Pensacola News Journal

For: Saturday, September 28, 2002

By: Daniel E. Mullins

Extension Horticulture Agent

Santa Rosa County

Save and Establish Native Plants for Wildlife

The potential loss of wildlife habitat has been one of the biggest concerns voiced by the County Extension Horticulture Advisory Committee. As the Gulf Coast region grows, part of what was once native vegetation is converted to houses, businesses, parking lots and other hard surfaces.

All species of wildlife need food, cover, water and space. Most homeowners know the necessity of providing water, but the other 3 requirements often go lacking.

The easiest way to provide food is by saving as much natural vegetation as possible during development and supplementing with other selected native food plants. Examples of common plants that local wildlife depend upon include: flowering dogwood, hollies, magnolia, red maple, oaks, persimmon, pines, sweetgum, American beautyberry, blackberry, blueberry, elderberry, fringe tree, saw palmetto, pokeweed, sassafrass, waxmyrtle, muscadine grape, coral honeysuckle and Virginia creeper.

Cover is needed for protection and reproduction and it is needed in varying heights. As the number of layers of vegetation is increased, so are the number of bird and mammal species. Native plants such as saw palmetto, blueberry, yaupon holly, waxmyrtle, beautyberry and several vine species can help to meet this need by filling the void between a high canopy and low, ground cover plants.

To make the point concerning the need for layered vegetation, I sometimes ask this question: What wildlife would be present in a yard made up of only a large tree canopy and a closely clipped lawn? The answer is mostly squirrels and blue jays.

The brown thrasher for example, nests close to the ground, but feeds in understory trees. If you want more wildlife species, there must be a more diverse plant population present in the landscape.

An animal’s need for space is simply the size of area containing sufficient food, cover and water for the creature to survive. This size varies depending upon the density and availability of these resources.

The Florida panther requires about 100 square miles of space. A white-tailed deer needs 2 square miles, while a cardinal requires about 1 acre. Obviously, some animals require more space than a single residential lot can provide.

A healthy and diverse urban wildlife population is therefore dependant upon cooperative efforts within neighborhoods. Larger areas and wildlife corridors can be created by allowing several properly vegetated pieces of property to remain connected.

Additional information about managing for wildlife is readily available at the University of Florida’s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation web site. Go to http://www.wec.ufl.edu/

Question of the Week: Is it too early to prune my crapemyrtles?

Answer: Yes, avoid heavy pruning during early fall. Branch removal at this time of year could stimulate a late flush of growth which would be susceptible to the first freeze.

You can tidy up plants if you wish, by clipping off old flower spikes. Cut an inch or two below each. Crapemyrtles generally do not require heavy pruning. If any is needed, delay the job until late winter.