Even a small city lot can do a lot for the cause
by Ron Cammel
November 2008
When an unfamiliar weed pops up in my yard, I leave it alone. Sometimes it turns out to be an invasive nuisance that I eventually pull, and sometimes it reveals itself as a native beauty worth keeping. Either way, I learn something.
Years ago a plant I didn’t recognize shot up in the backyard. Soon it produced beautiful purple flowers. I discovered it was swamp milkweed, and I realized I was one lucky guy.
The seeds spread, and now four-foot plants grow every year where I hang laundry—some even in the cracks of the concrete. Masses of bees, purple wasps, and other insects buzz around the flowers on warm days. Monarchs, often two at a time, flutter in to visit. I may have a little less room for laundry, but what a show. And the busy pollinators never bother me.
Even though I live on a city lot just two miles from downtown Grand Rapids, I find plenty of room for native plants without sacrificing much space for vegetables and herbs. In return I enjoy the birds and other wildlife they attract.
When I moved in four years ago the yard already included natives such as viburnums, dogwood shrubs, hemlocks, liatris, obedient plant, enchanter’s nightshade, and spiderwort. Looking to add more useful flora, I tore out myrtle and replaced it with Black-eyed Susans and Purple Coneflowers. I removed pachysandra in favor of wild strawberries and Bluestem Goldenrod. Surprisingly, I’ve had fewer weed problems since then.
I’ve also added trillium, blue lobelia, thimbleweed, bottlebrush buckeye, ferns, lupine, and blackberries. The blackberries may be a cultivar, but caterpillars are sharing them and birds seem to focus on the insects, leaving me the berries.
I cut down a Nishiki willow bush that I never saw a bird use and replaced it with Blue False Indigo. This native perennial is attractive, produces rattling seedpods, and supports native wildlife. I’ve also allowed asters, Virginia creeper, boneset, and other “cool” volunteers to find their places in the beds. Chipmunks occasionally help by planting sunflowers that redirect my landscape design.
It’s wonderful to see goldfinches feeding their young in the yard. Cardinals sing every summer evening, and a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks visited last year. House Sparrows and House Finches appear as well, but a surprising variety of birds have stopped by at least briefly.
I expect the lawn to continue shrinking and the bird population to grow as I add new beds for native plants. Sometimes I wish I had acres for prairies, meadows, and woods to help restore wildlife habitat. But I’m discovering that even a small city lot can do a lot for the cause.