through August 1, this is nesting season for native birds like the Castrel hawk and oriole. Transforming a yard into a backyard habitat is an educational process. “Food, water and shelter are the things you want to think about when creating your wildlife habitat,” Leuschner said. Right kinds of food in the form of plants, a water source such as a bird bath, preferably one that has a drip system, and plants that provide shelter as well as artificial shelter such as birdhouses. Following his presentation, Leuschner gave the audience an opportunity to ask questions. The Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society meets the third Thursday of the month from September through June at 7 p.m. at the Church of the Nazarene, Young Hall, located at 1307 E. Citrus Ave., Redlands, CA.