I've been poking around in the various backyard habitat programs when I ran across the Texas page. Unfortunately...

Just move forward with establishing a native habitat. No need to be certified.

I've already done that!


However, since there are others who come into the garden, I decided to go ahead and look at the various certifications as talking points. You never know what will trigger someone to climb on board. If doing that gets others interested, I'm in!

Good idea. I'm just not much for signs. I looked into some sort of native habitat certification, and found I already had all the components. Then found out the cost for self-reporting and receiving a sign, and opted out. But, to each their own.

Same here. For a while I didn't see a need. But I've been listening to folks at a few events and watched what triggered folks. I didn't much care about the registrations or spending money on signs. But the more I looked at responses and what got people to act, I figured I'd add that to the toolbox.

That's very unfortunate. There was a time that Texas as a state was getting their priorities straight more, but that seems to have fallen apart due to budget-cutting and such. There's also a national program for certifications, AFAIK, it is still actively working.
https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for...

The "official" certifications help me deal with my HOA and with ignorant neighbors. They wouldn't take my word for the helpfulness of brush piles, but if NWF says they are needed, well, that's a different story.

Yes, I'd hate to have someone tell me I have to get rid of my brush piles and a few dead tree trunks! Not to mention the leaf litter layers on the place. Out here, the main complaints of neighbors involve dogs allowed to roam free and occasional burglary break-ins.

My brush piles play an important part in maintaining a natural habitat.





Fortunately my neighbors undertand.

I can't fathom why anyone would want an HOA in that kind of environment. If I could own a piece of property that is wooded, it would be to get away from all the restrictions of the city, and nosey neighbors.

Well, we're in a suburban subdivision... my "woods" is actually a fence row of trees along our rear lot line. My "wooded path" runs beside the trees that were there when we moved in, with newer trees and shrubs on the other side.

After battling poison ivy there for many years, I've been able to start underplanting with various shrubs and understory trees, some flowering/ornamental just for me (azeleas & rhodi's, hellebores, astilbe, hostas, Kerria), some for the wildlife also (chokecherry, beautyberry, viburnums, spicebush, native ferns, paw paw, American holly). The wild cherry, mulberry, and sassafras trees that were there to start with provide food for birds and various caterpillars.

I just made yet another attempt to put in a wintergreen plant, since I always loved finding those in the PA mountains

Sounds lovely!

I've lived on this small three acre property for twenty years and have observed a lot of changes. It's distressing when new people move to the area and clear cut trees in order to plant grass for lawns. By doing so, they force away the wildlife. Fortunately many of the critters have found my space to be a sanctuary, and they give me so much joy. Last night I sat on the patio with a cold beer and witnessed a real-life nature show. Two foxes came by to visit, a painted bunting showed up, bluebirds were bathing in the birdbath, and the mama deer was suckling her newborn fawn. Meanwhile the bird feeders were busy with cardinals, titmice, and black-capped chickadees while butterflies and bees were gathering nectar and pollen from the wildflowers. For me, this is heaven on earth. Yes, I have the signs to verify my goal - but they're really unnecessary. All it takes is a commitment to not be the "invasive species".

How long have you had the NABA Sign? They're plastic and the manufacturer says not to put them into sunlight. That's what stopped me from getting that one. Thought I'd wait to hear from someone who has lived with one out in the elements for a while.

You could clear-coat it with something UV resistant. clear spraypaint for plastic or clear rustoleum for metal are what I usually use to keep things from fading... need to respray every couple of years. If it starts fading, you can always go over the black areas with a Sharpie EXTREME marker.

Those signs have been there for several years. Admittedly it's a fairly shady spot, but you can tell by the rust around the screws that it's not a new installation. The picture was taken this week. No cracking or fading so far.

the rusty screws tell all

It's pretty hard to avoid all restrictions, even in the country. We have a neighborhood association we pay extremely small dues for it. Basically, there's some rules, but not much. They oversee road work, since the county doesn't do that and when someone ran into the little neighborhood mailbox shelter, they took care of that. But work is mainly unpaid volunteers and officers of the association. They once tried to get us to mow a certain part of the front part of the lot. which was mostly cleared by the previous owner and we said no. There was no rule that said we had to do that, although the rules do encourage mowing areas very close to the road because of traffic. And their own volunteers already were doing that. We don't even have a lawnmower. Frequent mowing would eventually eliminate most of the wildflowers. Anyway, they didn't bother us about it after then.