Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

It’s Time to Reauthorize Wisconsin’s Stewardship Program

In 1989, Governor Tommy Thompson and the Wisconsin legislature created the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to preserve valuable natural areas and wildlife habitat, protect water quality and fisheries, and expand the opportunities for outdoor recreation. Normally, the Stewardship Program is on a 10-year cycle, but it was only budgeted for three years until 2022. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has recommended that Governor Evers’ next biennial budget include 10-year reauthorization of the program through 2031. The Nature Conservancy was deeply involved in crafting this recommendation and will work with the governor, state legislators of both parties, and the WDNR to ensure that this recommendation is adopted in the next state budget.

We have time to get a coalition of partners from other conservation, hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation groups to increase funding for the program, and reauthorize it for a longer period of time.

What Does the Stewardship Program Do?

One of the projects that was helped by the Stewardship Funds. This is the Guckenberg-Sturm Marsh on Little Lake Butte des Morts. Photo taken by Donna VanBuecken.

More than 90 percent of Wisconsinites recognize the importance of reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to protect our state’s lands, waters, and wildlife, fight climate change with natural solutions, maintain our mental and physical well-being, and grow our outdoor recreation and local economies. (The Nature Conservancy)

  • Clean Water — Protecting the forests, wetlands and grasslands that filter out pollutants in runoff before they reach our lakes, rivers, and groundwater.
  • Groundwater Protection — Protecting the lands that are essential to replenish the groundwater is critical to ensure a consistent supply of clean, safe water.
  • Flood Protection — Protecting grasslands, wetlands, and forests along rivers upstream to store water and help reduce the risk of severe flooding downstream.
  • Recreation Economy — Protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of land and hundreds of river miles for hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and other types of recreation.
  • Urban Outdoor Opportunities — Providing outdoor opportunities near home for all Wisconsin residents, including more trails and parks for those living in cities and surrounding urban areas.
  • Wildlife Habitat — Protecting large blocks of wetlands, forest, and prairie for birds, waterfowl, pollinators, bats, small and large mammals, and other rare, protected, and endangered species to roam.
  • Working Lands — Protecting working forest, prairie, and rivers in Wisconsin, along with the jobs and products they provide.

Nonpartisan Program

The Stewardship Fund is a nonpartisan program. It was named after former governors Warren Knowles, a Republican, and Gaylord Nelson, a Democrat. It’s the right thing to do for Wisconsin’s land, water, and wildlife. We have to make sure our lawmakers know how important land and water protection is for our state.

Write the legislature today.

Please let them know what you think about it.

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The e-mail photo courtesy of WDNR.

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Bird/Pollinator-Friendly Garden

All I see is sparrows! Donna VanBuecken

As cold as it has been, the birds have nowhere to go other than to hunker down in the bushes and leaf piles. Just sparrows – this was a result of my bird count.

In general, bird are nature’s messengers. As populations of birds change, those fluctuations may indicate shifts in pollution levels, climate change, habitat loss, migration timing, and more. How will birds be affected by habitat loss, pollution, disease, climate, and other environmental changes? How will you change?

Bird/Pollinator-Friendly Garden

Plant a landscape in which birds and pollinators will have a chance of dealing with climate change. More native plants means more choices of food and shelter for native birds and pollinators. More native plants will be colorful, visually appealing, and more healthy for the landscape. The landscape will need no watering or fertilizer because of the deep roots. More than half of the birds and pollinators are threatened as a result of the changing world.

The National Audubon Society has some points for your native-plant garden:

Chickadees feed 300+/- caterpillars to their chicks daily. Photo by Doug Tallamy.
Chickadees feed about 300 caterpillars to their chicks daily. In the 16 days it takes to fledge, chicks can eat more than 9,000 larvae. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

557: Varieties of butterflies and moths are supported by native oak trees, as compared to only 5 butterfly and moth species supported by non-native ginkgo trees.

96: Percentage of land birds that rely on insects to feed chicks.

1,200: Number of crops that depend on pollinators to grow.

30-60: Percent of fresh water in American cities used for watering lawns.

40 million: Acres of lawn in the U.S. currently.

80 million: Pounds of pesticides applied to lawns in the U.S. annually. Native plants, on the other hand, support a balance of predator and prey, and thrive without pesticides.

17 million: Gallons of fuel used each year for refueling lawn equipment while polluting the air and groundwater.

800 million: Gallons of gasoline used annually by lawn mowers. This produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, driving climate change.

Easy Ways to Create Bird/Pollinator Friendly Gardens

Recommended native plants for sunny areas by designer Rosemary Eiden (WOFVAC).

Create native landscapes that will benefit birds and pollinators and you. This website provides practical, educationally sound information on native landscaping developed specifically for first-time native-plant gardeners. Included in the website is native-garden designs created by professional landscape designers for multiple ecoregions in the United States. The native-plant list takes into account the various light, soil, and moisture conditions. Read more at the Wild Ones.

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The e-mail photo is by Doug Tallamy.

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The Great Backyard Bird Count

By Ken Sikora:

Now the birds get their turn to feed on the seed heads. Photo courtesy of Ken Sikora.

