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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

Even here, in the midst of one of the largest cities in the world, (Los Angeles, for the new readers in the audience), my garden has become a small haven for wildlife. In the past 3 years I have seen animals here that I never would have expected in a city this large. While I don't have the beautiful, but destructive, deer in my landscape, I enjoy what I do have. To me, the variety of wildlife in a garden directly reflects its health and vitality.

"In the past 3 years I have seen animals here that I never would have expected in a city this large."

Passerby

Along with the typical city sparrows and finches, I have seen a few unique visitors in my garden. When we first moved in a quail paraded quickly across the back yard for several weeks. The quail would clean up under the 2 feeders I had installed and seemed to enjoy the large amounts of cover provided by the azaleas and ferns. Later I had a Merlin, also called a sparrow hawk, hunting my feeders. This small raptor would take a finch or a sparrow each day. I couldn't begrudge him his natural instincts and there were more than enough of the small birds to lose a few. He only seemed to take what he could eat. The Merlin eventually moved on after about a month, but several times before he left he gave me quite a start as he swooped over my shoulder as I tended something in the garden.

In past columns I have talked about lizards and opossums that I have known. Squirrels have been an ubiquitous part of my garden, as well. While they are commonplace in any yard with a bird (or should I say squirrel) feeder I find them enjoyable to have around. I can usually find them dashing about or cleaning up the dropped seeds under the feeders. There is something calming about being able to look out my office windows and watch their antics, especially when the writing is difficult.

I have had a few oddities in the garden. One week a small, bright blue parakeet visited the feeders several times. On another evening a peach-faced love bird showed up. I knew a neighbor had been raising a few of them so I attempted to catch it. Unfortunately, the bird was too scared and flew back towards my neighbor's aviary. Hopefully he found his way back home.

Hummingbirds come and go with much regularity. They like the bright red flowers of the trumpet vine and can even be seen feeding from the agapanthus blooms. Sometimes the hummers will give me a close look if I happen to wear my large, burgundy bathrobe out into the garden. A small feeder I received as a gift hangs off the locust tree near the back door. On occasion I find a small yellow warbler drinking there.

Rain arrives but tree succumbs

We got our first rain of the season this week. It wasn't a great amount, but it bodes well for the rest of the winter. Unfortunately, it appears that the rain came too late for one of the pines in our front garden. This was originally a living Christmas tree that had been planted outdoors. We had reduced the watering of the front garden considerably since the azaleas and junipers there seemed to be well established and not suffering from the heat in any way. I am guessing that the pine had become used to the regular watering in that garden and never developed deep roots to tap the existing water. As it stands now, the area will become the first part of the cottage garden I have wanted to build for a long time. Now I just need to find the time to remove the tree.

A few books about wildlife and your garden

Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards
by Sara Stein

Backyard Battle Plan: The Ultimate Guide to Controlling Wildlife Damage in Your Garden
Cooper Rutledge / Paperback / Published 1998

Until next week…

Keep digging!