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A do it yourself Habitat Island
I have developed a cooperative partnership between my nursery and you that gives you flexibility in developing a landscape plan for your property. Many people have more energy than dollars and many people want to take part in creating their own landscape.
I supply the plants, a landscape design and detailed instruction at each step along the way. You provide the labor.
This joint venture can cut the cost of installing a landscape in half. By doing the work yourself and using smaller plants that I provide, you can install larger and more ecologically valuable landscapes. I have developed this collaborative plan for several good reasons. You can have the landscape you want and reduce your installation costs. More importantly you will be able to afford more plants and develop larger plantings than you could otherwise. That is good for you in the short term and much better for the environement in the long run.
A typical habitat island using trees and shrubs just after planting but before mulching. The original installation took place in 2006 the after pictures were taken just 4 years later in 2010.
A landscape should do more for you than simply look pretty. Plants are living things and plants have complex relationships with other organisms like insects, amphibians, birds and mammals. Plants also provide many environmental benefits that we often forget about. A "Habitat Island" is a way for our personal landscapes to satisfy these other environmental needs. A large area of grass is converted into an oasis of mixed native vegetation that I describe as a "Habitat Island". That island provides ornamental beauty to the homeowner and at the same time provides habitat for birds and animals and contributes numerous other environemental benefits to us and to the larger surroundings.
Habitat Islands can be any shape, size or quantity. Each island can be designed for a specific goal.
Developing vertical structure, dense cover, plant diversity and spatial scale are key ingredients to providing habitat for birds. The habitat island is successfull in attracting birds to your backyard because it satisfies the needs of the birds. A mix of plants: large trees, flowering, trees, large and small shrubs are integrated into the landscape, over time they will grow and develop together as a plant community rather than as individuals. This is what makes this design so inviting and attractive. Each island may contain a dozenor more species of shrubs and trees. Each species may provide attractive foliage, flowers, fruit and fall color that together creates quite a seasonal show.
Habitat Island surrounding an existing tree.
You no longer have to live with acres of lawn to mow, a barren landscape and no wildlife nearby. I can work with you to shape your surroundings into the natural landscape you wish to have. Convert some or all of your lawn into beautiful habitat islands. Once you know the process and how affordable they are , you will want to convert all of your lawn.
this page updated September 1, 2010