Ms. Que Banh

5 years ago, this spot was just useless colonial lawn. Now, it's full of #biodiversity & attracts multiple pollinators, birds & beneficial insects. There's lots of buttercups, nettles, clovers, miner's lettuce, wild violets, sedges, buckwheat & tall grasses growing now. You can even see some self seeded chive flowers in background.

#Rewilding takes longtime, consistent efforts, over a few years. It's worth the time & effort! Rewilding is one way that I actively & personally contribute, locally, to essential #ClimateAction 🙌 I believe in living true to your core values & ethics. I love hearing/seeing/discussing #rewild subjects with folks - offline or online 😀

#Saanich #GrowPlantsNotLawns #Nature #GardeningForClimateChange #VancouverIsland #PNW #YYJ #AntiLawns

Jun 20, 2024 at 10:18pmWeb
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 20, 2024
I used a lot of great animals poop & leaf mulches & worms to help rewild this spot! I love beneficial shit! It's amazing for rewilding work. Gimme that good poop!
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
Bring me poop, enriched compost soil or awesome seeds or potted plants & not cut flowers bouquets.
Always.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
It's the only shit I'll accept from any man.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024

I am seriously glowing with personal pride over some areas of our backyard bursting with more #biodiversity now! Took awhile to see the efforts pay off. Gardening, with intention, really helps to hone your patience ❤️

It really self motivates me to keep on, keeping on, with more #rewilding work in our yards. It also helps me to keep joining local #community #volunteer work parties to create more #rewilded #greenspaces in suburban areas here! Since I have seen what the efforts produce.

I hope you can join local rewilding efforts, wherever you live too!

Show threadMx. Luna Corbden 🐸Jun 21, 2024

@PhoenixSerenity #rewilding #wildscaping #naturescaping

My mom started this and I’m taking over with my own ideas, as I can with my fatigue. She got rid of the lawn, but her way obsesses a bit with being tidy about it which requires more upkeep we haven’t been able to keep up with. This is only a small portion of the yard, so I’m trying a more cultivate and let it do is thing approach.

Thanks, I was itching for an excuse to take picture #1. The others are from various times this spring.

Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@corbden Looking good! I so want to stick several stonecrops into them rock walls!
Show threadMx. Luna Corbden 🐸Jun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity A million years when we get to that I’ll try to remember you know things and hit you up! Brain can’t hold anything new today alas.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@corbden I understand & am patient 💗
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@corbden That's a banded alder beetle in your photos 🙂
Show threadMx. Luna Corbden 🐸Jun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity Yep! I’ve lived in Washington between Seattle and Tri-Cities (desert side) for 46 years, was intensely interested in insects for the first ten of those, and never once saw one till this two weeks ago. I IDed it and was pleased and surprised to find it’s native. Tells me I’m doing something right by not doing (not cutting down that half dead maple). It became my first entry on iNaturalist.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@corbden It is happy in the ecosystem!
Show threadMx. Luna Corbden 🐸Jun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity Very! My mom wanted me to kill it asap 😔 I’m trying to teach her differently. If it’s not bothering anyone and not invasive or harmful, leave it alone. She’s very upset right now about an “ugly” pile of sticks that she can’t even see most of the time. She’s starting to get some of it. Decolonizing that whiteness right on out of both of us.
Show threadAngelaJun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity trying! Long grass and invasive climbers have invaded our property from neighbours, so it's like I gotta go out with a machete every two weeks
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@seawall I love that you are trying & chopping with a machete too 👍🙂
Show threadAngelaJun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity lol sorry, that was comic exaggeration, I don't have a machete (just secateurs and loppers). My older brother had a machete though and used to let me use it years ago. I'd get my own, maybe once my kid is older and more responsible with blades
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@seawall I have 2 machetes 🙂
Show threadAngelaJun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity omg, that's hawt
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@seawall You'd like my tomahawks & throwing knives too 🙂👍
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@seawall I am an axes & knives woman. Those are my chosen handheld defense tools & I use them in other useful ways too.
Show threadPaulJun 21, 2024
@PhoenixSerenity you should be proud! Looks like you've done a great job.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 23, 2024
@paulcox Thank you 🙌
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
I've got a semi sort of rewilded spot, but it's kind of a fire hazard, so I still have to cut it back pretty severely. If the rye grass continues taking over, I'm going to have to start mowing it.

Violets are kind of brutal too. They're replacing everything in the front yard not bush sized or bigger, despite our best effort at keeping it diverse. They're even eating the clover!
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy You can replace with better plants. There's a few that help with fire prevention ❤️
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
I really can't... my allergies keep me out of the garden during flowering season, and the grass just comes up bigger every year with all the seeds it's spreading. All I can do is dig it back in a few spots, and plant like, one or two vegetable plants.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy Do you wear mask while gardening? My Mom has to because of her pollen allergies.
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
Masks don't protect your eyes and skin. I do go out in the garden anyway, just not nearly enough to make a difference.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy It helps my Mom enjoy gardens a bit more than without one. Lowers her sneezes too.
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
I can't imagine enjoying anything with a mask on. I do wear a mask when I garden though, yes.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy Do you grow any willows?
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
No I do not have a lake anywhere near here.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy You don't need a lake to grow willows.... I have grown them to help irrigate in dry areas. I just mulch it heavily.
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
How would a giant tree help irrigate? Willows drink water they don't generate it.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024

@cy They actually don't drink more than needed. They help irrigate because they store extra water in their large, spreading taproots. It's why we plant willows as one of the first rewilding trees in areas that have been damaged by human development.

I have been working with willows for rewilding for over a decade now.

Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
Ah, well... I only have about 10 feet of space, so not going to be planting any big trees. Trying to dig through large, spreading taproots does not sound lik a fun time. Already have a weeping cherry bullying in on the space. I like growing stuff I can eat, too.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy Best to look at drought resistant edibles for your smaller space then. If you need recommendations, please let us know your grow zones so we can help to recommend suitable climate friendly plants 👍
Show threadCyJun 21, 2024
Uh, 8b, but it's specifically the Pacific Northwest, specifically in the Seattle/Portland microclimate which gets boring drizzles between November and June, then no rain and dry heat from July to October. Mostly I have plantains and dandelions growing, and a bunch of amaranth even though it tastes terrible.
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy I'm in same grow zones 👍
Show threadMs. Que BanhJun 21, 2024
@cy I have a giant willow in my backyard. Zero river or waterway feeding it.