Some of us face very different climates while trying to create a nice garden for wildlife.
Can you share your best tips for gardening in your climate to help others in similar conditions?
Are you in a really dry area? Or very wet? Perhaps it’s extremely hot or cold? Let us know how you deal with it or work with it.
Thank you!
Edit: Thanks to everyone who has shared so far! There are great insights here that will help those experiencing similar conditions. I plan to link this thread in the wiki.
If this works, all my time here may have finally paid off. We have 10 acres that used to be farmland, and we are trying to reforest it. We’ve planted around 150 trees so far.
**Sadly, it doesn’t look like this site is active in my very rural area, which is understandable. I haven’t seen any drops within 100 miles of me.
@Jay
Try reaching out to local or regional arborists or tree services directly to see if they need a place to drop wood chips. We’re more urban, but I found my wood chip supplier by talking to a crew trimming a neighbor’s trees.
@Toby
I’ve had little luck calling the main line for arborists. Every time I see a crew in my neighborhood, they’ve been happy to drop mulch in my yard.
Darin said:
@Toby
I’ve had little luck calling the main line for arborists. Every time I see a crew in my neighborhood, they’ve been happy to drop mulch in my yard.
Check out r/arborists, it might help
I’ll definitely check that site for wood chips.
I’ll definitely check that site for wood chips.
I’ll definitely check that site for wood chips.
I’m fine with that. I need a lot for my big space, and my garden doesn’t have much organic matter, so I can always use extra for compost in the long run.
I’ll definitely check that site for wood chips.
I started fresh this year and got three chipdrop deliveries from early spring to early summer. It was fantastic! Though there was a difference in quality between deliveries. Some had lots of sticks and large chunks in the second load. Hard to complain when they were free!
@Winter
I think the different textures make it look more natural quickly. I’m planning to use leaves as mulch this year, so if it looks a bit messy, that’s okay with me.
Nuri said:
@Winter
I think the different textures make it look more natural quickly. I’m planning to use leaves as mulch this year, so if it looks a bit messy, that’s okay with me.
I agree. I don’t mind how the mulch looks. I use it for soil health and to reduce weeding, not for looks.
@Winter
Exactly. In most areas where I put mulch, I’m also adding ground covers. The mulch prevents weeds temporarily and improves the soil. Once the ground covers grow in, you won’t even see the mulch anymore.
Zone 9b. Summer drives me crazy!
A lot of perennials grow all year here.
If you have a small yard, don’t forget how many micro-zones exist due to elevation changes, around structures, and under big trees. Learn these over time. Don’t hesitate to move plants that aren’t doing well.
Many plants from big box stores that are labeled as full sun still struggle and do better with some shade.
Don’t overlook the power of native flowering ‘weeds’ that are likely already in your yard. From my experience, those plants are often favorites for local wildlife.
Try not mowing random areas for a year to see what grows. Remove invasives. In winter, mow everything into mulch and watch it thrive come spring. (This may not work well if you have a well-maintained grass lawn.)
Just sit outside and watch a thunderstorm (I don’t play the lottery).
Just sit outside and watch the lizards.
Sit outside and watch a thunderstorm
Sit outside and watch the lizards.
Your post made me smile 
@Ari
I’m in 9b/10a. A lot of my yard has sandy, poor soil with patches of better soil because my house is near an old Florida native hammock.
I just moved here about a year ago, so I’m still learning my yard. What you said about full sun plants doing better in partial shade is definitely true. I really need to either improve my soil quality or switch to raised beds or containers for growing herbs, vegetables, and fruits.
I’m not really into lawns, so my yard has some patches of grass, but mostly native ‘weeds’. I love the variety of flowering weeds. The previous owner mowed the yard weekly, but it already looks better just letting it grow for a few weeks. I didn’t mow at all from November to March.
I love watching thunderstorms and lizards. In the mornings and evenings, I also see marsh rabbits and tortoises. I’ve heard iguanas are starting to come to the area.
@Tatum
I think iguanas can’t survive hard freezes. A lot died in south Florida a few years ago. I doubt they’d do well in central Florida.
It’s hot, humid, and the sun is intense. The soil is clay, really acidic clay, and I’m on a south-facing hillside. We get a lot of thunderstorms with dry spells in between. You could say this place is the sun’s anvil. The sun is so strong that the leaves on my tropical elephant ears are scorched!
My solution? Mulch. At least six inches of wood chips and two or three inches of leaf compost. This protects the soil from rain, which would compact it. I use enough mulch to prevent runoff, even in a thunderstorm that drops four inches of rain in an hour. The soil stays alive and moist, I don’t have to water even at 100 degrees. Weeds are nearly nonexistent. Good mulch can even help plants thrive in conditions that would normally be too harsh for them. I shouldn’t be able to grow ginger and bananas here, but they thrive with that mulch over their roots.
@Blair
How often do you have to add more mulch?