The Pelican-- Native Planting for Birds: Valley Wood Gardens

By Kentia Kalanaki and Diane Wong-Kone

​Valley Wood Gardens– our local native planting effort in Reno– was featured by the National Audubon Society in a post from their Plants for Birds program! The article by Marlene Pantin, the senior program manager of National Audubon’s plants for birds program, features many other plants for birds programs around the country, so be sure to check it out here: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-audubons-plants-birds-program-supporting-migrating-birds?

Pantin writes: “Lahontan Audubon Society continues to work with partners in maintaining The Valley Wood Wildlife Gardens in northwest Reno. The chapter had spearheaded the conversion of this acre of open space covered by turf into demonstration gardens for the community. Located between housing developments, this garden inspires and educates the community about plants that provide important and beautiful wildlife habitat in an area experiencing increased drought cycles. Thanks to a National Audubon Society grant, the chapter improved the area’s songbird habitat by adding fruit trees and shrubs. Last year, 124 volunteers donated 936 hours of their time to help with planning and on-the-ground work to enhance the gardens and trails, and hosted public tours that showcased the gardens to over 300 participants. Future plans include public bird walks and continued tours that provide education about the plants that grow well in the local climate and soils, and which can provide important nectar, fruit, and canopy cover to benefit Nevada birds.”​

Although native plants are the most beneficial for wildlife, stores in our area often don’t sell native them, and most people don’t have the knowledge and skills needed to collect and grow their own native plants. Thus, most people end up with gardens and backyards full of non-native plants that are easy to acquire at most garden shops, but aren’t the best for the environment and its animals. See this article for more detail on why native plants are so important: https://www.audubon.org/news/why-native-plants-are-better-birds-and-people

    There are some local plant sales to look out for if you want to make your yard more environmentally friendly. 

1. UNR holds local plant sales, typically in May at River Fork Ranch. This year’s has already passed, but here’s a link to information about it: https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2025/plant-sales
2. The Great Basin Co-op holds seedling sales https://greatbasinfood.coop/
3. The Washoe State Tree Nursery sells local plants https://forestry.nv.gov/washoe-state-tree-nursery
4. Online sellers such as High Country Gardens specialize in plants for our area and sell native plants that cannot be found in local stores. https://www.highcountrygardens.com/
5. For more information and plant sellers visit: https://extension.unr.edu/publication.aspx?PubID=6921

There are tours at Valley Wood Wildlife Gardens showcasing plants that are beneficial to pollinators. Not all of the plants at Valley Wood are native to Nevada, but they provide nectar, may be more readily available in stores, and are adapted to grow in our local soils and climate. One such tour is happening on September 20th from 9-11 am. The tour is led by Ryan Sharrer, a Reno city horticulturist. Contact Barb Fenne ([email protected]) for more information on the tours!

Visit https://www.nevadaaudubon.org/plants-for-birds.html for more information on native planting.