Wildlife in Your Garden: Planting and Landscaping to Create a Backyard Sanctuary

by Karen Lanier (Editor)

Overview

Imagine a thriving garden in your backyard, bursting with vibrantly colored blooms and lush green leaves, shaded by tall trees. Now imagine the same garden, alive with buzzing and flapping and chirping and croaking. Imagine the ecological impact of encouraging natural pollinators. Imagine the excitement of watching your garden become a hub of activity and learning about all of its different visitors. For those who relish observing nature in action, planning a garden to attract certain types of wildlife can bring daily enjoyment right into the backyard.

Inside Wildlife in Your Garden:

How to deal with and even appreciate the insects in your garden

Reptile and amphibian backyard visitors and how they can contribute to a healthy ecosystem

“Birdscaping”—planning and planting with birds in mind

A special section on hummingbirds that includes an illustrated guide to twelve common types

Using binoculars and field guides to identify birds by sight and by calls

Different types of pollination and the plants and food crops that depend on it

Butterfly metamorphosis and gardening for the different life stages

How bats and moths take over pollination duties at night

Learning to coexist with four-legged furry friends who like to dig and forage

Natural ways to protect your garden from pests and discourage harmful wildlife

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620082577
Publisher:	CompanionHouse Books
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	65 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Karen Lanier is a naturalist, documentarian, teacher, artist, and gardener. She’s worked as a seasonal park ranger in national and state parks from California to Maine, and wildlife has always been a close ally in her work of connecting people with their environments. By creating a documentary in Brazil about a reforestation project, she knew that her mission would be to highlight the good deeds that humans are capable of where nature and culture intersect.

Her career path has been long and winding, yet she has always found a way to communicate the preciousness of the natural world to her audience. Karen holds degrees in photography, French, and environmental documentation as well as professional environmental educator certification. She is actively involved with the Lexington, Kentucky, chapter of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, and she works closely with Kentucky Association of Environmental Education. While she still thrives in the midst of the wilderness, she finds encouragement in the butterflies and bees that magically appear every summer, finding nourishment from the flowering native sunflowers that frame her patio, in the middle of downtown Lexington.

Karen Lanier is a naturalist, documentarian, teacher, artist, and gardener who explores the intersections of nature and culture. Karen holds degrees in photography, foreign language, conservation studies, and documentary studies as well as a professional environmental educator certificate. Karen worked as a seasonal park ranger in state and national parks across the US before settling in Kentucky. Her Americorps volunteer experience with Seedleaf, a community gardening nonprofit, helped her shift her migratory perspective on life toward putting down roots. She is actively involved with native plant, community gardening, and environmental education groups in her area.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction

Your Garden

Insects: A Respectful Approach

Reptiles and Amphibians in the Garden

Birds: Part I

Birds: Part II

Mammals: Pros and Cons

Final Thoughts

Resources

Index

Photo Credits

About the Editor