Sharing my garden

by Vicky Barney There’s something magical about seeing butterflies and hummingbirds feasting on flower nectar, or watching birds foraging for berries.Observing a bear, moose, or deer browsing on aspen or berries is a real treat.But when their browsing removes the flowers intended for pollinators or the berries for the birds, or when all the strawberries disappear from the carefully tended patch, the magic is gone. My “gardening for wildlife” strategy needs some work.
My yard is surrounded by native shrubs and trees and was an attractive feature when purchasing the house several years ago.I imagined watching wildlife pass through the yard from one wild space to the next, stopping to nibble aspen volunteers or newly planted native bushes. The plan was to create a place where wildlife would linger, preferably while I was watching.Red-osier dogwood was planted (deer and elk’s “ice cream bush,” says Karen Vail in Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Southern Rockies), grassy spots were encour