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I am avid gardener who finally has a house with a yard after years of city dwelling. The sunny front yard faces SF Bay and gets pummelled by wind for three months a year when it isn't been scorched by the sun or dampeded by summer fog. The back yard is tiered into two beds and is a mix of poorly-cared for apple trees, volunteer cotoneaster and dense masses of beach strawberry.

Originally this was mixed oak ecosystem but first suburbization and then the Oakland Hills remade the place. Some of the live oaks rebounded after the fire but are now threatened by the sudden oak death virus that is raging in the bay area. The builder put in 8 redwoods on a smallish slope and we have not had the heart to thin them. They are now about 25 feet tall and shooting for the moon.

I want to attract as many animal/insect species to my limited space as possible (except for the snails, deer and pocket gophers. It seems to be my best chance to make the world a better place by harboring life.

I am delighted to have stumbled onto this site and look forward to learning and contributing.

I live in: United States

My zone is: USDA 9 Sunset16

First registered on April 09,2003.