Photo: Common Eastern Firefly, Judy Gallagher
Connie Ericson
A Gradual Transformation
I have been admiring the fireflies in my backyard recently. I didn’t see them there for many years, but I’ve attracted them by making several simple changes (planting some native grasses, leaving the leaves as natural mulch, building a small stick and leaf pile and dimming the lights). And I’ve accomplished the change in spite of a lifetime of avoiding gardening, except when it involved cutting things back. I’ve always thought of myself as a slasher rather than a nurturer, but I’m evolving apparently.
Some background: not long after I joined the NVBA board in 2018 (I retired in 2024), a few members encouraged me to schedule a visit from a Wildlife Sanctuary Ambassador. I was taking Arlington Regional Master Naturalist training at the time, so I already knew that my professionally landscaped yard likely was a wasteland. But I hesitated. I dreaded the work involved in changing to a more natural habitat that would welcome native wildlife.
But once I arranged the visit, I was pleasantly surprised. I had a few natives already (coral honeysuckle and Virginia spiderwort), and the visiting ambassador didn’t lecture, but rather encouraged me to make changes a little at a time. She identified the most problematic invasives (e.g., a long row of nandina along the back retaining wall) and made a few suggestions for substitutes.
I’ve been chipping away at it ever since, and I’m pleased to report that the results are positive. In addition to fireflies, in the past few weeks I’ve enjoyed seeing eastern tiger swallowtails, zebra swallowtails and huge numbers of bees and bumblebees I can’t identify. I’ve done most of the work in my backyard, which is challenging: it’s steep, and mostly taken up by 3 tiers of stacked stone walls, but the fence and terrain keep deer out. I’ve taken out the invasives and planted some natives, with some massed plantings of flowers where I get the best sun. I’ve had successes (a red oak, shrubby St. Johnswort, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, green and gold, virgin’s bower, little bluestem) and some misses (mountain laurel). But the increased insect population suggests to me I’m going in the right direction.
I’ve also had some unwelcome visitors. It took some work to fence out a groundhog attracted by my plantings, but it was necessary to keep it out because I didn’t want its tunneling to disturb some pretty elaborate (and essential) drainage on my steep lot. I regret that the changes mean I no longer see the occasional Eastern box turtle in the backyard.
I have not had any adverse consequences from cutting out the quarterly pesticide treatment on the outside of the house that I maintained for years after finding silverfish when I first moved in. I’ve found that a little boric acid powder in areas my indoor cats can’t get to is effective for that problem. But I’m wrestling with how to manage the latest yellowjacket nest in my stacked stone walls. I don’t have children playing in the yard, and, for now, I’m just not weeding the bed in that area, but at some point I’ll want to thin some of the flowers there. My current plan is to wait until winter when I understand the nest will die out. I’m also researching the possibility of non-pesticide yellowjacket traps, but I’ve just started that investigation.
I can do more, of course, but I’m still taking my time, particularly in areas where taking out problematic plants (the vinca in my front yard, and more lawn than I want) likely will require some professional help given some physical limitations that have come with age. But I’m having more fun than I ever imagined I would doing a little pottering around the yard.
If you haven’t done so, I’d encourage you to invite a Wildlife Sanctuary Ambassador to your yard. It may be your first step in inviting more native wildlife to your life.