The Beauty of Bio: Notes on Biodiversity for the Home Gardener
Note #2 Taking Stock (Spreadsheet Included!)
In Note #1, we discussed the grand vision- making room for life in the garden. Now let’s set out on the journey of making that a reality in your yard!
The first step in prioritizing biodiversity is The Observation Phase. It’s time to witness and take note of what currently is. How in depth you want to go is totally up to you, but in the observation phase the goal is to gain a general sense of the biodiversity in the garden.
The biodiversity found in the garden could vary quite a bit seasonally depending on the climate and ecotype of your surroundings. Even week to week, you will see very different types and amounts of wildlife as migratory patterns, insect life cycles, ephemeral plant phases, plant bloom times and all the other ever-evolving factors of nature run their course. Perhaps you would really enjoy cataloging as best you possibly could over the course of a year or so, go for it! A zoomed out, general overview of what is happening will suffice in allowing you to notice areas for potential growth.
The point is not to spend your days counting ants, it is to gain awareness of how your garden is functioning currently which can help spark ideas for how you could increase your garden’s capacity for life.
Some pointers as we set out for the observation phase:
Spread it Out- To make a thorough observation, spread your time over several different days and different times of day. What happens in your garden in the early morning is very likely different from what is happening at mid-day.
Observe in Varying Conditions-If possible and applicable, make time to observe in different states of sunshine vs. cloud cover, wind, and temperature as well.
Start Big- Start with the largest species first. Counting species can be overwhelming making it easy to get lost in the weeds (literally). Count the largest species of each category first, then work your way down.
Section It Up- Break your yard into chunks and identify them. Work with smaller areas like ‘Front Lawn’ ‘Oak Tree Bed.” Let the observation phase take as long as you need, and know it is never really over. Nature changes and caretakers never stop observing the current state of things.
With that in mind, here is what we want to take note of:
Plants- what TYPES of plants and HOW MANY of each type do you have? How many trees, how many grasses, and how many different types of each category.
Habitat needs-
~Areas of full sun, areas of light shade, deep shade
~Is water available in your garden for fauna to hydrate?
~Notice how densely planted your garden beds are. Do they knit together to provide habitat?
~Are there other naturally occurring elements of habitat, such as fallen organic matter covering the soil, loose piles of organic and inorganic material?
Food Sources- what are the visitors to your garden eating? Pollen, nectar, berries, grass and flower seeds, foliage, what are the types of food sources in your garden and how many of each do you have?
Soil health- Biodiversity within soil is one of the most important factors for a healthy garden. Healthy soil is teeming with micro and macro organisms, fungi, bacteria. The best way to test your soil’s health is to send a sample to a reputable laboratory for testing. Because healthy soil can have many different visible characteristics based on your subsoil and endemic plant types. There are a few visual cues though that are easily assessed which will help determine if your soil is being set up for success.
~Is organic matter allowed to fall to your soil and decay there?
~Do you have areas of bare soil?
~If you dig in your soil, how prevalent are the living factors that create healthy soil such as worms, nematodes, insects, and others
~Is your ground permeable to water? Does water absorb into soil, or does it run over the top of your soil wetting only the top inch or so.
Nuance Corner* while we generally want our soil to be covered by living and decaying plant matter, leaving small patches of soil uncovered in dry areas that get full sun allows native ground nesting bees to create habitat for themselves.
Fauna- who visits your garden?
Record it all- Here is a spreadsheet to help organize and record it all
In Note #3, we will digest the information found in the observation phase, and score the garden for how it is functioning.
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