Going indigenous

Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) building his nest. 

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
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We’ve all met different kinds of gardeners. There are ornamental gardeners who aspire to have a garden worthy of showcasing in the pages of gardening magazines. There are vegetable gardeners who proudly feed their families (and neighbourhood) with the bounty of their land. And there are passionate wildlife gardeners who find great joy from a new bird or butterfly who has chosen to visit their wildlife garden. I am a wildlife gardener. Personally, the entire reason that I garden is to create habitats for wildlife, and every choice that I make in my garden is made with the needs of wildlife as a top priority. What is beautiful to me is not the individual “specimens” of plants scattered through a garden, but the birds, butterflies, bees, insects, lizards, frogs and toads, and other wildlife who make their home in a garden that I have created. And happily, my garden will never appear in the pages of Garden & Home!
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2006 - Young Acacia's and Celtis's at my wildlife pond
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2006 - Young Acacia's and Celtis's at my wildlife pond
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2009 - Young Acacia's and Celtis's at my wildlife pond
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By 2011 the Acacia's, Celtis's and Karee's were fairly well-established at my pond
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2011 - starting to take shape
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The White Karee's in my garden when planted in 2005
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The Acacia karroo (Vachellia karoo) and Karee's in 2009
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Planting mostly indigenous has really paid off. When my Celtis's, Acacias and Karee's were small, most of the birds, besides Sparrows and Weavers, were only occasional visitors to my garden. Since the trees and shrubs have become 'grown-up', an amazing array of birds have moved in, living and nesting here. Black-eyed Bulbuls, Olive Thrush, Ground-scraper Thrush, Robins, Mynah, Black-throated Canary, Fiscal Shrike, Crested Barbet, White-browed Sparrows, Red-headed Finches, Red Bishop, Golden Bishop, Bronze Mannekins, Greater-striped Swallows, Rock Pigeons, Laughing Doves, Ring-neck Doves and White-eyes. Daily visitors (don't know where they live!) are the Black Sunbird, Black-headed Oriole, Bokmakierie, Diederick's Cuckoo, Wood Hoopoe, Redbilled Woodhoopoe, Fork-tailed Drongo, Redwinged Starling, Glossy Starling, Arrow-marked Babbler, Grey-headed Bush Shrike, Mousebirds, Red-faced Mousebird, Red-chested Cuckoo (Piet-my-Vrou), Cape Turtle Doves and the occasional Paradise Flycatcher, Grey Lourie and Pin-tailed Wydah. I've even had a couple of King Fishers, although goodness knows why, I don't keep any fish.
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Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus) at one of my feed tables
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Ground-scraper Thrush (Psophocichla litsitsirupa) keeping an eye on me as I walk through the garden. they just love scratching through the loose leaf litter
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Laughing Dove (Spilopelia senegalensis) fledgling - these little birds are SO trusting and unafraid...
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Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) contemplating a nesting site in one of the Acacia's (Vachellia karoo)
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Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus) - they are daily visitors now and I still don't know what attracts them as I never see them at the fruit tables
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Grey Lourie (Corythaixoides concolor) visiting
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A Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis nitens) making use of the bathing facilities
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Indigenous planting has many benefits. Besides drawing birds, wildlife and insects endemic to your area, there is less chance of losing any plants due to extreme heat or cold. Planting indigenous species provides a living environment that is part of the local natural system. Indigenous plants have evolved as part of the entire biological population of an area. A strong interdependence exists between indigenous plants, animals, insects, and micro-organisms. Planting indigenous species can contribute to the maintenance of a balanced and diverse eco-system.
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With habitat disappearing at an alarming rate, you can help provide wildlife with an oasis of the habitat they need to thrive. The native plants that you use can meet the needs, including food and cover, of native wildlife without causing long-term damage to local plant communities. With the right diversity of native plants in your urban landscape, you can provide:
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• Protective cover for many animals.

• Seeds, nuts, and fruits for monkeys and other mammals.

• Seeds, fruits, and insects for birds.

• Nectar for Sunbirds and butterflies.

