The Bottom Line
Janet Marinelli's useful book, The Wildlife Gardener's Guide, promises the reader right at the outset that the book will differ in two important ways from similar books:
- Its advice is specific, rather than dealing with generalities like, "Reduce the size of your lawn."
- Plant lists are provided for different regions, so you don't have to guess about the suitability of a plant for your climate.
And The Wildlife Gardener's Guide keeps that promise. This book is a handy reference for those who need quick answers to the question, "What should I plant to attract wildlife to my yard?"
Pros
- Specific advice provided for attracting wildlife, according to region.
- This book on attracting wildlife is an inexpensive paperback.
Cons
- For the sake of brevity, this quick reference lacks detailed plant descriptions.
Description
- If you live in a small space, don't give up hope of attracting wildlife: one chapter is devoted to container gardens.
- A chapter on drawing in hummingbirds is de rigueur for a text on attracting wildlife, and this book doesn't disappoint.
- Plant recommendations confined to North American natives, so the book will also be of interest to native plant enthusiasts.
Guide Review - Book on Attracting Wildlife
Ten projects aimed at attracting wildlife to the yard form the core of The Wildlife Gardener's Guide. This book is about attracting wildlife, not just birds, so there's information on attracting bats, butterflies and beneficial insects, too.
For a small book, it is surprisingly comprehensive. For instance, besides listing native plants critical to bird habitats, there's also a Q & A on bird feeding. No such Q & A would be complete without a question on squirrel-proof bird feeders. Marinelli's answer is that "the best way to foil squirrels is to hang feeders not from trees or eaves but rather from poles at least five feet off the ground and as far as possible from your house or nearby trees and shrubs" -- good advice!
To give some idea of the book's "projects" for attracting wildlife, the first project makes it a special point to discuss the "layers" of a forest. "Re-create the layers of plant growth found in local woodlands -- canopy, under story, shrub, and ground layer." The ground layer includes leaf litter, which many birds pick through for worms, insects and the like. The author jokes that it's a "great excuse to be lazy," since it means one less area of the yard you have to rake in autumn! Elsewhere I've written about the same idea, from the perspective of how woodland gardens lend themselves to a low-maintenance approach in the yard.
I'm appreciative of the practical tips in the book that take the reader beyond the emotional benefits of attracting wildlife with plants attractive to us, too. The final project, e.g., discusses native plants that will lure in beneficial insects, noting:
"One of the reasons so many gardens have pest problems is that they're not very inviting to predators...."
Pest control and beautiful bloom -- you have to love a 2-for-1 deal!
