05/24/2026
Hat’s off to South Wake Conservationists!
Beginning in May 2025, my friends and I began developing the Inwood Wildlife Garden, with a primary focus on planting native plants, shrubs, and trees. We’re basing the definition of “wildlife garden” along the guidelines under the National Wildlife Federation’s “Garden For Life” program, which requires the garden to have food, water, cover, and a place for wildlife to raise their young. It’s all about trying to maximize the biodiversity, and our intention is to get it officially certified in the near future.
During the winter season, we expanded the foundation by having a pond dug, but we also knew we wanted birdhouses on the premises before nesting season began. In early February this year, I reached out to South Wake Conservationists (SWC) to simply inquire about the possibility of buying some birdhouses from them (I’ve seen the beautifully constructed houses they’ve installed at Yates Mill and Crowder Parks).
However, they are a curious bunch, and they were interested to know more about what we were doing. So after just a bit of sharing our vision, they offered to not only donate three birdhouses (2 bluebird houses and a nuthatch house), but to come out and install them! Several SWC volunteers, along with my wife and kids, also planted several pawpaw and American persimmon trees that SWC also supplied. And to boot, the future is looking bright for potential collaborations!
So, this series of pics is dedicated to the SWC for jumping in to support our efforts to boost the local biodiversity! And one of the bluebird houses is already on its SECOND brood of 5 eggs each! Thank you Sara, Debra, Jeff, David, Jeremy, Monty, and the rest of the SWC volunteers!
