It’s all about the Birds.

A transition from lawn to park in less than 1 year.
Avid birder and NYS Naturalist, Carmen Gumina is a professional photographer and is on a mission to create a wildlife habitat at his new suburban home. His home is in a new subdivision landscape with open lawns that is bordered by a deciduous forest.

He installed many bird feeding stations, but activity was minimal until the evergreens were planted. Then the property was buzzing with birds feeding at the stations and finding comfort in the shelter of the evergreen trees. In addition, Carm installed edible gardens for a summer and fall harvest to share with friends and family.

Photos by: CFG Photography

That was just the beginning of his plan to plant with a purpose. Broccolo is working closely to design and install a variety of plants to support birds’ appetite for berries and seeds but most importantly insects. Did you know that nestlings require hundreds of fleshy protein meals from caterpillars, beetle grubs and spiders to survive the 1st few weeks? The decline of host plants has a direct effect on declining bird populations.

Photo By: Doug Tallamy Homegrown National Park
https://homegrownnationalpark.org
Caterpillar photos from Broccolo staff

Phase 1 was planting the trees. Phase 2 is creating an inviting pathway for the neighbors by removing all the lawn except for a walking path that begins at the entrance of the driveway near the road. The gardens beckon the neighbor’s curiosity to enjoy a gift of nature in the front yard. It began with an idea, then a sketch, then plant choices, soil preparation and planting and now maintaining to get everything established. Once established, the native plants will require minimal care as they crowd out weeds and reduce the need to replenish mulch.

Phase 3 includes pollinator gardens. The different habitats in this average yard include wet areas, hot sunny dry areas, shade from the house and planned shade by the placing trees strategically to allow enough sun as they grow and mature without shading the plants that require sun. Some shrubs are perfect as understory fillers among the tall deciduous trees. Evergreens are used for screening and winter texture while also providing shelter.

Design plans integrate human and wildlife space to interconnect the outdoor decks, patio and pathways. Every day there will be new adventures with wildlife from the tiniest creatures to people living with the deer instead of fighting against them. There is so much to learn and the Broccolo team is discovering new possibilities every day.

Example, snowberry shrubs provide beautiful white or pink berries in the fall for the birds, but did you know they are a host for hummingbird moths? What is a hummingbird moth? What does a snowberry look like? Is it pretty in the landscape with its delicate flowers? How big does it get? Here can I plant it? That is what we love about gardening with nature.

Do you want to know more? Join our community on birding trips? A recent article in the RBA newsletter from the president, Little Gull Newsletter – Rochester Birding Association (Check the April issue),
describes his experience of Deep Listening! Just listen. Did you hear that? Hear that bird and it drowns out all the other noise.

Experience and be part of the Homegrown National Park Movement.
Get your tickets now:

https://broccololawnandlandscape.com/caterpillar-movie/
to the Extraordinary Caterpillar and hear from panelists about the great things already happening here in our community. Sometimes just taking a moment to listen and observe will motivate you to make the smallest change with a really big impact.