1. Plan how you would like your yard to look.



2. Check your local municipality or neighborhood/homeowners association for regulations.



3. To convert lawn:
   
   
   • Cover lawn with 6-10 dense layers of black and white newspaper or brown cardboard. Wet these layers.
   • Add a 4-6 inch layer of mulch or dirt.
   • Wait a few weeks during a rainy period so that the layers soften. Plant directly through the layers. If planting trees, dig holes first and layer around.

1. Mow high, mow often, and leave the clippings.

- Set lawnmowers to 2 inches for most lawns.
- Mow weekly in spring so that you will not stress the grass by mowing too much at once.
- Use a mulching mower or push mower.


2. Fertilize moderately with a "natural organic" or "slow-release" fertilizer in mid to late May and early September.

- A medium green color is healthier than a dark green.


3. Water deeply, to moisten the root zone and promote deeper rooting, but do so infrequently.
   - Aerate if water will not penetrate.
   - Water about one inch per week during July and August and less in late spring and early fall. Consider letting the lawn go brown and dormant in summer, watering slowly and deeply only once per rainless month.
   - Water slowly or start and stop to allow water to penetrate instead of puddling or running off.



4. Aerate compacted soil in April/May or September and then overseed.


5. Refrain from using pesticides.

• Use weed-free seed.
• Choose non-invasive species for your garden.
• Cover compost, topsoil, and mulch piles with a tarp.

• Remove weeds physically.
• Replant with native species to prevent weeds from returning.
• Prevent seed production and spread of weeds.
• Dispose of weeds and their seeds in your yard waste container.

• King Conservation District, 935 Powell Ave. SW, Renton, WA 98055, (425) 277-5581
  
  
• Washington Native Plant Society, check out the website at http://www.wnps.org/ or email them at wnps@wnps.org
  
  
• Washington Park Arboretum, 2300 Arboretum Dr. E, Seattle, WA 98112, (206) 543-8800
  
  
• King County Native Plant Salvage Program, Department of Natural Resources, 201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104-3854, (206) 296-8024. They have opportunities to salvage native plants for your own use in exchange for volunteer work for the program.

• Though a controlled pest population may cause some damage to plants, you will likely find that the plants' general health is still good, with little long-term damage.
  
  
• Natural insect predators include ladybugs, lacewings, syrphid fly larvae, ground beetles, spiders, songbirds, amphibians, and bats.
  
  
• During the spring, the population of pests may seem to surge out of control. Do not be alarmed: the population of predators, which are slower to reproduce, will soon catch up to restore the balance.

• Request a Composting at Home guide as part of the Natural Lawn and Garden Series from Seattle Public Utilities by calling the Natural Lawn and Garden hotline at (206) 633-0224.
  
  
• Visit the Seattle Public Utilities composting website:
  www.ci.seattle.wa.us

• First, share your concerns with your neighbors. Inform them of the dangers domestic cats pose to wildlife and the benefits of an indoor life for cats.
  
  
• Check local ordinances. They may allow you to trap and return the cat to the owner or to authorities if the animal comes onto your property.
  
  
• Install scent and sound repellents, available at garden and pet supply stores.
  
  
• You may discourage cats from your yard by persistently spraying them with a gentle blast of water.
  
  
• Protect birds that come to your bird feeder or bath by installing the feeder on a tall pole with a squirrel baffle, a wire fence around the feeder or bath, or an inexpensive electric fence.
  
  

• Fledglings learning to fly and found on the ground are still protected by their parents. Unless they are injured, you should leave them alone and keep cats and dogs out of the area until they can fly.
  
  
• If a baby bird has fallen from its nest uninjured, return it to the nest. If you cannot reach the nest, place the bird in a small open box and attach the box to the highest sheltered branch you can reach. Be sure to wash your hands afterwards.
  
  
• If the bird is sick or injured, it should be transported to a rehabilitation center as soon as possible. Contact the Fish and Wildlife office for the phone number of a wildlife rehabilitation center in your area. Rehabilitators do not work with animals if they are not sick or injured. And if no rehabilitator is available, it is best to let nature take its course.
  
  
• Place the bird in a covered cardboard box or large paper bag before and during transport. A securely plugged hot-water bottle wrapped in a towel will maintain the bird's body temperature.
  
  
• Cautionary notes:
  • Because wild animals are protected by state and federal laws, they cannot be kept for any period of time.
  • Handle wildlife as little as possible, as it causes them stress.
  • Do not feed or give water to sick and injured animals, as it may do further harm.

• Use a flexible mesh netting to create a barrier between birds and vines, berry bushes, or small fruit trees.

- Suspend from a makeshift trellis to avoid interfering with plant growth.
- Or place netting over the plant just before the fruits ripen.
- Secure netting at the base so birds cannot fly up from underneath.
- Pull netting tight to avoid entangling birds.

• Loud noises, scarecrows, and reflecting surfaces may all be only temporarily effective.

• Evergreen trees: bay, Douglas-fir, incense-cedar, madrona
  
  
• Deciduous trees: alder, birch, cherry, cascara, dogwood, garden fruit trees, hawthorn, maple, oak, sumac, willow
  
  
• Deciduous shrubs: deer brush, elderberry, oceanspray, potentilla, red-flowering currant, red huckleberry, serviceberry, snowberry, wild-buckwheat, spirea, wild rose
  
  
• Everygreen shrubs: coffeeberry, coyote brush, everygreen huckleberry, hopsage, manzanita, mountain balm, Oregon-grape, rabbitbrush, sagebrush, salal
  
  
• Garden flowers: alyssum, candytuft, coreopsis, cosmos, daisy, evening-primrose, feverfew
  
  
• Wildflowers: angelica, baby-blue-eyes, goldenrod, fireweed, pearly everlasting, yarrow
  
  
• Vegetables and herbs: carrot flowers, mustard family flowers, catnip, catmit, coriander, dill, fennel, hyssop, lemon balm, mint, parsley, rosemary, rue

• The right location for your feeder will prevent squirrels from jumping onto it: more than 5-6 feet off the ground and more than 6-8 feet from the nearest tree, building, or overhanging branch.
  
