For instance, for my forested area, the online form asked the type of forest (I chose deciduous) and if it was managed for wildlife (yes). All my trees are native, but unfortunately, I have a lot of Japanese bush honeysuckle, multi-flora rose and other invasive shrubs that it would take forever to get rid of in the 2/3 acre that they cover.
For my lawn areas, they wanted to know what kind of mower I use (gas-powered push mower), if I leave the clippings (yes), if the grasses are native (no) and how much I irrigate it (never, and it shows!).
For the pond, the questions included is it seasonal (no, I keep it going except in the very coldest weather, when the whole thing would freeze), if it was running or still (running) and if the shoreline was managed for wildlife (yes, I purposely had a sloping shoreline at one end so that frogs or turtles could get out).
And lastly, for the garden beds, they wanted to know the percentage native (100%), irrigation (I put never, because the only water I use is from a rain barrel), if they were managed for wildlife (yes) and if they are pollinator gardens (almost all are).
This past Sunday, I decided to improve my pollinator garden a bit. There's not much you can do in mid-November, but I had obtained a passionfruit from a neighbor of my sister's down in Williamsburg. She said if you just plant the whole fruit, you'll get a vine. Passiflora incarnata is a host plant to various butterflies and also a nectar plant. Below, you can see the fruit (somewhat dried up, but I really only need the seeds) and an unflattering photo of me planting it along my fence line in a sunny spot.
I figured I would know by next spring whether this was a success or not, but I found out early. Two days later, there was an empty hole spot in that very spot. Some animal (squirrel, probably) had already dug it up and eaten it. Ah, the perils of having a backyard habitat!
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