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Out the Window, IV Originally I'd planned for flagstone stepping stones leading from the front yard to the back. The fact that I didn't want to lift them and their price discouraged me and I opted for some inexpensive concrete orange colored stepping stones. As it was I purchased them over two days and placed half of them one morning and the other half the next. The next task was to build a low wood fence with a gate to separate the front from the side yard. There was certainly no need for a fence and gate since the side yard is completely open to the surrounding desert and native wildlife. However I felt I wanted to separate one area from the next and a low fence with gate would do that. The gate posts also gave me a place to hang two succulent filled clay pots that would be safe from animal munching. An area next to the house where there were no windows and isn't visible from the office window was dead space. I didn't want to plant anything there because moisture has a way of attracting termites. But I wanted to use the space for plants. Plants that would be safe from hungry rabbits, ground squirrels and the night marauding javelina. The area faces the northeast so it gets morning sun and shade all afternoon. My solution was to build a display table and have it sitting on posts so the ground squirrels and other animals couldn't climb up to the plants. It actually worked out pretty well and I plan on building another display table on another section of the wall if more plant display area is needed.
Other additions to the Out the Window garden include a shepherd's hook to hold a hummingbird feeder. Three brittle bush plants were placed around the concrete bench and a small saguaro was moved from another spot on the property making sure its orientation was the same so that it wouldn't suffer sunburn. A watering dish was also moved about ten feet from its original location. The two ocotillos that were planted last fall did not leaf out in the spring although they did have flowers and the canes still have a green color. With the early rains of mid June one ocotillo finally leafed out. The rabbits and the other wildlife is still a major problem. Although the purpose of the garden is to attract animals and make it possible to take close-up photographs, it's not a very good garden if the animals eat all the plants.
The flowers produced by the Mexican primrose were consumed by ground squirrels and lizards. The cottontail rabbits would eat the primrose when they could get at it through the protective fencing. By the end of June the harvester or leaf cutter ants had stripped the primrose of their foliage. Just about anything planted was sampled by the wildlife and protective fencing had to be added to give the plants a chance to grow. Water, shade and wet ground became two very important aspects of the wildlife garden. Shaded damp ground was very popular with all the animals in the late afternoons when temperatures were in the hundreds. The hummingbird feeder attracted lots of woodpeckers, verdins and finches along with the hummingbirds. One of the birdfeeders became a nesting platform for a mourning dove. The only thing I'll have to do during the summer is keep the watering holes cleaned and filled with water and the hummingbird feeder filled with sweetened water. The local wildlife will supply the entertainment. (2000) Editor's note: There's been some changes to this area. It's still a work in progress and some of the original plants did not do well. An update will be provided when the new plantings have had a chance to establish themselves. |
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