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Wildlife and Gardens - Part 6

© Marge Talt

As I noted last week, if you want to attract wildlife to your garden, you need to consider plants that will provide food for the critters the year around. You need to use plants that are appropriate for your garden and where you are in the world. In my USDA zone 7, Maryland garden these are some I grow or know.

One of the most useful trees you can plant (if your conditions are suitable) as far as wildlife is concerned is Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood) or Cornus nuttallii (Pacific Dogwood), the west coast counterpart, which is very similar in form, flower and fruit.

Both birds and mammals are partial to its bright red berries. This is a small tree to twenty or thirty feet in height (6.09 - 9.14 m) with about the same spread; attractive in all seasons. The cascading branch form is good when bare in winter; the white flower ( bract )is lovely in spring before leaf out; the red berry in early fall is attractive for a couple of weeks, until they're all eaten, and the foliage develops wines and red tints before it falls. If it weren't for the susceptibility to Dogwood Anthracnose , it would an absolutely perfect tree. I've lost one to this disease, but it seems an isolated case and there at least twenty or thirty mature dogwoods on our property - so don't let this susceptibility stop you from considering this tree for your garden.

There are other Cornus species that you may want to consider if they suit your conditions better. All members of this genus are lovely and their fruit is relished by the birds.

The common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is worth considering if you have the space. Persimmons are rated hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9. There are several on our land and one outside of our bedroom window that I enjoy, but it's not for the small property; there are too many other, more interesting trees that would be a better use of space. I've never eaten the fruit from ours, the wildlife beat me to it, but I understand it is pretty tasty if you wait until it's ripe. Nothing is as sour as unripe persimmons!

Smaller, but still not a "specimen" tree for the small garden, is the common Pawapaw (Asimina triloba. It's hardy from USDA zones 5 to 8.

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