California Landscape Design

The National Wildlife Federation offers a Certified Wildlife Habitat program that is really simple to participate in, and it offers other benefits that I would label as good marketing.   

It’s not a stretch to say that every member of the APLD California Chapter has been made aware, through local programming and initiatives, of the importance of the Watershed Approach to Landscape Design, regenerative practices, and incorporating native plants into their designs for myriad benefits. For many years, this has been a predominant conversation: a goal to build territory and awareness about designing healthy landscapes.

The requirements for this certification focus on supporting wildlife practices you have most likely already incorporated into your design:  providing food, water, cover, nesting, and Sustainable Practices. When a project meets these criteria, it entitles you to register the site on a map, obtain a certificate, and access options for outdoor signs.

The filing of the form and modest fee are a simple offering to the NWF, and the benefits are multifold for our urban neighborhoods. Instead of elaborating on the criteria, I will focus instead on the benefits.

Personally, I have used this Wildlife Habitat Certification as a gift to my projects that bounces back to my business, as well as out to the community. 

Have you noticed that some clients are new to—or numbed to—the idea of attracting critters to the garden? The idea of a ‘butterfly and hummingbird garden’ sounds kind of romantic. Labeling it an ‘insectary garden with caterpillars’ might scare them off of the idea. And calling it a ‘pollinator garden’ hides the buzz of a bee behind the hum of a hummingbird. The word ‘forage’ isn’t quite as enticing as ‘a decorative condo of nest building materials’, nor adding a cute birdhouse that you can find in a local garden retail. I enjoy talking about worms, bats, and owls; but face it, it freaks some people out. Recently, a client was shocked and asked if an owl would eat her dog! Every client is different, so conversations get tailored. 

Education. It really gets down to education; that remains a significant part of what we do with homeowners. I find having the National Wildlife Federation as a resource helps with discussion and connection to a larger conversation.  

For clients open to the idea, I will register and purchase the classic metal sign that can be mounted on a stake or to an exterior wall or fence when the project is done. The sign becomes a voice that says, “Hi neighbor walking by, I am proud…look I did a good thing”. I have been told that the certification sign has stimulated local conversations, spreading the message long after the installation is complete.

I intuit those ongoing interactions, reinforcing with the client they have made an environmentally responsible landscape investment. And that is where it shines back to my business.

On the creative side, I like that it keeps my own inquisitive conversation going with the birds, lizards, and all that moves in and about a garden…always wondering what other space, plant, or gesture I can design into the project that answers a need. It's science and play...and a deeper satisfaction than any digital mind game when I discover it worked!

If we could step way back, Mother Nature will balance it out…but our job entails stepping in. So if I step in, it must be as an ally of nature, bowing low and doing my best to understand the other living networks inevitably disturbed as I re-design outdoor spaces and gardens. 

I have often used the Urban Quilt analogy when talking about the importance of habitat gardens. I explain how a birdseye view over a city sees our gardens and green patches as pathways for local and migrating winged ones who travel far to find rest stops, food, and shelter.  And on the ground level, each individual property participates with provisions to keep local wildlife populations healthy and thriving for the benefit of us all.