• Larval host plants for butterfly caterpillars.
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Caterpillars (larvae) of the Speckled emperor Moth
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Caterpillars (larvae) of the Speckled emperor Moth at the base of an Acacia karroo
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The adult Speckled Emperor Moth after hatching sitting on a Restios
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However, one of the most important advantages of planting indigenous is saving water – you also save yourself money and contribute towards overcoming the world's critical shortage of water.
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The beautiful pom-pom flowers of the Indigenous Acacia karroo (Vachellia karoo)
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Not only are indigenous plants water-savers and low maintenance but some also exude a wonderful perfume. A fragranced garden appeals to one of most evocative senses and with careful planning one can have a perfumed garden throughout the year. Use scented bulbs like freesias, scented agapanthus, night-scented gladioli, the wild honeysuckle tree, sweet salvias, jasmine and the lemon-scented pelargonium. Then there are those plants which release a strong aroma when touched. Pelargoniums (Geraniums) are best known for this. Favourites are the rose, nutmeg and peppermint scented.
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Indigenous plants can be used to create impenetrable barriers and block out sound, making your garden a haven of security and tranquility.
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Kei Apple
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Kei Apple - ideal as a hedge due to its density
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 The virtually impenetrable thorns of the Kei Apple
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An old favourite is the Kei apple, which can be trained very easily into a hedge plant. The lemon thorn is also an attractive intruder deterrent. Other types include the forest num-num, buffalo thorn, the common turkey berry, spiny gardenia, false forest spike thorn and prickly asparagus thorns.

Indigenous plants also make very effective windbreaks. It is a good idea to leave hedges in coastal gardens untrimmed and a bit wild so they act as wind breaks.
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The garden in 2012 with the trees now well-established
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Plant shrubs closer together so they can protect each other. The tick berry is ideal with its yellow, daisy flowered bush. It is quick growing and loved by birds for the fruits and by butterflies as a larval host plant. Try Honeysuckle and Plumbago (forget-me-not), both of which can be trimmed or left to scramble.
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 Bulbinella flower - attracts many insects and the leaves are useful for treating cuts and burns
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 Celtis africana (White Stinkwood)  and the White Karee (Rhus viminalis, below) providing shade, shelter and food to many species of insects and wildlife
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Weaver's nest in one of the White Karee's (Rhus viminalis)
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Nest of the House Sparrow in one of the Acacia's taking advantage of the safety of the thorns- they will use the same nest year after year, just adding fresh leaves, as can be seen here. These little brown jobbies are renowned for their messy-looking nests!
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So, if you would love to have lots of wildlife in your garden, then going indigenous is for you. I'm not saying that, if you are into neat borders, lots of colour and exotic plants and you hate leaves littering your lawn or garden beds, you won't have lots of wildlife in your garden - animals and insects are amazingly adaptive and resilient and make the most of whatever is on offer. The most important point is just that we carry on gardening and provide refuge and food for all the little creatures we share this planet with.

PS: Please excuse all the dots between paragraphs, but Blogger has been playing up lately and won't make paragraphs. In fact, Blogger seems to be totally out of sync, not quite the same since Google+ is taking over the world! 

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Nature is waking up!

Finally the garden is waking up! The first sign that winter was at an end, was the bright splashes of the Clivias, they looked stunning in the shade, providing much-needed colour. Many succulents are also advertising the advent of Spring, some of them flowering for the first time since I acquired them.

My Pleiospilos nelli flowering for the first time

All the garden birds are also more active - the Masked weavers have started breaking down last year's nests and are gathering strips of weaving material from my Windmill Palm. The Fiscal Shrike probably already has her first brood, as she has started following me around the garden, begging for some minced meat, which I duly put out on the feeding table for her. I haven't seen them much most of the winter, was wondering if they're still around. 

My Robbie (Cape Robin-chat) seems to have disappeared, haven't seen him or his wife around at all. Even all my calling has been to no avail. This is very sad for me, I loved having him around and visiting me in the house to get a tit-bit. But ever since the Karoo Thrush attacked him inside my house, nothing's been the same. He started keeping to himself on the edges of the garden until this past summer, when he disappeared completely. I am SO hoping that he'll be back...

So, as they say, Spring is time for pink wine, working in the garden, time for love and new beginnings, cleaning out the cupboards (been there, done that), shopping (not really my thing), getting into shape for summer (not really my thing either!), and time for change. Change is good. I like change. So my resolution for this spring is to work more in the garden, change things around a bit, get my succulents in order (I need to start a succulent garden, I've got far too many in pots!) and clean out the wildlife pond.

