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I love her! Haha! I haven't seen that video yet. It's hard to know how to explain my planning process for the ditch, because a lot of it was just in my head in addition to a couple sketches, which I didn't put in the video because I don't know what book I sketched them in. :) But I mostly followed the hillside. I'm lucky in that I'm up on a hill, so I dug from the backyard down to the front, which was conveniently all downhill, with some flat areas here and there. Hopefully I'll film more of the next steps rather than just having photos. :)

Thank you so much. I am finding it is a nice little spot already, but haven't had much time to sit in it just yet. I think I will this weekend or as the weather cools off more and I slow down some. :) My husband helped big time with the gravel path part of the project. I'm finding that he and I are more capable than I thought when it comes to doing paths, which is really nice! I hope anyone who reads this and wants to try to build any type of path tries it! It could be easier than one expects. Digging the ditch was tough work, but pretty straight forward in what I needed to do. It helps that I live on a hillside, so I could guide the ditch down hill. I cut it curvy to attempt to make it look more natural. Over time, I plan to add more plants to its edges. Native asters and violets have already started growing in and next to it. :) Hope you have a great Friday and weekend coming up!

@@awildapproach * thanks! I think your flow design for the water looks very natural! I'll bet it'll become a special place for you to relax and watch all of that beautiful wildlife!

I'm going to look into that word "colonial." I don't remember hearing about that and it is something I want to learn more about. I was noticing here that there are certain butterflies that definitely seem to "live" here day to day, while others just visit. That's fascinating to me and I definitely want to learn more about it. :) Thanks so much for bringing to my attention!

@@awildapproach Basically they form colonies where you can observe all stages of life.

That’s definitely what I see with the gulf fritillaries! I have been trying to achieve it with swallowtails.🦋🩷

I find that they prefer full sun, but can handle partial shade. :) Mine get tallest in the full sun and more moist areas. Note that my garden is moist / wet in winter and spring, but it's very dry in August and September. It's crispy out there right now, and the ironweed is doing very well for the most part, but I do have many of them. Some of them fell, and the ones that fell died. But that was a wind that knocked them over in a storm. Most of the others look good. I think some of my ironweeds die off as new ones come up. So, either my dry summers kills a few of them, or they simply don't live a super long time...but I find that I get more than enough volunteers since I let them reseed. :) Birds love to eat the seeds over fall and winter.

Unfortunately in my garden, I actually have less this year than I did before. Some of it died off. Others came up much smaller than before. I must have less moisture than you or something. Mine definitely does not take over the other plants here.

I'll be editing a new video soon about my new courtyard garden space, so stay tuned! Thanks for watching and taking time to leave a lovely comment. Happy Tuesday! :)

I love that! :)

Great question! I’ve been trying to figure that out. It comes up on its own, but trouble is that I can’t tell if it’s a native Paspalum or an invasive one. There are some that look very similar.😕

Thanks! Yes, I do have those butterflies. Do you have them, too?

@@awildapproach Yes, I planted nasturtiums for them this summer, but I am planning on some winter cabbage that will be there for them when they finish hibernation/diapause/whatever they do during the winter.

​@@dmnos6824I want to try out some natives in the mustard family like American yellow rocket. We also have a native Cardamine species in my area too, but it's hard to get seed for that because no one grows it on purpose! I have some other things related to mustards too like native Erysimum and Limnanthes but I haven't seen the white butterflies visiting those so I don't think those are hosts... But yeah I think it's worth looking at native brassicas bc a lot of them have really good nectar flowers too.

@@Hayley-sl9lm The nasturtiums have great nectar flowers and they look good too, you have to keep deadheading them to stop them from going to seed too soon. Grown on poor soil they produce more flowers, but grown on rich soil they produce a lot of greenery and fewer flowers. I was lucky and some wild mustard thing grew a raised bed that I had let go wild for the summer, the cabbage white butterflys did like it and laid some eggs on it............

What a nice surprise you had! :) I have been really enjoying watching them fly around my garden this year. I think I have the most this year than I've ever had.

@@awildapproach i am in Nashville

I’m so glad you love it. Thanks for leaving the kind comment. I’m doing great!❤

Thank you so much. We just got a huge heat wave among a long drought, so I've been having to water more than I'd like these new plants. I mulched with pine needles and I watered again today, because they were looking droopy (both the pearly everlasting and the rudbeckia)! I stuck my finger in the ground...dry as a bone. So I watered today. This is why I try to only plant things in fall, winter, and spring....summer is so brutal on plants. I laughed and said "these pearlies are supposed to be able to take the drought!" LOL

@@awildapproach Right, the thing is they take it *once established* 😩. Hats off to you for trying, I basically don't plant anything after May because it's too hard to keep them alive. But I was at the coast a couple of weeks ago and I saw these literally growing out of sand dunes. It's not as hot there and more humid than where I am but if they can live in a hostile environment like a dune they've got to have some fight in them. I also found one growing in an abandoned lot near my house in full sun so don't give up!

