Texas Wildscapes Gardening for Wildlife

"Since it was first published, this book has been a favorite of Texas gardeners and a standard for determining how to create nature-friendly home gardens. The book was originally published as a pamphlet describing the Texas Wildscapes Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program. Based on the original National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Habitat Program, this idea promoted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, encouraged gardeners wto consider their backyards in a different light. Instead of creating a flat, green grassy spot for people and pets to walk on, the program suggested building a garden friendly to all sorts of creatures that were being crowded by urban and suburban development. Birds, mammals, reptiles and insects all contribute to the life of a healthy, diverse garden. Although you can get a certificate for your backyard habitat, you can also just build it for your own enjoyment. This book tells you why diversity is important in the garden, the place wildlife has in urban and suburban settings, and directions in how to build such a garden. The basic requirements - food, water, and cover - can be elements in even the smallest space. A bird feeder, bird bath and shrub will meet those requirements. From there you can expand as your energy and property allow. The book includes design suggestions, sections on identifying birds, insects and other wildlife that may come into your garden, along with plants to encourage and plants to avoid. It tells how to maintain your garden and ways to identify your specific region of Texas and the creatures indigenous to that area. The book is beautifully illustrated with full color photos of plants and animals along with black and white illustrations of projects you can build. The organization is logical and easy to navigate and the writing is clear and understandable. Even if you have the original version, you might want this update if only for the enclosed searchable, customizable and updatable Gardening for Wildlife DVD." Homegrown Magazine