Yards Apart

1. Buy ready-made habitat. The knowledgeable staff at the Backyard Bird Shop (multiple locations) can help you choose a bird feeder, mason bee nesting block, or bat box that’s right for your yard.

2. Plant groups of natives. Native insects and birds often can’t digest the leaves and berries of exotic ornamentals, but they thrive on plants that they’ve evolved with over eons. And since they’re attracted to groupings of native plants, not single specimens, be sure to plant at least three of each species. Try these five: red-flowering currant, native huckleberry and elderberry, kinnikinnick, and Lewis’ mock-orange.

3. Mimic nature’s patterns. By growing foliage at various canopy levels—trees, shrubs, and ground cover—you’ll give different kinds of birds and insects the right kinds of protected places to nest and forage.

4. Learn more.

-Take a free naturescaping workshop series , sponsored by the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, to learn gardening practices that create habitat while reducing water use, stormwater runoff, and chemical pollution.

-Join the Backyard Habitat Certification Program, sponsored by the Audubon Society of Portland and the Three Rivers Land Conservancy. For $25, a staff person will make a site visit and help you develop a plan to remove invasive weeds, install native plants, manage stormwater, and steward wildlife in your garden.

-Read Douglas W. Tallamy’s informative book Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (Timber Press, 2009) or get an overview of his argument for the moral and practical imperative of native gardening.