Shantell PowellI'm wearing my snazzy lobster flip flops to do some gardening. Time to plant some tomatoes. #gardening #lobster #fashion
When I first moved here, my backyard was utterly barren. I've been inoculating the soil with mulch, soil from a nearby forest, and litter from my chinchillas. Now it's overrun with wild strawberries, false Solomon's seal, wild violets, and more. I resurrected this earth, and now it's favoured by lots of pollinators. I also have ramps, trillium, mayapples, and stinging nettle back here. There's also a patch of groundnuts (the tuber, not the peanut). Dandelions, goldenrod, beardtongue, sorrel, cleavers, and goji berry grows here, too. #gardening #rewilding
One of my proudest moments was a few years ago when fireflies lit up the backyard. I'd never seen them there before. It's possible to create habitat for native species in small areas. Planting native species instead of lawns, and not using pesticides helps native pollinators. I've seen several species of native bees in my yard since rejuvenating this little patch of earth.
One of the first things I did when I moved to this house was get rid of the front lawn. It is a wild witchy garden now. In a space about 20'x20', I have daylilies, strawberries, loganberries, Saskatoon berry, swamp milkweed, goldenrod, mullein, onions, garlic, fennel, white clover, rhubarb, plantain, gooseberries, echinacea, brown eyed susan, daisies, currants, and more I know that I'm forgetting. It looks completely different from anyone else's yard in the area.
I let the grass grow high, and then I pull it by hand and dry it into hay for my chinchillas.
The shady side of my house has sorrel, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, and loganberry.
I made a mistake when I moved here and planted lily of the valley. I didn't realize they were invasive. Well, they're pretty and smell nice, at least. I obsessively yank any garlic mustard I see growing in my yard.