Back to the Land

A question came up on one of the gardening forums recently from someone wanted to buy a small farm and intended to turn part of it into a wildlife area. They asked the group about any special caveats to follow in turning farmland to wild lands, and the group came up with a number of suggestions.

1) Remember this is a project that will take up to 20 years. Don't expect it to look natural overnight. Birds and animals will move in gradually, not suddenly. Until it's established, you will need to do some support work.

2) Plan your plantings. Know where you want a meadow to go, and where you want trees. Create your paths now so that you have access to your fences and other parts of your property.

3) In any situation where a commercially used land is going to be turned into a wild area, HAVE THE SOIL TESTED! Years of spraying and selective fertilizing may have left residues in the ground that will kill your wildflowers and prairie grasses. Your local county agriculture agent will be glad to give you advice on how to get the soil tested, what labs do the type of testing you want, and about how much it will cost.

4) Walk around the property at different times of the day and survey what wildlife is already there. Is there a good source of drinking water for animals? This is one of the most often overlooked needs of wild creatures. Identify areas that need to be cleared of plants and trash. Leave good brush piles and some snags (old dead trees). These are used as homes by many animals.

5) Most of the responders preferred a managed return to the wild rather than "just let it grow back." Most people said they talked to their local extension agents about appropriate types of trees and bushes for their land. Letting it "grow back" often invites "trash trees" that don't provide much habitat for the area.

6) Invest in, or have good access to some good equipment. You may need to tear out stumps, dig postholes (or holes for trees), and dig trenches. Meadow areas will have to be mowed frequently to make sure the more common (undesirable) weeds such as bloodweed don't become established.

7) You won't be planting things and then leaving them alone. You'll have to check trees and bushes for damage from bugs and animals and you may have to water frequently to help saplings get established.

8) Check with your state forestry agencies, as well. There are a number of organizations that

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