We created a wildlife garden at our home in a small city lot in the center of Missoula, Montana. Our garden uses plants native to the Missoula valley, and receives no irrigation. Our front yard is a wild Misoula prairie, with over 70 species of plants. Our backyard is a combination of rooms, more traditionally landscaped, but still using Missoula natives. The only thing we water in our yard are our vegetables. Our goal is to use native plants to create a small piece of habiat for wildlife while providing a comfortable and interetsting yard for us to enjoy. We have attracted over 50 species of birds to our yard, and countless butterflies and other insects. Our houshold uses less than 50% of the water in an average Missoula home, but we still have a lush, unique and beautful yard.
Recent PostsThe greenhouse has been doing well, especially since we've had a relatively mild fall so far. It has been a lot of fun extending the gardening season- before the greenhouse we would have been long done vegetable gardening by now. Despite the relative...
The transition to the winter greenhouse garden continues....We removed most of the cold intolerant plants, but kept a few Thai pepper plants that had some flowers and fruits on them, and they are still doing great. Frankly, I was happy to get rid of ...
“What can I plant that the deer won’t eat?”I am commonly asked this question, and I usually try to avoid the topic. Typically when I give talks about wildlife gardening and native plant landscaping, I structure the talks to town-dwellers with u...
With temperatures expected to be around 6° F in the next a few days (yikes!), it is time to transition the greenhouse from summer to winter. Right now, the greenhouse is over filled with Thai peppers, eggplants, basil and tomatoes - all plants that...
Susan Morrison, of the wonderful Blue Planet Garden Blog, challenged garden bloggers to share their lawnless gardens in a post (here) , to bring attention to, among other things, her "ongoing quest to replace the Great American Lawn with garden". A n...
While not technically fall yet, with nights getting in to the 30's and cottonwood leaves turning golden, fall will be here soon. For a lot of reasons, fall is my favorite time of the year, and it is one of my favorite times in the garden. This is th...
This blog is currently rated a 4.67 out of a possible 5 based on 3 comments.
John NasgovitzGreat looking yard and blog. I live in the lower rattlesnake and would like to convert my front yard into a native landscape. Did you rent a turf cutter to roll up the lawn? Do you know where I can get one? Please email - thank you!!!!
Mary Lynn ArchibaldVery nice blog, and wildlife garden. Good for you!
ML
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Thanks for the comments. Here is a link with information on how to remove a lawn.
http://montanawildlifegardener.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-remove-lawn.html
You can find sod cutters at any equipment retal place in town.
David
Posted: November 12th, 2009 | More Reviews From DSchmetterling | Report This Comment