The California Wildlife Habitat Garden: How to Attract Bees, Butterflies, Birds, and Other Animals

by Nancy Bauer

Overview

This attractive, practical guide explains how to transform backyard gardens into living ecosystems that are not only enjoyable retreats for humans, but also thriving sanctuaries for wildlife. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs, this book provides easy-to-follow recommendations for providing food, cover, and water for birds, bees, butterflies, and other small animals. Emphasizing individual creativity over conventional design, Bauer asks us to consider the intricate relationships between plants and wildlife and our changing role as steward, rather than manipulator, of these relationships.

In an engaging narrative that endorses simple and inexpensive methods of wildlife habitat gardening, Nancy Bauer discusses practices such as recycling plant waste on site, using permeable pathways, growing regionally appropriate plants, and avoiding chemical fertilizers and insecticides. She suggests ways of attracting pollinators through planting choices and offers ideas for building water sources and shelters for wildlife. A plant resource guide, tips for propagating plants, seasonal plants for hummingbirds, and host plants for butterflies round out The California Wildlife Habitat Garden, making it an indispensable primer for those about to embark on creating their own biologically diverse, environmentally friendly garden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520267817
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	08/08/2012
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	434,715
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Nancy Bauer is the author of The Habitat Garden Book: Wildlife Landscaping for the San Francisco Bay Region. She is a writer and garden instructor based in Sonoma County. She has taught classes for the San Francisco Botanical Garden, UC Davis Master Gardeners’ training programs, the National Wildlife Stewardship Program, and for numerous garden and nature organizations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments viii

Why Garden for Wildlife? xi

Chapter 1 Growing a Wildlife Garden: The Adler Garden, Walnut Creek 1

Chapter 2 Bird Habitat: From Quail to Hummingbirds: Quail Hollow, Tujunga 33

Chapter 3 The Pollinator Garden: Butterflies, Bees, and Other Beneficial Insects Charlotte's Habitat, Novato 67

Chapter 4 The Wildlife Pond: The Biggses' Pond, Sebastopol 107

Chapter 5 Front Yard Habitat: Burying the Lawn Aesthetic The Blackstone Monarch Habitat, San Jose The Pacheco Wildlife Garden, Fountain Valley The LaMar-Goerke Wildlife Garden, Mill Valley 129

Appendices: Starting a Habitat Garden 167

Appendix A Natural Gardening Guidelines 168

Appendix B Native Plant Communities 175

Appendix C Oaks in the Landscape 179

Appendix D Plants for Hedgerows 184

Appendix E Seasonal Plants for Hummingbirds 188

Appendix F Common California Butterflies and Host Plants 193

Appendix G Top Nectar and Pollen Plant Families 198

Appendix H Invasive Pest Plants 209

Appendix I Sources of California Native Plants 211

Appendix J Books and Resources 216

Bibliography 221

Plant Index 225

Editorial Reviews

"A must-have for novice gardeners, and an invaluable resource for more experience gardeners looking to expand or improve their wildlife garden. It is well written, applicable throughout California, easy to understand, and has stunning photographs."

Fremontia

Well-produced, practical, and thorough, this book is a significant contribution to habitat gardening literature . . . [including] useful plant lists and appendices. . . . an outstanding model for other regionally oriented habitat gardening books in terms of level of detail and useful specifics."

American Horticulture Society

A practical and readable guide for turning backyard gardens into sanctuaries for birds and bees and beneficial insects. Bauer, who has taught classes for the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the master gardeners and other groups, calls on readers to consider the intricate relationship between plans and wildlife, and the role humans can take as steward rather than manipulator, of those relationships.

Press Democrat

"A must-have for novice gardeners, and an invaluable resource for more experience gardeners looking to expand or improve their wildlife garden. It is well written, applicable throughout California, easy to understand, and has stunning photographs."

Fremontia - Carolyn Martus

“Well-produced, practical, and thorough, this book is a significant contribution to habitat gardening literature,” says Brandy Kuhl. She particularly appreciates its “useful plant lists and appendices.” Susan Appleget Hurst feels that it is an “outstanding model for other regionally oriented habitat gardening books in terms of level of detail and useful specifics.

American Horticulture Society - Judges for 2013 Garden Book Award