Bill Marchel: Landscape can double as shelter and food

BRAINERD - Last week an order form arrived in the mail. Unlike most postal correspondence, this particular item did not get tossed in the trash. The simple bi-fold price list and order form was from the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District. It listed a variety of tree and shrub species for sale this year. For me it's an annual reminder to order plants for springtime wildlife landscape projects I have planned, a time to think spring, despite the January snow and cold.

You don't have to own acreage to successfully attract wildlife with your plantings. In fact, you don't have to live in the country. I know the phrase "plant it and they will come" is overused, but it's forever true, even if you reside in the bowels of the metro.

Now is the time to plan your project and order your plants.

When I purchased 70 acres of land near Brainerd 17 years ago, my plan was to create a habitat attractive to a variety of wildlife. The acreage already contained a diversity of wildlife habitat -- a mixture of woods, wet meadows and fields -- but I knew with a little determination I could make my land more wildlife-friendly. That included my back yard.

Each spring I have planted a variety of trees and shrubs, each with a purpose. Initially I planted mostly evergreen species, my idea being a future windbreak around the house. Now, 17 years later, red pines, white pines, jack pines, balsam firs, white spruces and white cedar trees buffer bitter winter north winds.

The colorful and diverse grove of trees also provides a haven for a variety of wildlife. Ruffed grouse slumber within the protective confines, especially during winters like this when a heavy crust on the snow prevents them from roosting under the shielding white blanket. Songbirds, such as robins, catbirds, brown thrashers and mourning doves, nest in dense foliage.

I have also planted evergreen trees -- mostly white spruce, since deer seldom nip the twigs -- as a sight barrier along a road on the south end of the acreage. Deer and other wildlife feed and loaf more comfortably without the stress of viewing passing vehicles.

When choosing plant varieties, native species always grow best with the least amount of effort. By talking with state and county foresters and nursery staff and by reading books and doing Internet research, I have been able to find a variety of tree and shrub species that grow well on my property and still provide wildlife the benefits of food and cover.

Of course, for plants to grow in Minnesota they need to be cold-hardy. Tree varieties to consider are crab apple (red-splendor is my favorite), mountain ash, green ash, red and bur oak, birch and maple. These species provide food in the form of fruit, nuts or buds as well as cover for a variety of birds and mammals.

Shrubs can add beauty to any landscape project and also attract wildlife. Fruit-bearing shrubs will attract robins, catbirds, brown thrashers, waxwings, warblers and other birds. High-bush cranberry, elderberry, gray and red osier dogwood, chokecherry and serviceberry are just a few cold-hardy species that provide both food and cover for birds. Shrubs can be planted in tight spaces such as near homes or garages or can be planted close together and trimmed to form hedges and boundaries.

I have planted the above species on my property and in my yard, as well as a few others, to provide food for wildlife throughout the year. Scarlet elder produces fruit in early summer, red osier dogwood and serviceberry in midsummer, gray dogwood, American elderberry and chokecherry in late summer. High-bush cranberry, mountain ash and crab apple ripen in the fall and hold their colorful fruit through the winter. In addition, all are adorned with attractive, sweet-smelling flowers when in bloom and their branches allow protection for wildlife to nest or loaf.

Your entire landscape plan need not be accomplished in one summer, but the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll realize the rewards. When you marvel at a flock of colorful waxwings as they descend upon your crab apple tree on a cold winter day, or when a robin feeds its young in a nest secure in the evergreen you planted a few years ago, you'll know all your efforts and expenses were well worth it.

How true.