“My honeybees foraged through the flowers for the nectar this past spring and summer. Now the birds get their turn to feed on the seed heads of the same flower over the winter.  Everything will be mowed down come spring so the sun can reach the ground and start a new cycle of growth.”

The Great Backyard Bird Count

February 12-15, 2021

Participating is easy, fun to do alone, or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds. Simply watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 12-15, 2021, and tell us what you see.

Pick the best tool to use for sharing your bird sightings:

STEPS TO PARTICIPATE

First, register. Registration is free, and there is a huge amount of information about birds and the upcoming bird count on the GBBC website.

Mourning dove and babies sheltered in an evergreen tree. Photo courtesy of Jack Bartholmai.

Second, plan to spend at least 15 minutes counting birds from February 17-20, 2017. You can count as long as you wish, for as many days as you wish. There are checklists available for you to download from the GBBC website to use to record your information. You can count birds from your backyard or front yard, a nearby park, public garden, or nature center. Or, you can count from the local schools, hiking trails, beaches, and your cabin—anywhere birds are found.

Third, submit your information to GBBC. If you’re not sure you can identify all the birds you might see, plan to take good notes — size, shape, color, or unusual markings. Or you can try to snap a picture for later ID. Note: Photos can be uploaded to the GBBC website along with your checklists to create an illustrated list.

Data entry remains open until March 1, but the information you enter should only be from the four days of the Great Backyard Bird Count.

To register, go to The 2017 Great Backyard Bird Count.

For more details and hints on entering your data on the computer, download the HOW TO COUNT THE BIRDS: Easy as 1-2-3!

Why Should We Count Birds?

Cardinal on spruce. Photo courtesy of Jack Bartholmai.

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are located. Counting birds can be a challenge. Birds are dynamic. They are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document and understand the complex distribution and movements of so many species in just a short time.

Scientists use the information from the Great Backyard Bird Count, along with observations from other citizen-science projects, to gather what is happening to bird populations. The longer this data is collected, the more meaningful the data becomes at helping scientists research. As populations of birds change, those fluctuations may indicate shifts in pollution levels, climate change, habitat loss, migration timing, etc. How will birds be affected by habitat loss, pollution, disease, climate, and other environmental changes? How will you change?

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The e-mail photo is by Wolfgang Wander.

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A Small Native Plant Garden

Ken Sikora wrote this in an e-mail the other day: “Thanks for the Winter Seeding of a Prairie, Donna! Just last Thursday I did broadcast seeds in an existing prairie, trying to improve the wildflower diversity and fill in some thin spots. I did it knowing it was going to rain Friday, which would help force the seeds to the ground. Now, I’ll just sit back and wait a couple of years to see the results.”

A Small Native Plant Garden

Generally, I have been asked to assist in the plant design of large prairie fields, but this one is a small planting. One of the objectives of the design was to create a somewhat bold statement in sheer volume of foliage and color to draw attention to the site, as well as create a natural setting to attract pollinators and birds.

Bumblebee on Meadow Blazingstar (Liatris ligulistylis) with Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa). Photo by Joan Rudolph.

The Site

The site is a northeast corner lot that receives morning sun and faces south. It is shaded by a mature Red Maple (Acer rubrum) tree. The tree is approximately 8 feet from the edge of the area to be planted. The soil is medium. The area is approximately 9 x 18 feet or 162 square feet.

Maple trees are notorious for hogging surface water, so this will make a difference in the plant selection. The maple tree is likely far enough away so the root system may not interfere all that much with the garden (although their roots seem to extend forever), but I suspect the canopy will. We definitely want to stay away from plants that require a lot of moisture, like rain gardens do.

Native Plant Suggestions in Order of Bloom:

May-Jun Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

May –Jul Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)

Jun-Aug Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

Jun-Jul Smooth Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis)

Jun-Sep Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) or,

Jul-Oct Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) Deadhead some Brown-eyed Susan in fall; aggressive seeders.

Nodding Pink Onion (Allium cernuum). Photo by Joan Rudolph.

Jul-Aug Nodding Pink Onion (Alliium cernuum) Deadhead some Nodding Onion in fall; aggressive seeders.

Jul-Sep Lavendar Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

Aug-Oct New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae) Pinch back in June to maintain a shorter stature.

Aug-Oct Heath Aster (Aster ericoides)

Aug-Oct Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Others native plants to consider include:

May-Jun Long Beaked Sedge (Carex sprengelii)

Jun-Aug Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Jul-Sep Bergamot (Monarda fisitulosa) Will stay shorter in dryer soils.

Jul-Sep Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Will stay shorter in dryer soils.

Jul-Oct Zig Zag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

Aug-Sep Meadow Blazingstar (Liatris ligulistylis) Over 3 feet tall, but not bushy. As a specimen plant, the city might not object.

Remember to humanize your native garden. Be BRASH About Planning for Nature.

This is a small garden. No need to plant spectacle plants. That is NO Siliphiums (Cupplant,  Campusplant, Prairie Dock and Rosinweed). NO Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium). NO Baptisia (Blue False, Cream False and White False Indigo).

To develop a successful garden with plants blooming throughout the season, we need to be mindful of the amount of moisture as well as sunlight the plants require.

Remember! A native plant out of place is not a native plant.

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