Plant Help

Plant Help by Mike Hirst


Many people want to encourage wildlife in their backyard. Are planning to improve your wildlife habitat? Great wildlife habitats just don't happen in your back lot or landscape. You need to plant the correct plants, shrubs, and trees. Knowledge is they key to great plant selection. This article will help you with selecting plants to improve your habitat for wildlife. Are you stumped about what to put in your native habitat? Do you like what you see in other landscapes but feel uncertain that the plants will do well in your native habitat? Many garden centers and nurseries have professional horticulturists on staff who will gladly answer your questions. However, be wary of great looking flowering plants. Nurseries often feature the plants that are blooming that week because they sell well. A plant might look great in the nursery, but it may not be a winner in your native habitat. Your wildlife doesn't care about beautiful flowers unless you are a bee. Bees are not what you want to attract.



A wildlife habitat site should provide some of the basic elements wildlife need to survive: food, water, cover or places for wildlife to raise their young. You will not always be able to do all three of these things at your site. Yet don't feel bad. It may not be necessary. You may not be able to provide enough feed for 5 deer but with careful plant selection a small area can provide cover for many times that number of deer. Selection - Grow native vegetation like locally native shrubs, trees and other plants that produce acorns, berries and other seeds to supply food for wildlife. For birds, feeders can supplement natural food sources. Your choice of plants must first deal with what will grow on your site. Then you must decide what type of plants you want. The type of plant will determine the spacing and thus the number of plants needed. Some plants will take more work than others. I suggest you should select plants that grow fast. If it takes 15 years for an oak to start to produce a lot of acorns, do you want to wait that long? Some fast growing plants will produce shelter and feed at a fast rate. One such plant is the Viburnum. It is easy to grow. It will grow in most soil types and can take deer damage better than most plants. The uses for viburnums are as numerous as the species available. Around the home landscape, viburnums can be used as hedges, screens, and specimen plants. These plants are an excellent additions to wildlife plantings. Several viburnums are native to Pa and suitable for naturalized areas. There are well over 25 species in cultivation and most viburnums provide excellent, year-round interest. Beautiful flower clusters appear in the spring, followed by ornamental fruit in late summer and colorful foliage in the fall. Most viburnums perform best in well-drained soils and full to part-sun. However, several grow well in partial shade and wet areas. They range in size from 4- to 6-foot-tall shrubs to small, 15- to 20-foot trees. Some have fragrant flowers, others produce edible berries. Many provide food for birds in winter.


When I was in the 8th grade I would go fishing along the Delaware River near Lambertville at night. I would camp along the river bank and fish into the wee hours of the night. I am always drifting back to those childhood memories when I pass a river birch tree that is highlighted by lights at night. The night time interest that this tree expresses can help capture moments for you. The main feature of this medium sized spreading tree is its colorful peeling bark. This builds up on the stem and main branches in soft curling layers of orange, pink, Grey and brown. Another great advantage of this species is its tolerance of wet soil and seasonal flooding making it an ideal pond or riverbank tree. Specimens often develop multiple stems which increases the attractiveness its shaggy bark. As an ornamental tree it also has bright green, toothed leaves and long yellow clusters of catkins in early spring. It will have a spreading root system that will check erosion. It is hardy and will seldom blow down. The plant is native to the eastern states from Massachusetts to Florida. The range continues along the Gulf of Mexico and into Texas. Besides, River birch tree groves are a favorite resting place for White Tailed deer.


Birch (Betula spp.) is composed of 30 to 50 species growing in Asia, North America, and Europe. All species look alike microscopically. The word betula is the classical Latin name of birch. The important species are yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), sweet birch (B. lenta), and paper birch (B. papyrifera). Other birches of some commercial importance are river birch (B. nigra), gray birch (B. populifolia), and western paper birch (B. papyrifera var. commutata).


The Dura Heat Birch grows to 25' in Zone 5. It is a superior river birch selected for heat tolerance, creamy white exfoliating bark plus borer and leaf spot resistance. Particularly effective when clumped together. Butter yellow fall foliage.


Yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) is the most valuable native birch. It is recognized by the yellowish-bronze exfoliating bark. This how it gets its name. The inner bark is aromatic and has a flavor of wintergreen. Other names are gray silver birch, grey birch and swamp birch. This birch is a slow-growing long-lived tree is found with other hardwoods and conifers on moist well-drained soils. Many of its native range is uplands and mountain ravines. It is an important source of lumber and a good browse plant for deer. Other wildlife feed on the buds and stems.


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About the Author
Bill grows trees and plants on his farm in Doylestown Pa. Sign up for his newsletter at http://www.seedlingsrus.com/123456signup.html or visit his web sites at http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.zone5trees.com or http://www.huntingrelics.com