  
• To prevent squirrels or rats from climbing onto your feeder from above: place a squirrel baffle or series of smooth metal discs (pie pans, metal lids, phonograph records) spaced with plastic tubing or segments of a garden hose over the feeder.
  
  
• To prevent them from climbing up from below: if your feeder lies on a pole, install a pole more than five inches in diameter so that squirrels cannot wrap their feet around the pole.
  
  
• Avoid hanging your feeder with rope, string, or even plastic or thin wire as squirrels will chew through these materials in order to upset the feeder.

• Use feeders with small perches and small openings.
  
  
• Over platform feeders, place wire mesh of a permeability that filters out larger birds but allows smaller birds through.
  
  
• Buy a suet feeder that requires birds to cling upside down. This will discourage starlings, which do not like this position.
  
  
• Small feeders that swing and twirl when a birds lands on it deter starlings and house sparrows.
  
  
• Starlings do not like safflower seed, hulled sunflower seeds, or peanuts in the shell.
  
  

• Increasing structural diversity - vertical and horizontal connectivity
• Adding layers
• Using native plants
• Providing food, water and shelter for wildlife

• Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) and the Rufous Hummingbird - the flowering of the Currant coincides with the migration of the Rufous Hummingbird.
  
  
• Plants with berries - Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) attracts most songbirds and hummingbirds; Mountain Ash (Sorbus spp.) attracts waxwings and woodpeckers; other good berry plants include Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.), Elderberry, and Snowberry.
  
  
• Vine Maple (Acer circinatum) provides resources for many species: seeds for a variety of birds, wood and twigs for deer and beavers, shelter for larvae of the brown tissue moth, and a good nectar source for bees.

• Native Plants for Wildlife, presented by King County Wildlife Program, 201 S. Jackson St., Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98104-3854, (206) 296-7266
  
  
• American Wildlife and Plants: A Guide to Wildlife Food Habits by A. C. Martin, H. S. Zim, and A. L. Nelson
  
  
• www.wildwords.com (Pacific Northwest native plants for wildlife)
  
  
• www.wnps.org (Washington Native Plant Society)

• Calliope
• Black-chinned
• Anna's
• Rufous

• The feeder should be at least partly red to attract hummingbirds.
  
  
• It should come apart easily for cleaning.
  
  
• A feeder with a large opening will make filling and cleaning easier.
  
  
• A glass feeder is more weather-resistant than a plastic one.
  
  
• A perch on the feeder will allow for hummingbirds to conserve energy, although the feature is not essential.
  
  
• Multiple small feeders scattered in different parts of the garden will enable you to attract more hummingbirds, as they tend to be territorial.
  
  

• Attach black silhouettes of flying hawks or strips of opaque tape or flagging to windows to make the glass visible to birds.
  
  
• Put up an owl or other raptor statue close to the problem window.
  
  
• Keep your blinds or curtains closed.
  
  
• Move houseplants away from the inside of windows, as these will attract birds.
  
  

• Solutions with dye, food coloring, or flavoring are considered unsafe.
  
  
• Don't use honey, brown sugar, or artificial sweeteners.
  
  
• A simple, safe nectar solution can be made by mixing one part cane (white table) sugar with four parts water, boiling for 30 seconds in order to retard mold growth, and then letting the solution cool before filling the feeder.
  
  
• Clean and change the solution about every 4-5 days.
  
  
  

• Place it in a shady spot to retard mold growth (You can make a bonnet to place over your feeder to keep it shaded).
  
  
• Place it somewhere with easy access so that it can be cleaned and refilled.
  
  
• Place it in the vicinity of nectar producing plants.
  
  
• If you have several feeders place them well apart from one another as hummingbirds are territorial with their food source.
  
  

• Nectar-rich plants with bright red, orange, or orange/red tubular shaped blossoms.
  
  
• Native plants, which evolved in association with the hummingbirds and which are adapted to the local climate.
  
  
• The sound of running water.
  
  
• Twiggy trees or shrubs that provide a place to rest and digest.
  
  

Trees

Dogwood (Cornus spp.) Native
Crabapple (Malus spp.) Native
Shrubs
Red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) Native
Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) Native

Vines

Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) Native
Scarlet Runner Bean (Phaseolus spp.)
Vetch (Vicia spp.)

Perennials and Wildflowers

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spp.) Native
Coral Bells (Heuchera spp.)
Lavender (Lavandula spp.)

• Plants that produce a lot of pollen
• Plants with flowers in yellow, pink, blue, and lavender
• Plants wit a sweet or pungent fragrance
• Sweet-smelling herbs

• Mason bees are native to the Pacific Northwest.
  
  
• They are ideal pollinators for apples, pears, cherries, plums, rosemary, lavender, and Oregon grape.
  
  
• They are easily encouraged to colonize the landscape because they have few requirements other than a dry nest site, damp soil, and a nectar and pollen supply and they are easy to attract with a nesting block and mud.
  
  
• They rarely sting.