@@Hayley-sl9lm I refuse to give up! That said, some plants just die, and I'm ok with it as long as some live! haha! In the meantime, I am keeping an eye on them.

Fantastic tips! Thank you! Unfortunately, it's in a huge pot but with lots of other plants, so that could contribute to the mildew, it seems. Should I risk moving it to its own pot?? It's bouncing back compared to the ones in ground that seem to have died...I'm tempted to leave it in the big pot and see what happens...

Thank you so much for watching and taking time to comment. Happy gardening!!

@@jellodrake4112 I LOVE these tips!! Thank you.☺️✨Thanks for taking time to share them with me.🙂

So true! Yes, I have watched him. You will probably enjoy my other videos, if you like Dr. Doug Tallamy's content. This channel is all about gardening for wildlife and moving to mostly native plantings. :)

Yes, it really is the circle of life. :) Love that memory of the fishing quill.

Awww thank you!!! I'm glad you like it. When I saw the dragonfly moving its head like it does, I thought it looked very alien-like. 👽

@@awildapproach I thought the same thing!

I'd love to add one to my garden. I bought a pond kit, but waiting on cooler weather before starting to dig the hole for it. I'm also having trouble picking between two different areas to put it! Do you have to refill yours with water (top it off) often? I get very dry Augusts and Septembers here, so I imagine if my pond is too small, it could completely evaporate. We will see what happens.

You absolutely should! Hope weather clears up for you soon. I put mine in full shade because it offered a good view from the window and with it next to a bush I notice the birds like that it offers quick cover. Last year was very hot and dry for us, so I did need to top off the pond every two weeks or so. But this year has been very wet for us and it’s almost overflowed. My biggest tip is don’t skimp on plants! I underestimated both the cost and the importance of aquatic plants and how they clean the water.

@@limitlessends Oh yes, I will definitely keep all of that in mind. I really appreciate your tips! I'm super lucky that my area has several locations to buy native plants from trusted nurseries, and two of them have water loving plants!

Wow! That's amazing. I bet it was a sight to see! Thank you so much for watching, and also thank you for gardening for the wildlife. :)

You're very welcome! I'm so glad you found it useful. Happy gardening! :)

They truly are special. Some of them lay eggs in mud, so maybe even if you don't have ponds or rivers around you, maybe there are some low-lying muddy places or temporary wet spots. Very fascinating! I've seen a lot of dragonflies this year, in general, even in parking lots and places I wouldn't expect! I could watch them for hours, too, and I did as a part of capturing this footage. ;) Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment about your childhood memories, too. Damsel flies are amazing insects, too, and if I can ever get enough footage of them, I'll do a video on those as well. There are some that live in a park nearby, but I don't see them in my own garden yet.

That sounds like wonderful memories! They are fascinating creatures, huh. Fun times with Grandma are extra special. :) Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your sweet memories with us. Happy wildlife watching! ;)

Thank you so much! They are wonderful people and I'm so thankful they have a pond, and a garden, too! :D

Exactly right! Thanks so much for watching. Happy native plant gardening! :D

@@awildapproach Thanks for your inspiration and knowledge, I always enjoy and learn something by watching your videos. ❤

@@joanfrellburg4901 Aww thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that. ☺

Answers will be given in a pinned comment in a few days, so stay tuned. :) Thanks for commenting!

Answers are now available in the pinned comment. Thanks so much for playing and for being here! :)

I've posted the answers in a pinned comment above.

You're close ;) I'll post answers (to the ones I actually know) after a few days. :D

I've posted the answers in a pinned comment above.

@@awildapproach This was fun. Would love something like that again. Recently saw a hover fly in my native garden and it was super cool. Only seen them in books before.

@@limitlessends I'm so glad you liked it! I'll make a note of that. Hover flies are some of my favorites. They will often land on my dirty gloves as I'm wearing them. 😆 They are adorable and fun to watch. Love that they are a mimic.

So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a comment.

I watch him sometimes, too. I like his channel. The thing about soil amending is that it depends on what you are growing. He grows some native plants, but he also grows non-native plants. When you grow native plants, it's best to use the native soil you already have, rather than adding a bunch of amendments. Compost on top is ok, but I would not till anything in. I've learned from the mistakes of putting compost in a clay hole, too. Not good. :( This can create a "bowl" effect and rot your plant roots. I prefer green mulch when I can do so, but if I have to mulch, I like similar to what you use. And for fertilizer, I only use it in my pots and it's very low numbers and always organic. :) I don't find that I need any fertilizer in ground for natives, but I do need a tad for the pots! I grow some natives from seed and do lots of winter sowing. Thanks for visiting, and if you're into the natural type of garden, you'll love this channel. :D

@@awildapproach * I sectioned out my property into several beds. I am now about 80 percent native. Your channel is great!

