Drawbacks of the wildlife landscaping

[Dirtyhip]

I have been trying to fill in the hill with flowers and low growth indigenous grasses.  The indigenous grasses are beautiful little tufts that stay relatively small.  They are a key feature in the high desert landscape.  So, the last few weeks I have been seeding a lot of things.  I put out a bunch of clover seed.  Then I saw 4586 quail eating it.  I put out wildflowers and poppies.  Then I saw 3578 little songbirds bobbing around in the areas I put it.  Even if I sow it in the soil, I see little quail digging it up immediately after.   

I will just buy more seed.  

   

 

[shootingstar]

15 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I have been trying to fill in the hill with flowers and low growth indigenous grasses.  The indigenous grasses are beautiful little tufts that stay relatively small.  They are a key feature in the high desert landscape.  So, the last few weeks I have been seeding a lot of things.  I put out a bunch of clover seed.  Then I saw 4586 quail eating it.  I put out wildflowers and poppies.  Then I saw 3578 little songbirds bobbing around in the areas I put it.  Even if I sow it in the soil, I see little quail digging it up immediately after.   

I will just buy more seed.  

   

There must be a natural herb to stop the birdie friends from munching away your efforts.

[Dirtyhip]

Just now, shootingstar said:

There must be a natural herb to stop the birdie friends from munching away your efforts.

Eh, let them eat seed.  I have a feeling that many yards will have strange flowers coming up everywhere.  The seeds might eventually get planted...somewhere.

They don't ike bulbs and the ground squirrels tend to leave the ones I buy alone.  I think I am buying ones they don't like.  Tulips might be in danger.  I planted a lot of them and the deer eat them all.  100 tulip bulbs and no flowers.  HAHA.  

[smudge ★]

4 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

There must be a natural herb to stop the birdie friends from munching away your efforts.

Ha! Nice try.

[smudge ★]

I put netting over the apple trees at camp hoping not to have the devastation from deer as last year. 

Good luck with those thousands of birds. 

[shootingstar]

12 minutes ago, smudge said:

Ha! Nice try.

That's great that DH found something., bulb flowers.  I meant my comment in lightness, smudge.  I'm not a gardener.  

[Dirtyhip]

10 minutes ago, smudge said:

I put netting over the apple trees at camp hoping not to have the devastation from deer as last year. 

Good luck with those thousands of birds. 

We have tree jail.  Some of them might have to stay in there forever.    Luckily you can still see and ejoy the tree through the fence material.  HAHA

I am at total peace with the wildlife, with some jails.  

[maddmaxx ★]

Just think of your yard as a very large bird feeder and enjoy the birds.  The flock of turkeys that comes here has done extreme damage to my lawn.  Ten or so will stand in a close group and just scratch, ripping the grass out by the roots.  That probably means that there are grubs in the soil.

[Dirtyhip]

2 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Just think of your yard as a very large bird feeder and enjoy the birds.  The flock of turkeys that comes here has done extreme damage to my lawn.  Ten or so will stand in a close group and just scratch, ripping the grass out by the roots.  That probably means that there are grubs in the soil.

I think some of the cheap bird seed I was giving them last year has sprouted too.  I have millet coming up all over.  I prefer to feed that way than to have a feeder.  

The turkey story made me laugh.  I bet it is nice to watch them tear up your property.  I want turkeys.  They don't come around here so much.  I saw some woodpeckers doing a little dance yesterday.  It was a cross between dancing for a female and fighting with other males.  It was funny.  

[shootingstar]

22 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

Just think of your yard as a very large bird feeder and enjoy the birds.  The flock of turkeys that comes here has done extreme damage to my lawn.  Ten or so will stand in a close group and just scratch, ripping the grass out by the roots.  That probably means that there are grubs in the soil.

Sounds like that is simply living out in a more rural edge of town. Pros and cons. Hope there could be a solution to turkey fandom for your lawn grubs.

[maddmaxx ★]

6 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

I think some of the cheap bird seed I was giving them last year has sprouted too.  I have millet coming up all over.  I prefer to feed that way than to have a feeder.  

The turkey story made me laugh.  I bet it is nice to watch them tear up your property.  I want turkeys.  They don't come around here so much.  I saw some woodpeckers doing a little dance yesterday.  It was a cross between dancing for a female and fighting with other males.  It was funny.  

The large brown spots were almost perfect crop circles.  Today after a night of pouring they are just a muddy area in the middle of a lawn recovering from winter.

[Further]

34 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

Tulips might be in danger.  I planted a lot of them and the deer eat them all.  100 tulip bulbs and no flowers.  HAHA.  

Tulips are deer crack

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

The large brown spots were almost perfect crop circles.  Today after a night of pouring they are just a muddy area in the middle of a lawn recovering from winter.

Wow.  LOL, that probably pisses you off.  

BTW, your hood is gorgeous.  There is a lot of trash in this town, especially if you live in the outskirts.  HOA areas are prettier of course, for a fee.  

