Wildlife in the garden. What I welcome, and what I don’t

I am a wildlife and nature lover. My display gardens have lots of birdbath’s, butterfly houses, and bug hotels. We are on 5 wooded acres, with a little over an acre being open, where the house, greenhouses, and gardens are. The other 4 acres have deer, coyote, racoons, opossums, squirrels, and lots and lots of turkeys! (Gobble Gobble!!) And my very least favorite…..snakes.

I’m sorry, but I do not like snakes. I will scream like someone is chasing me with an axe, if I get surprised by one. I know they are good for rodent control and such, and basic garter snakes only elicit a small scream out of me anymore, I can tolerate those, but it’s the overabundance of Hognose and Blue Racers that I just can’t deal with. I spend a fair amount of money trying to keep them out of my rose gardens. Snakes dislike cedar, so all future mulch purchases will be cedar chips, and I buy and spray snake repellent all around the perimeter of the yard. Bob can tell when I’ve sprayed it, as it’s very potent cedar smelling. It’s quite nice, unlike the deer repellent, that smells horrible. At my previous nursery in central Michigan, my rose gardens were encased in 10+ feet of deer fencing around everything. There were that many deer, and they weren’t shy. Here is West Michigan on our property, the deer are sparser, and those that we have are shy and do not venture up into the yard. So far, we do not have deer fencing of any sort up, and I’m hoping it stays that way. It’s been 2 years with no deer issues here, so I’d think if they knew a colorful salad bar existed for their midnight dining pleasure, they would have started by now. So, they too, are not welcome here. No deer….No snakes. The bunnies can wreak havoc on rose plants, and some have been pruned by them, but I think my dogs do a pretty good job of keeping them out of the yard. And they are cute. That gives them grace.

I do not spray pesticides on my gardens. I will do all I can to protect the birds, earthworms and bees. I will spray the babies that will be sold, to keep them healthy, but they are potted, and away from the main gardens by themselves.

We are entertaining the idea of bee keeping, wine making, and setting up a small pottery studio for Bob, who is a potter, and a good one at that! Since we met, everything has been about moving, moving the nursery and getting the new gardens going. He has not thrown clay in a few years.

Does Hummingbird Pottery have a nice ring to it??!!

Here are some of his creations. I told him that if he started a line of rose embellished pottery, that he’d be able to sell it, no problem. I think I will continue to encourage that!