Our mission: Make a positive difference for birds, pollinators and other wildlife right at home where we all live. Share the joy from nurturing wildlife in yards and other everyday landscapes. Join Audubon Rockies, Plant Select® and High Country Gardens in promoting wildscaping. Be a habitat hero.

At the Beginning

Some Habitat Hero gardens are years in the making, but the vision of the gardeners shows itself from the very beginning. That's the case with "Bindweed Manor," a Boulder County project that's not yet an official Hab Hero garden, but certainly on the right path.

Pam and Joe Piombino, members of Boulder County Audubon Society, describe their property as "two acres at 5,000 feet elevation surrounded by cattle pasture, with a yard of Smooth Brome grass."

Envisioning an Oasis for Birds Where None Exists

"We bought this property in 2004, knowing that one of the country’s longest running bird banding stations was 1.5 miles to the west. Pam had volunteered at the Allegra Collister Nature Preserve in the past and knew that they banded an astounding variety of species. It was our hope that by developing our property into animal friendly habitat, we could share this bounty.

"The original owners proudly told us, 'There were no plants in the yard that fruited or otherwise made a mess.'  Say what???? No fruiting plants means no food for the birds….

"They had controlled weed species with constant chemical applications, which meant there were areas where we had to remove sterile soil, and many plants exhibited retarded and contorted growth."

Design Matters

"The land was originally planted willy-nilly with mostly free deciduous trees from the local extension service: misshapen ash, chlorotic maples and a few stunted pin oaks. There were also lots of white pine, a crooked line of 40 lilacs and shrubs plopped in the middle of the Smooth Brome.

"A neighbor described the landscaping scheme as, 'here a tree, there a tree, everywhere a tree, tree.'  We have removed approximately 50 trees and shrubs and are still working at it."

The Piombino's Goals:

-Plant shelter belts and flower gardens of native and regionally adapted tree, shrubs and perennials, that thrive with low water use to encourage and nourish birds, dragonflies, butterflies, native bees and insects.

-Provide continued bloom throughout the season for nectaring and insect-hunting species and provide appropriate nest sites for all of the above.

-Provide several water sources, essential in our arid climate.

-Pull the project together aesthetically.  To that end, we have hired the renowned Lauren Springer Ogden and husband Scott, to advise, help pick appropriate and exciting species and design the layout.

-Maintain our lovely and broad view corridors.

-Work around many of the problems and layouts that we inherited when we bought this property.

And perhaps most importantly, the Piombinos recognize they're in it for the long haul: 

-Not drive ourselves crazy trying to do this all at once. In particular, controlling the invasion of Brome and Bindweed will be a forever chore, and probably the best we can do is fight these non-natives to a draw.

Kudos to Pam and Joe Piombino for their vision and persistence. We look forward to seeing Bindweed Manor evolve into a bird and pollinator oasis and Habitat Hero landscape!