What will you be doing this Spring?

Spring is nigh - Help your garden birds in their nest-building efforts

Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus) building his nest in my garden

Winter (and what a winter it has been! With snow, hail, floods and tornadoes, not our usual winter weather!) is slowly coming to an end here in South Africa and soon the birds in your garden will be thinking of nesting, and a top priority for them will be nesting materials. One of the best parts of providing habitat for birds in your yard is the possibility of your garden being chosen as a nesting site.

Upon searching "nesting materials for birds", I came upon a wonderful article on Habitat Network, which I'm placing here for ease of reference.

Cape Robin-chat (Cossypha caffra) 

--> nest and babies in my garden
The initial excitement of discovering a new nest tucked away in a shrub you planted, or one perched up on a ledge, is rivalled only by the joy of finding that precious clutch of eggs gently nestled within. The fledglings’ eventual success or failure depends on several environmental factors, some of which you can influence, and some of which are in the hands of the parents and chance.

Birds use a variety of materials to build a strong nest and hold it in place. You can help by putting out supportive materials like:

• Piles of rigid and flexible sticks of different sizes
• Pieces of native grape vine or Virginia Creeper
• A collection of coconut fibres or horse hair
• Mud in a bowl or create a small puddle nearby

Insulation is another very important feature in a well built nest. Heat loss due to wind and wet conditions will cool eggs in a nest during incubation recesses and the parent has to regenerate that heat upon return. You can put out a wide range of insulating materials that birds like to use:

• Wool from sheep, goat, or alpaca, cotton batting, and animal fur
• Grass, hay or straw, and leaf mulch can also be easily offered
• Non-dyed Crafting Feathers are excellent and can be a favourite among Tree Swallows

For hiding the nest, deterring predators and for decoration to help attract a mate, offer:

• Pieces of lichen and moss
• Snake skins and spider webs
• Green Material such as pine needles or sprigs of herbs or shrubs

There are numerous ways to offer building materials. We do, however, encourage the use of natural materials to lessen the risk of entanglement in synthetic fibres like netting, twine, or fishing line. Avoid using animal fur that has been exposed to flea or tick treatments or dryer lint because it may contain harmful residues. Keeping all of this in mind when offering building materials will help the birds in your yard produce high-quality, safe, and secure nests.

And, finally, some birds nest in trees and shrubs and are called “open cup” nesters, while others require use of a “cavity” to nest. Historically, these cavities were in dead trees, called snags, but people also provide nest boxes that meet this need as well.

So give the birds in your garden a fighting chance this year by planting indigenous, providing food, water, cover and nesting materials and your joy will be unparalleled!


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What a winter!

Winter is winter, I know, and why anything surprises me is a good question! But this year the seasons have been extremely peculiar. Unlike South Africa's weather, sunny, warm, clear blue skies, even in winter. No. More like the rest of the world's weather!

Tornadio touches ground in Tembisa, Gauteng, South Africa 

25th July 2016

After the hectic heat waves we had this past summer, winter has brought in absolutely freezing temperatures and stuff like snow!, hail, floods and tornadoes! Tornadoes? In South Africa?! Well, there you have it. We actually had a few tornadoes.

As the hail started, I thought of running out and moving some of my succulents under cover, but it was already too fierce. 25th July 2016

And rain, In the middle of winter. Not Gauteng weather at all, we are a summer rainfall area. And hail, LOTS of hail, big hail! When it started, my mind was racing. What can I save? My plants are going to be annihilated! What about my garden birds?!

I watched helplessly as the storm got worse and worse, pounding the trees, the plants and wreaking havoc. Luckily my chooks were already in their coop as I had suspected some foul play earlier in the morning and had left them inside.

The hailstorm lasted for about 20 minutes, followed by heavy rain the rest of the day and night. And it took my gardener a full day to clear all the leaves, broken branches and rubble. Mr. Brown, a stray rooster, was in the aviary at the back of the pic, hiding in the shelter provided and the sound of the hail on the tin roof must have been deafening, it certainly was in my house, we couldn't even hear one another talking.

My experience is that, if we have late-winter rain, then probably we are in for a good rainfall season, so that's one positive to look forward to!

An unusual sight - Aloes blooming in the snow!

 Snow in the Eastern Cape, South Africa – July 2016

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