The Trees in Your Yard are Part of the Urban Forest

There are many reasons to preserve and manage forests and the trees within. Trees cool us. They give us oxygen. They are carbon sinks. They filter pollution. They buffer sound. Trees provide beauty and a sense of place and promote mental well being. They provide wildlife habitat.

American Beech beginning to show it’s fall foliage. Photo by Lilly Anderson-Messec

We are fortunate to live in a region that includes the large St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, the vast Apalachicola National Forest, many state parks, forests and wildlife management areas, most of which contain well managed forests. We know how important these large holdings are to both resident and migratory birds. But how important is our urban forest to birds? Tallahassee’s urban forest is made up of trees in your yard, in my yard and throughout residential and commercial areas including local park land and school yards.

Let’s take a look at just one in-town yard in the Doomar Drive area and see how birds are doing there. When Ann and Don Morrow bought their home over 25 years ago, the house was shaded by a grove of shortleaf pine trees which surround the house and a few big sweetgums. As biologists, they understood the importance of trees to birds, particularly this pine grove. These large pines and hardwoods harbor abundant insects which are then eaten by birds – warblers, woodpeckers, wrens and many more – throughout the year. They also understood that pines in a grove like this move together and protect each other during storms. In all these years, through several hurricanes, their grove of pines has stood.

Over the years, they have encouraged the natural seeding and growth of other species such as black cherry and have planted a diversity of trees – red buckeye, American beech, blue beech, Florida sugar maple, silverbell to mention a few. Their yard is now beautifully forested.

Red Buckeye blooms in spring, just as migrating hummingbirds return from South America. Photo by Lilly Anderson-Messec

Don, an avid birder, has recorded 121 species of birds in or flying above their yard. Feeding guilds of nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, warblers and downy woodpeckers move along the limbs of trees hunting for insects. Flycatchers and gnatcatchers capture flying insects above the branches.   Mississippi kites have nested high in the pines. Goldfinch and pine siskins cling to sweetgum balls to eat the tiny sweetgum seeds. Without this diverse forest, they would have far fewer birds.

Most people in Tallahassee realize the value of a healthy urban forest and, for that reason, we now have an urban forester who will oversee an evaluation of the current state of our urban forest and the development of a plan to protect, increase and manage the forest in the future – the Urban Forest Master Plan.

Pollinator favorites: Anise hyssop and African blue basil draw a crowd

Herb gardeners are well aware that bees love herbs – their flowers almost vibrate with activity as summer arrives. Lavender, thyme, rosemary, mint, oregano, borage, and bee balm are all favorites among the bees.

However, the two that seem to attract the most attention are anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and African blue basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum x basilicum). Both are carefree herbs with so many endearing characteristics for pollinators and humans alike.

Anise hyssop is a tender perennial that reaches up to four feet tall and around one to two feet wide, thriving in full sun and average, well-drained soil. With pale purple flower spikes, it's a very attractive candidate for the herb or butterfly garden. This stately plant will not only buzz with bees of all types, but moths and hummingbirds too.

Anise Hyssop, “all-star bee plant,” enhances gardens and landscapes. (Photo: Elizabeth Georges)

Historically, mass plantings of anise hyssop were established in parts of the Midwest specifically as a honey plant. Nineteenth century beekeeper accounts claimed that a single acre could provide ample forage for 100 colonies of honeybees. Besides being an all-star bee plant, the fragrant leaves make a lovely anise scented tea or syrup. The individual blossoms could even adorn a salad.

African blue basil is a sterile hybrid of an East African camphor basil and a standard garden variety called ‘Dark Opal’. It produces leaves that are rich green with deep purple venation, and long purple stems sending up spikes of delicate lavender blossoms.

Unable to produce seeds of its own, this herb is easily grown from cuttings and works great as a standalone shrub or a border plant in full to part sun. It’s considered a tender perennial and will not survive a frost. It can be overwintered inside if grown in a pot, then planted in the ground come spring.

The amount of pollinator activity on this selection makes it a benefit to any garden – from European honeybees, to native solitary bees and beneficial wasps – African blue basil is simply alive with pollinators when in bloom.

The leaves exude a musky camphor-laced flavor that may be too pungent and less appealing to those who are familiar with more traditional basil flavors. I find it flavors pesto and sauces nicely and makes a stunning addition to herbal vinegars and scented oils.