@@HoosierDaddy_ Thank you so much! I appreciate your comments and what you're doing in your garden. Keep up the great work!!! :)

My favorite! :)

You're welcome! Thank you for watching and leaving a comment.☺️

I’m so glad you got to see one of these amazing creatures! Thanks for helping him!😊

@@awildapproach I placed him under a butterfly weed bush right before I left for church and I just came back and he’s gone! He must have flown away!

I do not spray roundup. Used to before I knew better. I only use roundup in very limited situations now, and never spray it. I only brush it on with a foam brush and on invasive plants immediately after cutting them. It's called the cut stump method. This is sometimes necessary for getting rid of very large invasive plants. For example, I had huge invasive Chinese privets I needed rid of. At the time, the only method I knew of was to use Roundup and did so with the foam brush. No spraying. Yes, we need to limit its use as much as possible in my opinion, but not all wildlife gardeners do. I do not judge them for that. Everyone has a different way of doing things. I will say, though, that we should always use PPE when applying any herbicide. I use goggles, a mask, and gloves, as well as a long sleeve shirt. Even though I'm not spraying and I just brush it on. Thank you for caring for our wild areas. I care about them, too. Like I said, I sprayed the stuff before I knew what they could do. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.

They truly are! I need to stake them up better. The bergamot has fallen over onto the mountain mint. I tried by adding a new stake several months ago, but even though it was large, it wasn't nearly large enough. It's time for me to divide the bergamot for sure. :)

Thank you! Happy gardening to you, too. :)

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with what is native on that side of the country. You could try checking out a wild ones chapter that is as close to you as possible: wildones.org/chapters/ And look for local native plant nurseries that grow local native plants. Talk to the owners and see if they carry any native mints.

Thanks for watching!

Right?!! It was wild. That wind was so strong!! I'm glad your ironweed held fast. So sorry about your false sunflower. :( Yeah, hopefully we won't have that strong of wind for a while....In the meantime, I'm trying to decide how to prevent the ironweed falling in the future. The area is on a slope, and it fell down the slope, so I'm thinking of adding trellises or a native shrub on that right side of the ironweed patch to help them stay up next year or maybe years after that, depending on how long it takes the shrub to grow...maybe a patch of lattice trellising would be more reliable... :)

@@awildapproach Hmm, you might be right about a structure being the approach - maybe you can even go about it as an extension of your arbor? Assuming we're talking about the first spot by the walkway, that is. Alternatively, maybe Clethra alnifolia would work in that spot if it's not dry (another assumption, since the Ironweed is there). It's pretty columnar for a shrub and I think the flowers smell great and would make sense being next to a walkway.

@@embrustzwei OooOoooh! Thank you for that suggestion! I will look into that. Yeah, this spot is a little more moist than a lot of my other garden areas. I think it's because it's just a few feet from the gutter and downhill from the east end of the garden, too. :) Yeah, I actually meant to extend the arbor by a bit when I built it, but didn't get the chance before everything grew in. I'm going to look at that shrub, as it sounds like a great possibility.

Shoot! It's a wonderful plant, but in my area it needs a shady spot. This spot next to the ironweed is intense full full sun. I'd say 8 hours of sun maybe...at least 6.

@@awildapproach If the spot's as moist as you say due to roof runoff, it'd probably be fine - Clethra alnifolia is adaptable to full sun, it just does lives its best life with some shade. Mergoat (don't know if you're familiar with them) actually sited it for me when they designed my landscape in a spot that gets absolutely cooked all day and was really surprised - in the end I opted for a Viburnum, but I trust their judgment. Additionally, if you get young plants, they'll most likely be shaded and will work themselves up to all that sun over time. Might be worth an experiment! I'm not familiar with many other shrubs that naturally don't get very wide.

So so sorry to hear that! :( It's sad to see plants go...especially when we just saw wildlife using them! But we keep on planting! Gotta keep on going and try to replace what we lose, when we can.

Me, too! I was ready to hunker down!! LOL Thanks for watching and commenting. :)

OH MY!! That sounds terrifying and awful!!! This was no where near that level. I was just afraid I had missed a tornado warning or something, because I usually follow the weather pretty closely, but that day I hadn't. And I saw the wind and was very nervous about it. It can get pretty windy here on this hill, but it looked bad. I'm so glad you survived those bursts of storms. That's no joke. Thanks for watching and for commenting. :)

You're welcome! Thanks for taking time to leave that comment. Happy gardening to you, in your side yard!