When you come up our street, the person across the way is very sloppy/dead cars/trash in the road.  I don't really see it too much and I will have a wall of shrub/trees.  None of our windows face that side for a reason.  

[maddmaxx ★]

Just now, Dirtyhip said:

Wow.  LOL, that probably pisses you off.  

BTW, your hood is gorgeous.  There is a lot of trash in this town, especially if you live in the outskirts.  HOA areas are prettier of course, for a fee.  

When you come up our street, the person across the way is very sloppy/dead cars/trash in the road.  I don't really see it too much and I will have a wall of shrub/trees.  None of our windows face that side for a reason.  

To the right of the pic up the road about a quarter of a mile is a house with 6 Land Rovers in the front yard all in various states of repair/stripping.  I'm in a small cluster of houses but as you go up the road there are fewer.  Everyone has acres of trees behind them though.  One entrance to my bike trail is 800 steps from my driveway.  That trail stretches across more than half of CT.  It's a rails to trail line that crosses lakes/marsh on causeways and across valleys on high causeways (140 feet or so) that used to be trestles in the early 20th century.  "Over the river and through the woods."  It's so forested that I rarely get a sunburn or even a dark tan from riding it.

[Dirtyhip]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

To the right of the pic up the road about a quarter of a mile is a house with 6 Land Rovers in the front yard all in various states of repair/stripping.  I'm in a small cluster of houses but as you go up the road there are fewer.  Everyone has acres of trees behind them though.  One entrance to my bike trail is 800 steps from my driveway.  That trail stretches across more than half of CT.  It's a rails to trail line that crosses lakes/marsh on causeways and across valleys on high causeways (140 feet or so) that used to be trestles in the early 20th century.  "Over the river and through the woods."  It's so forested that I rarely get a sunburn or even a dark tan from riding it.

CT looks nice.  There are so many beautiful places here.

[maddmaxx ★]

1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

CT looks nice.  There are so many beautiful places here.

I think I'd rather live near the coast and have fewer trees.  But, here I am and it's paid for so here I stay.

[Airehead]

2 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

I have been trying to fill in the hill with flowers and low growth indigenous grasses.  The indigenous grasses are beautiful little tufts that stay relatively small.  They are a key feature in the high desert landscape.  So, the last few weeks I have been seeding a lot of things.  I put out a bunch of clover seed.  Then I saw 4586 quail eating it.  I put out wildflowers and poppies.  Then I saw 3578 little songbirds bobbing around in the areas I put it.  Even if I sow it in the soil, I see little quail digging it up immediately after.   

I will just buy more seed.  

   

Feeding the quail is a good thing. 

[Airehead]

Just now, Airehead said:

Feeding the quail is a good thing. 

You could put out berries for them. They lime those best

[Dirtyhip]

12 minutes ago, Airehead said:

You could put out berries for them. They lime those best

I am too cheap. Fresh berries are for me.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

14 hours ago, Dirtyhip said:

Then I saw 4586 quail eating it. 

The Food Network has over 80 recipes for quail...  

[Ralphie ★]

17 hours ago, Further said:

Tulips are deer crack

Hmm. We have a huge commercial tulip farm. I don’t think they have it all fenced with a huge deer proof fence. I wonder how they do it?

[maddmaxx ★]

1 hour ago, Ralphie said:

Hmm. We have a huge commercial tulip farm. I don’t think they have it all fenced with a huge deer proof fence. I wonder how they do it?

Wolves.

[Prophet Zacharia]

19 hours ago, Further said:

Tulips are deer crack

I always thought of tulips as being deer lollipops, but crack works, too.

[Dirtyhip]

4 hours ago, Ralphie said:

Hmm. We have a huge commercial tulip farm. I don’t think they have it all fenced with a huge deer proof fence. I wonder how they do it?

They deal with the losses.  Like a farm does.  

I like where you are going with this.  More bulbs.  

[Ralphie ★]

14 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

They deal with the losses.  Like a farm does.  

I like where you are going with this.  More bulbs.  

I don’t know!  Rows and rows of tulips lollipops that look pristine.  I would think if there were deer around they would be trampled. 

[Dirtyhip]

7 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

I don’t know!  Rows and rows of tulips lollipops that look pristine.  I would think if there were deer around they would be trampled. 

Some probably do.  I bet they get plenty of losses without a fence,

[MoseySusan]

We used plugs instead of seed. Over the years the grass filled in and sends out enough volunteers to fill in. We don’t have deer or quail, though.

770 grass plugs for the lawn. A flat for the ornamental, which propagates itself. 

 

[MoseySusan]

[goldendesign]

We just redid our front. Went to all local plants that support a healthy bee population. The beekeepers about a mile from our house are probably happy that the flurry of bees around us has been extra prodigious. 

 

Thankfully the deer population either doesn't like these or has yet to notice...

[smudge ★]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:56 AM, Dirtyhip said:

We have tree jail.  Some of them might have to stay in there forever.    Luckily you can still see and ejoy the tree through the fence material.  HAHA

I am at total peace with the wildlife, with some jails.  

I have been meaning to ask about tree jail. Do you have a pic?