Invasive privet (aka Chinese privet) is a non-native species throughout the Southeast USA. Privet crowds out native wildflowers, bushes and trees, and is difficult to remove. For example, when I moved to my property in Catoosa County, Northwest Georgia, nearly the entire edge of my woods was a solid mass of privet. Since removing it,…
Old satellite dish,/ turned skyward, filled with water:/ Fine redneck birdbath.
I posted this piece on Wildflowers and Pollinators in the “Pollinator Friendly Yards” Facebook page. After only 4 days, I had dozens of comments and over 1500 likes! Obviously I hit a nerve; many people said that my post and what I was doing gave them hope. Most importantly, it shows that changing your lawn…
Natural yards for the birds, bees and butterflies — and for the pleasure they brings human senses — are nothing new. I personally have created my own natural yard for decades, as has my brother. Where did that inspiration come from? Our forest ranger father, who taught all my siblings that lawns were silly, foolish,…
It is often so/ that when we clear dross and junk,/ we find wonderful. Using a loping shears to clear underbrush and non-native privet from around the hardwood trees in my back yard reveals an undergrowth of black-eyed susans and other hidden wildflowers. Sometimes you have to burn the grasses and weeds from large fields,…
When you take time to/ look for beauty, you might be/ rewarded with more.
Folks look at my yard/ and see lots of grass to mow./ They miss wildflowers.
Wildflowers and butterfly beauty is one of the best parts of rural life. As people go back to the woods or the fields, focusing on being self-sustaining and off-the-grid, one of the first questions they ask is: “What should I DO?” One of the most vital things I tell them is what they should NOT…
Every place has pests and problems to deal with, its own Trouble In Paradise. Wisconsin mosquitos and cold, Arizona’s oppressive heat and poisonous bugs and snakes, Washington state’s rain and mold and rain and dampness, Georgia’s bugs and heat and humidity and CHIGGERS! As part of the #LightTheWorldNow #BuildHisKingdom project, I was thinking about the…
Identifying plants — especially native ones — can be a somewhat difficult process, especially if you’ve moved (as I have) to a bio-zone different from where you’ve lived before. I was talking about this issue with my brother Gene, out in Washington State. He’s gotten very good at identifying native plants on Vashon Island, where…