Tiny metallic green sweat bee visiting African blue basil. Photo by Elizabeth Georges. African blue basil blooms are very attractive to many native bees and beneficial wasps. (Photo: Elizabeth Georges)

As well as being beneficial for native bees and other pollinators, African blue basil and anise hyssop are very easy to grow – no special herb garden necessary. You can plant them in the existing landscape, mixed with other native wildflowers and ornamentals, or you can plant them in a pot.

Attracting wildlife, in this case our very special pollinators, takes a little extra work, but the effort is worth it when you see and hear the hum of bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and moths visiting your herbs. Have a go and you will be amazed how much life you will attract with just a few plants.

Backyard pond attracts frogs, dragonflies and birds

Vanessa and Richard Crisler designed a pond in their Betton Hills backyard, not for fish, but for frogs, dragonflies, and other wildlife. It is shallow and includes a sandy, gravelly beach along one edge.

They were shocked when an immature bald eagle perched on a snag above the pond and hung around for half a day. They often have hawks and owls bathing, drinking, and catching frogs, snakes, and other critters using the pond.

At Native Nurseries, I like to hear the sound of the large leopard frogs plopping into the water as I approach the pond in the evening. It is exciting to watch an occasional great egret or great blue heron hunt for fish and frogs in the pond. I even enjoy watching banded water snakes basking in the sun while curled up on a pond plant at the edge of the pond.

People build ponds for lots of reasons; for the tranquil scenery, for the relaxing sound of cascading water, for cultivating prized water lilies or koi, and for providing wildlife habitat. If attracting wildlife to your pond is your goal, planting native pond plants is your means to achieve it. Build habitat and they will come.

Plants serve as food, cover, and habitat for small fish and insects which become part of the food web for other wildlife. In addition, plants are of utmost importance in creating a healthy garden pond.

It is good to incorporate a variety of types of plants in your pond or water garden. There are two categories of underwater plants, submerged and deep-water aquatics. Both survive and thrive with their roots underwater or in permanently saturated soil.

Submerged plants have underwater leaves. Two of the best submerged plants are hornwort and tapegrass. Both provide cover and breeding habitat for fish, frogs and other wildlife. They help oxygenate the pond, releasing oxygen from their leaves as a by-product of photosynthesis. Oxygen passes directly into the water, enabling the water to support other life forms.

This garden pond, planted with all native plants, provides habitat for wildlife.

Hornwort is a free-floating plant and is purchased by the handful and released to float loosely in the pond. Tapegrass, purchased in small pots and placed on the bottom of the pond, is a graceful underwater undulating grass for sun or shade. Both will multiply and need to be thinned periodically.

Deep water aquatic plants have roots and flexible stems which are submerged, but leaves and flowers must float above the water. Good examples are water lilies, which must have sun in order to bloom well.

In addition to providing habitat, underwater plants also absorb nutrients (from pond fish) that are dissolved in water, thereby competing with algae. Probably more important in the control of algae is the shade that water lilies and other plants provide. Good advice is to plant your pond with enough aquatic plants to cover 60 to 80 percent of the pond's surface. However, remember that algae is a fact of life for a water gardener. It cannot be totally eliminated but can be controlled through creating a balanced ecosystem.

Your pond should also contain marginal or edge plants that inhabit shallow water or the edges of a water garden. They provide vertical contrast and cover for birds, aquatic insects, and other small creatures. It is important to position marginals in the depth of water that best suits each individual plant. Most grow quickly; you may need to control growth by isolating them in planting beds or in pots.

Some good examples are lemon bacopa, duck potato or arrowhead, pickerelweed, soft rush, yellow canna lily, powderblue snakeroot, cardinal flower, and blue flag iris. Lemon bacopa is a low growing, mat-forming perennial found on saturated soil or shallowly inundated. It has bright blue flowers in summer and what I love most about it is its lemon scented foliage.

Another favorite is cardinal flower, with its brilliant red flower spikes that hummingbirds visit in summer. This can be planted at the edge of the pond or kept in a clay pot sitting in shallow water. Want butterflies? Plant pickerel weed with its lovely purple blossoms.

Finally, use moisture loving plants around the pond to create habitat and to lightly shade the pond. These are the plants that thrive in moist soil but will not tolerate waterlogged soil. A good example is maidenhair fern. It will accent the rocks around the edges of your pond but will die off if inundated.

All the plants listed in this article are native to Florida. Be very careful with non-native aquatic plants. Some may have the potential to become the next invasive plant, such as hydrilla or water hyacinths, which choke our lakes, rivers, and springs. The worst of our aquatic invasives were introduced as pond plants through the aquarium and nursery industries.