September 15, 1999
Elmwood Township woman's backyard deemed a wild place
Linda Schubert lets her garden go to the birds, butterflies, deer
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
An avid gardener all her life, Linda Schubert does not mind when her lovingly tended flowerbeds go to seed. In fact, she welcomes it, believing that is the whole point of the flowers she plants: to make seeds for birds and animals year round.
Building on this philosophy, Schubert has created a slice of wildlife sanctuary at her Elmwood Township home. Using certain trees, shrubs and flowers, she welcomes birds, butterflies and animals to come and feast on and live in her gardens.
What may seem like an untended garden to many gardeners, with blooms faded on their stalks and trees and shrubs growing rather close together, is really the essence of her wildlife garden.
"This is seeds in their natural state," said Schubert, who even resists picking many of her roses because they turn into rose hips for the birds and animals. "I don't do a lot of deadheading; hollyhocks are a favorite seed of goldfinches and chickadees. The globe thistle I have is the same as the most expensive bird feed in the stores and birds eat from these plants all winter."
Schubert's rural backyard has been certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat site by the National Wildlife Federation. It is one of more than 23,000 backyards nationwide to be certified during the program's 26 years; yards found in rural, urban and suburban areas.
The goal of a backyard habitat is to provide food, water and shelter for native birds and wildlife, including frogs and small mammals. For the past four years, Schubert has been planting flowers specifically to attract, feed and shelter area birds. In addition, Schubert keeps a water source available year round for both bathing and drinking and she puts our suet in the winter. In the spring she puts out a cage of horsehair and shredded twine to provide nesting material for the birds.
"The certification is kind of a way of making official what I was doing anyway," said Schubert, who transformed patches of dense weeds into the habitat garden, though she terms it still a work in progress. "I did not have making a wildlife habitat as a goal, I just happened upon it when doing those things anyway."
She regularly sees 20 different birds in her yard, including chickadees, orioles, hummingbirds and mourning doves regularly come to eat on her grounds. A family of bluebirds also comes to nest there, staying all summer to raise their baby birds, and she has both seen and heard owls. Butterflies such as the monarch and black swallowtail as well as numerous moths also come to feed at her wildlife garden, drawn to the nectar in the flowers.
Schubert has also seen skunks, raccoons, deer, turkeys and pheasants as well as many small birds. The family also believes it heard a bobcat one night nearby. One skunk's plunder this year of her fledgling grape arbor was an unintended result of her efforts, but she remains unwavering in her commitment to wildlife.
"I think it is important to take care of the wildlife in your area, important for me and for them," said Schubert, whose has two children, ages 12 and 9. "My whole family gets a lot of enjoyment out of looking out of the windows and seeing what birds are out there."